All too often, I see many adults who are involved in youth sports, either as a parent, administrator or a coach, adhere to one set of core values when it comes to family, education, and relationships, and an entirely different set of values when it comes to sports. We value things like hard work, commitment, integrity, and humility for our kids, yet when the whistle blows all bets are off.
As parents and coaches of young athletes, we need to ask ourselves two simple questions:
1. What values are most important to my family/my team?
2. Are sports delivering those values, or something entirely different?
Once we answer these questions for ourselves, then we must take the time to ensure our children’s sports experiences are delivering the same values that we are trying to instill in our kids in other aspects of their lives. This consistency is incredibly important, for if our core values are only apparent in certain aspects of life, but in sports they are out the window, we are sending a dangerous message to our kids that the rules apply only when it is convenient.
Please enjoy the video, and share with me your thoughts on how we can consistently deliver our family core values in all aspects of life.
[testimonial3 author=”John O’Sullivan is the author of Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High-Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids. He is a former collegiate and professional soccer player, and has spent the past two decades as a coach at the youth, high school, and college level. O’Sullivan speaks nationwide to coaches, parents, and young athletes about developing athletic excellence and leadership within positive sporting environments. He resides in Bend, Oregon with his family.” + pic=”https://changingthegameproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/2008-John-Osullivan.jpg”][/testimonial3]