As parents, we tend to make the mistake of living our dreams of making it big through our kids. We tend to push them to levels we think will get them that scholarship, that level that will get them in the pros. In our eyes we feel like we are helping them. But are we really hurting them? As a parent of talented young athletes I tend to fall into this category. I feel that my kids should push themselves to a place they have never been to get to where they need to get. The question here is, but is that what my child wants? Do I push for my own agenda? Do I feel like my child can do better? Go further than I ever did? The answer to that is yes. I want them to succeed. But at what cost? We have to turn around and look in the mirror and ask ourselves, is this what my athlete wants? If you don’t know the answer to that, you are pushing for the wrong reasons. Sports are to be fun and to learn about teamwork and comradery it is also about life lessons. Learn to win with grace and lose with it as well. Sports as in life will always have a winner and a loser. We need to make sure we start with that and the rest will take care of itself.

Good morning. I went online today and was reading an interesting article that had some statistics. The one that popped up at me the most was Urban Meyer from Ohio State University showing a graphic that showed that of his accepted players into the football program, of the 47 players he had, 42 of them were multi sport athletes in high school and 5 were not! That is an insane number! 89% of his football players on the graph were 2 sport athletes. I did a little more research and found that the majority of coaches in college look for multi sport athletes. So parents of young athletes, let your kids play more than 1 sport let them enjoy their time having fun and check their pulse on whether or not they are having fun playing. If it is still fun and they are dedicated to the sport, Keep Taking Them!!! Here is a great read from Mike Trout’s father. Enjoy!

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.fatherly.com/play/how-to-coach-youth-athletes-mike-trout-baseball/amp/&ved=2ahUKEwjGpYy9v83iAhVDRK0KHVY_AY0QFjAJegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw3Fj3MByjLFXOOJN9n0z7uj&ampcf=1&cshid=1559571361649

I have 5 children and 4 athletes amongst them. I tend to be as involved as I possibly can with all their sports. To the point where I coach almost every sport my kids have been involved in. I was raised by extremely competitive parents, who, as you can imagine, wanted to be as involved with all the sports I did as they possibly could. I was multi sport athelete that excelled in almost everything I ever played. That is not to toot my own horn but to simply state that I have a knack and ability to adapt. I try to be in the mix with all that my kids do so that I am sure they are being coached properly and are learning and developing to the best of their ability. The question is, am doi g right or wrong by it? As the controlling person that I tend to be, am I taking authority away from my child’s coaches? Or am I truly doing the best I can for my child?

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton