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Hi,
I know I have sent
this before, but this came with this week’s ASCA Newsletter
for Parents, and the wording is a little bit different than the one
we have on our website.
Have fun with
it.
Coach
Mavi
News For
SWIM
PARENTS
Published by
The American Swimming Coaches Association
5101 NW 21
Ave., Suite 200
Fort
Lauderdale FL 33309
___________________________________________________________________
The Ten Commandments For Parents Of Athletic
Children
Reprinted
from The Young Athlete by Bill Burgess
1-
Make sure
your child knows that win or lose, scared or heroic, you love him,
appreciate his efforts, and are not disappointed in him. This will
allow him to do his best without a fear of failure. Be the person
in his life he can look to for constant positive
enforcement.
2-
Try your
best to be completely honest about your child’s athletic
ability, his competitive attitude, his sportsmanship, and his
actual skill level.
3-
Be helpful
but don’t coach him on the way to the pool or on the way to
the pool or on the way back or at breakfast, and so on. It’s
tough not to, but it’s a lot tougher for the child to be
inundated with advice, pep talks and often critical
instruction.
4-
teach him
to enjoy the thrill of competition, to be “out there
trying”, to be working to improve his swimming skills and
attitudes. Help him to develop the feel for competing, for trying
hard, for having fun.
5- Try not
to re-live your athletic life through your child in a way that
creates pressure; you lost as well as won. You were frightened, you
blacked off at times, you were not always heroic. Don’t
pressure your child because of your
pride. Athletic children need their parents
so you must not withdraw. Just remember there is a thinking,
feeling, sensitive free spirit out there in that uniform who needs
a lot of understanding, especially when his word turns bad. If he
is comfortable with you win or lose; he’s on his way to
maximum achievement and enjoyment.
6-
Don’t
compete with the coach. If the coach becomes an authority figure,
it will run from enchantment to disenchantment…with your
athlete.
7-
Don’t
compare the skill, courage, or attitudes of your child with other
members of the team, at least within his hearing.
8-
Get t know
the coach so that you can be assured that his philosophy,
attitudes, ethics and knowledge are such that you are happy to have
your child under his leadership.
9-
Always
remember that children tend to exaggerate both when praised and
when criticized. Temper your reaction and investigate before
over-reacting.
10-
Make a
point of understanding courage, and the fact that it is relative.
Some of us can climb mountains, and are afraid to fight, but turn
to jelly if a bee approaches. Everyone is frightened in certain
areas. Explain that courage is not the absence of fear, but a means
of doing something in spite of fear of discomfort.
The job of
the parent of an athletic child is a tough one, and it takes a lot
of effort to do it well. It is worth all the effort when you hear
your child say, “My parents really helped and I was lucky in
this respect
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