General

No matter how talented your child may be, there are going to days when he doesn't play his best, or when, despite his best effort, his team loses.  How you manage both the ups, and the inevitable downs, will play a large role in whether your child has a successful youth sports experience.  Here are ten things to keep in mind after your child's team loses or he doesn't perform up to his expectations.

Kids, especially under twelve, are always seeking their parents' approval. Negative labels and generalizations and criticism can have a devastating emotional impact. If you critique your child's performance, she will interpret your anger, disapproval, and disappointment as meaning that you don't love her anymore-that your love is conditional.

If the world were a perfect place, talking to your child's football coach would be as natural and stress free as talking to your child's teacher. Unfortunately, there is not much that worries and confuses youth sports parents more than talking to their child's coach.

Kids, especially under twelve, are always seeking their parents' approval. Negative labels and generalizations and criticism can have a devastating emotional impact. If you critique your child's performance, he will interpret your anger, disapproval, and disappointment as meaning that you don't love him anymore and that your love is conditional.

Children can start playing Pop Warner football as young as five years old; due to their age and weight, they will be placed in the "tiny-mite" division. There are different age and weight divisions, which are intended to reduce the risk of  injury.

A description of football basics: the offense, defense, how points are scored, and the different positions.

With the high school football season coming to end around the country with the tradition games on Thanskgiving morning, the team sports careers of thousands of athletes will be coming to an end.  For one father in Massachusetts, watching his son's football team battle its arch-rival from a neighboring town this year will be particularly bittersweet: his son, though a senior, won't be on the field but will, like him, be watching from the stands.

 

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