{"id":2665,"date":"2017-03-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-02T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webinology.website\/nation2021\/20-things-that-mean-the-world-to-your-athlete\/"},"modified":"2021-11-03T13:01:51","modified_gmt":"2021-11-03T17:01:51","slug":"20-things-that-mean-the-world-to-your-athlete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coachup.com\/nation\/articles\/20-things-that-mean-the-world-to-your-athlete","title":{"rendered":"20 Things that Mean the World to Your Athlete"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kids often forget to say thank you, especially to their parents, who as you well know, sacrifice a lot for their kids to play sports.<\/p>\n

But whether or not your kids say thanks, rest assured there are things you are doing that mean the world to them, even if they don\u2019t realize it right now. My kids, now in their 20s, told me these things really mattered to them when they were young: <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Time sacrifice. This includes driving them to games, practices, tournaments, etc.<\/li>\n
  2. Money sacrifice. For travel teams, equipment, personal coaching and camps.<\/li>\n
  3. Game presence. Being there for as many games as possible.<\/li>\n
  4. The willingness to listen \u2026 without judgement or interruption.<\/li>\n
  5. Being a positive spectator.<\/li>\n
  6. Not hounding the officials or coaches.<\/li>\n
  7. Letting a child choose the sports he\/she wants to play.<\/li>\n
  8. Loving the athlete no matter how well he\/she plays.<\/li>\n
  9. Cheering for every player on the team.<\/li>\n
  10. Giving a child permission to make mistakes and encouraging him\/her to learn from them.<\/li>\n
  11. Not using comparison as a motivating tactic.<\/li>\n
  12. Letting them have a life outside of sports.<\/li>\n
  13. Biting your tongue instead of saying something hurtful or negative.<\/li>\n
  14. Giving him\/her space to get over losses.<\/li>\n
  15. Giving him\/her space to push himself\/herself.<\/li>\n
  16. Letting the coach do his job.<\/li>\n
  17. Giving a child permission to have fun!<\/li>\n
  18. Letting a child follow his\/her own path, and not forcing them to take mom or dad\u2019s.<\/li>\n
  19. Being a child\u2019s biggest cheerleader, no matter how he\/she plays.<\/li>\n
  20. Not critiquing in the car after a game.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    When kids are little, they may have a hard time articulating what they feel about how much you do. As they grow older, they often forget to say what they felt because they are wrapped up in themselves. That\u2019s just how it goes with kids. But believe me, they are grateful for what you do, even if they don\u2019t express it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Kids often forget to say thank you, especially to their parents, who as you well know, sacrifice a lot for their kids to play sports. But whether or not your kids say thanks, rest assured there are things you are doing that mean the world to them, even if they don\u2019t realize it right now. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":2666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[400,190,569,189],"class_list":["post-2665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parents","tag-parenting","tag-parenting-advice","tag-sports-coaching","tag-youth-sports-parenting"],"yoast_head":"\n20 Things that Mean the World to Your Athlete - 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\/20-things-that-mean-the-world-to-your-athlete\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"20 Things that Mean the World to Your Athlete - CoachUp Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kids often forget to say thank you, especially to their parents, who as you well know, sacrifice a lot for their kids to play sports. 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