{"id":1975,"date":"2023-08-15T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-15T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webinology.website\/nation2021\/how-will-you-help-your-child-deal-with-the-unfairness-of-youth-sports\/"},"modified":"2023-08-14T22:28:28","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T02:28:28","slug":"help-your-child-deal-with-unfairness-youth-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coachup.com\/nation\/articles\/help-your-child-deal-with-unfairness-youth-sports","title":{"rendered":"How to Help Your Child Deal With the Unfairness of Youth Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The first thing out of a kid’s mouth when something doesn’t go their way is typically along the lines of, “it’s not fair!” And what\u2019s your response as a parent? Probably the same as mine, \u201cLife isn\u2019t fair!\u201d The unfairness of life is painfully felt by many kids in youth sports. All three of my kids felt it at one time or another. Perhaps you and your child have felt it too. The reality is that coaches don\u2019t always reward discipline and coachability<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playing time will not always be based on hard work or skill. Kids who don\u2019t work as hard and who have bad attitudes will occasionally get starting spots over more deserving players. Some players get yanked after one mistake, others mess up over and over and never get pulled. The unfairness goes on and on. New issues every season, in every sport. The question is not, \u201chow can I protect my child from unfairness?\u201d but rather, \u201chow can I help my child deal with the unfairness?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three keys to helping your child handle the unfairness of sports<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Remember that coaches are human
    <\/strong>They may play favorites, and they probably have pre-determined ideas about who should start. Yes, it\u2019s frustrating, but there’s really not much you can do short of getting the coach fired. And what exactly does that teach your kids? That it\u2019s okay to get rid of people we don\u2019t agree with?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Forget about what you can\u2019t control and focus on what you can<\/strong>
    You or your child cannot control playing time or starting spots, but you can control your attitudes and your child can control how hard they work. Together, focus on those things because if you have any hope of changing the unfairness, it will come through hard work and a good attitude, not through complaining and whining.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Play for the love of the game<\/strong>
    Our son once played for a coach who never seemed happy with his performance no matter how hard he worked in practice or in games. It came pretty darn close to robbing him of his love for the game, but we kept reminding him to play for the love of the game<\/em>. We encouraged him to play for himself and for his teammates, not for his coach\u2019s approval, because it was pretty obvious that he wasn’t going to get it. “You won\u2019t always be playing for him,” we told our son, and not all coaches are unfair. In fact, a good many of them are reasonable, caring individuals who really want to help kids. Keep your goals in mind and keep working hard. Hopefully the next coach you have will be one of the good ones!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    How you help your child deal with the unfairness of youth sports will be yet another lesson learned in the arena of competition that can prepare them for life. As an adult, they will undoubtedly want to scream\u2014but they’ll learn to stay strong thanks to their experience in youth sports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n\n\n
    \"unfairness<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    With our 100% money-back guarantee and vetted coaches, anyone can achieve their full athletic potential. CoachUp is the safest and easiest way to find a coach for personalized training.\u00a0Find your perfect coach<\/a>\u00a0today and become the athlete you want to be!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The first thing out of a kid’s mouth when something doesn’t go their way is typically along the lines of, “it’s not fair!” And what\u2019s your response as a parent? Probably the same as mine, \u201cLife isn\u2019t fair!\u201d The unfairness of life is painfully felt by many kids in youth sports. All three of my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":6403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[146,18],"class_list":["post-1975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parents","tag-sports-parenting","tag-youth-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Help Your Child Deal With the Unfairness of Youth Sports - CoachUp Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.coachup.com\/nation\/articles\/help-your-child-deal-with-unfairness-youth-sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Help Your Child Deal With the Unfairness of Youth Sports - CoachUp Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The first thing out of a kid’s mouth when something doesn’t go their way is typically along the lines of, “it’s not fair!” And what\u2019s your response as a parent? 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