Linky Love- Youth Sports

I’ve come across some great articles in the blogosphere lately and thought I’d share…

Friends but no Longer Teammates … What happens when your kid makes the team, but his/her best friend doesn’t?  The Trophy Mom’s article has some great tips about how to deal with this issue.

The Perils of Tournament Play…  After writing about all the different summer tournaments, this article from Soccer America popped up in my reader.  There’s some great tips about surviving a multi-game tourney, but this quote from the US Youth Soccer’s Player Development Model made me think… “We believe that excessive play at competitive tournaments is detrimental to individual growth and development and can reduce long-term motivation. Multiple matches being played on one day and one weekend have a negative effect on the quality experience and development of the individual player.”  Hmmm….but they’re so much fun!

(Don’t) Kill the Ref: How to Keep your Cool About Youth Sports Officials... Bob Cook’s article starts off by discussing the unfortunate case of the referee killed after being punched by a player earlier this month and then goes on to give some tips about staying calm during your kid’s games.  My favorite quote?  “The quality of officiating is directly proportional to the quality of play. In other words, don’t expect professional-caliber officiating at your 8-year-old’s game.”  What???

How to Become a Better Sports Parent- Stop Caring… Another great one for Bob Cook about enjoying the experience of watching your kid’s game rather than caring about how all the repercussions.  Of course he doesn’t mean not supporting your kid’s team or coach, but rather watching “for the moment of play — not for my own ego, not for a scholarship, not for anything but what’s happening in front of my face. I don’t know if that will give my daughter a long athletic career. But it certainly gives the both of us peace of mind.”

Sports Parents IV- Letting Go… This is a great article about how as parents we can be over-involved in our kids sports careers.  (Imagine that!)  There’s a lot of sports psychology in the article but this quote jumped out at me…”The young athlete becomes not just a project but a product, whose athletic prowess will gain a glory (entrance to elite college, college scholarship, lucrative professional career) that will ultimately reflect back on the parent.”  Ouch- nobody wants to be Marv Marinovich!  Overall, a really interesting read from Floating and Stinging: A Sports Performance Blog.

Have you read any great articles lately?