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THE RULES OF THE GAME - Teaching young people to get the most from sports

By Gloria Averbuch

Sports participation offers a seemingly infinite number of "life lessons." The more you learn, the more you realize there is to gain. As a parent, coach, educator or other adult influencer, you can insure that your children get the most out of the game by teaching and enforcing good habits and values.

ENCOURAGE INDEPENDENCE - Even pee wee players can carry their own bags or equipment. Nothing seems more counterproductive than watching parents and others do that for them. And from the beginning, teach your players to pack their own bags. They need to learn the responsibility of remembering all of their necessary equipment.

TEACH GOOD HEALTH AND SAFETY HABITS - Players should understand the vital importance of proper diet and rest, including the particulars of pre and post-activity nutrition (e.g. eating a high-carbohydrate meal of moderate size 2-3 hours before competition, and drinking plenty of fluids before, during and after play). Also, it is important to properly warm up and cool down and stretch each time they participate. If they don't take any of the above steps as a group, they can do it solo.

EMPHASIZE SPORTSMANSHIP - Whining, complaining, blame and other bad habits defeat the purpose of learning the great qualities that sports should teach. Don' feed into negativity by picking up this habit yourself (e.g. "You should have started instead of Sarah." or "The ref was terrible."). The car ride home is one of the trickiest and most important venues to teach good sportsmanship. Be a listener. Let your children guide the conversation. They might not want to talk about the game at all. If they do, use positive reinforcement.

YOU CAN'T PLAY THE GAME FOR THEM - Understand your role, and stick to it-it's an important one. No matter how much you believe you know, if you are not the coach, don't coach. Your parenting advice is your expertise. Respect the hard-working, qualified coaches or officials who are often volunteers by letting them do their jobs.

YOU CAN WIN BY WINNING, AND YOU CAN WIN BY LOSING - Help your children to understand the incredible value of participation: skill development, camaraderie, dedication, overcoming adversity, etc. It feels great to win, but your job is to help them find the victory in defeat as well. It's okay to feel initial disappointment, but be ready to educate when the dust settles. For the inevitable times your children may sit the bench, or don't perform up to desired expectations, help them find the lessons in these experiences as well.

Sky Blue FC of Women's Professional Soccer returns to home action on Sunday, May 31 at Yurcak Stadium on the campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick. Dial 888-SBFC-TIX or 1-888-723-2849 or online at www.SkyBlueFC.com. Consider the 10-ticket flex plan-good for any game-- for only $99.
 

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