“Shoot! Get rid of it! Kick it! Wide! Come on Billy; for God’s sake shoot! (The 10 year old who’s related to the voice nervously tries to pass the ball to his nearest teammate but instead, it awkwardly dribbles off the side of his foot out of bounds.

The boy’s father is now yelling.) “Billy what the hell’s wrong with you son? Are you that stupid? I said shoot! Do it like I showed you! Now don’t be lazy! Get in his face and and win the ball back! (The boy looks miserable and quickly glances over to the sidelines at his father before he hangs his head and runs after the ball.

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A few minutes later an opposing player cleanly tackles Billy and takes the ball away from him. The referee’s whistle is silent. The father explodes at the official.) “Are you blind or what? Where’s the foul? How can you not call anything there? That’s a yellow card, ref! How can you not see that? (The referee trots over to the father and tells him to calm down. The father doesn’t back down).

“I wouldn’t be complaining if you just did your job!” (The referee looks at Billys Dad  and warns him to keep his mouth shut otherwise he will have him removed from the game. Suddenly it has become very quiet on the field as the game comes to an abrupt halt.

Billy and a number of players from both teams stop and watch the altercation. Billy seems to be cringing in embarrassment, looking for a way to disappear…. Just another FUN day on the Football field.

Parents like Billy’s, who get too caught up in the game’s outcome, who pressure their kids to perform, who are overly critical and demeaning when they make mistakes, insure that their child will consistently play way below her potential, and seriously  increase the likelihood that their child will soon become a sports drop-out statistic. How ironic, if you ask Billys dad I’m absolutely certain he will believe he is helping and will completely disagree he is harming development. What do you think.

Extracts from Dr Alan Goldberg

Sports Performance Consultant