Parents of youth athletes often focus on winning. Their child has to be number 1. Their child has to be on the best team, has to have the best hook shot, or be the best pitcher. Simply put: Their child has to be the best.
But now we know that the parents of youth athletes in the United States are themselves number 1 in the world. I missed this the first time around, but a survey released in early April found that “those residing in the United States (60%) are the most likely to have witnessed abusive behaviour by parents at children’s sporting events followed by those in India (59%), Italy (55%), Argentina (54%), Canada (53%) and Australia (50%).”
I am sure this is not a list we want to be on the top of. Frankly,the fact that the low scores were 16%, 24%, 25% and 26% isn’t anything to brag about. While I give props to Hungary for their 16%, I think the Czech Republic’s 24% next lowest number is too high. Certainly the United States’ 60% is unacceptable.
There are a number of resources out their. I am most familiar with the Positive Coaching Alliance. They have some ideas for parents. We all need to make a commitment to helping change the youth sports culture that allows this kind of behavior.