We’ve had some of those seasons. The frustrating ones where the team my child was on couldn’t win.
Couldn’t score a point. Or when they did, the other team scored so many more that I stopped even bothering to count. Though the kids usually knew.
I always tell my kids that winning isn’t the point. That I want them play their best and be good sports. They know I’m proud of them for their efforts, which doesn’t always match up with the final score of the game.
But, if a team is losing game after game, it does get disheartening. For the kids, and yes, for the parents.
You’re taking time out from your busy schedules to get your child to practices and games. You spend long hours out on the field, maybe even traveling quite a distance to get to the games.
So, seeing loss after loss can be incredibly frustrating and having parents wondering if it’s worth all their time and money. If maybe it’s time to look for another team or another sport.
And maybe it is. Then again….
I heard something recently from one of our local high school soccer coaches that really hit home with me.
When players are trying out for the high school team, the coach doesn’t ask what their team’s record was when they were on a U13 team or U9 or any of the teams they played on before they step out onto the field to try out for the high school team.
What he does look at is what kind of a player that child is. What their skill level is, their strengths, weaknesses, and attitude.
So when you’re looking at your child’s current team, instead of worrying what the team’s record is, look at what your child is learning. There are all sorts of reasons why a team might not win. So look closer, on an individual level, and see what’s going on with your child.
Are the coaches training your child so they’re developing the necessary skills for their sport? Is your child making improvements?
If the answer is yes, then the team they are on now, the coach they have, no matter what their record is, is doing the job.
Oh, and if your child is on a team that wins all the time, you still need to ask yourself these same questions. The team might have that amazing record, but if your child isn’t learning anything, if they aren’t personally getting better, that record isn’t going to mean anything when your child eventually plays with a different team.
*This post was originally posted on my sister site, The Soccer Moms.