This article by Bruce E. Brown of Proactive Coaching, excerpted from the booklet and DVD "The Parent's Role in Athletics," examines the parent's role in their child's athletic experience from the athlete's perspective. It focuses on "releasing" the athlete to the game, the coach, and the team, lists ten red flags that indicate a parent has not released their athlete, and outlines the parent's role before, during, and after the game. It is from the Parents and Coaches Working Together Proactive Coaching collection.
Introduction
"We started the season with a booster club and by the end of the year we had a terrorist group." One of the largest problems high school athletic directors across the nation face is the parent-coach relationship. It is even starting to be felt at the collegiate level.
The involvement of parents in the athletic experience of their children is a given. Without question, all parents should be part of this area of potential growth. Their involvement affects their own child, the coach, the rest of the team, the other parents and the officials. How they choose to be involved often will become the reflective memories their son or daughter have of the whole athletic experience. There is a thin line between involvement and interference.