Writer

Aaron Redpath

Parents! Be weary of the bill of goods being sold to you. While it’s easy to feel good when receiving a compliment about your child, be careful this doesn’t lead to a decision that stunts your child’s long term development. It’s happening all the time, coaches telling parents to have their kids play at a level that they just aren’t ready for. Coaches are giving misleading advice to parents in an attempt to recruit players to their team for a multitude of reasons. They have an alternate agenda, filling roster spots for revenues or personal gain, they just simply aren’t educated enough to understand the harm they are doing. 

Some examples of foggy situations are:

• A coach telling parents that their child should play on a team a year or 2 older; 
• A coach telling parents that their child will get noticed and/or get a scholarship playing at their school or for their program;
• A coach telling parents that their child is better than they actually are either by accident due to a mistaken assessment or on purpose for whatever reason;

Some tips on how to clear the fog are:

• Be honest with yourself and with your child: Are they really that good? Are they physically and mentally developed enough for a higher age/competition level? Are my child’s skills good enough to hold up at that higher age/competition level? Will my child be able to get enough playing time to properly develop in games?
• Do your own research when it comes to coaches and being sold the bill of goods and feel free to also ask the coaches the following: Have any players coached by them gotten scholarships in the past? If so, were these players exclusively coached by them or were they one of many coaches to cross the various athletes path; What schools did players get scholarships to?
• Trust your gut when hearing feedback about your child, if you hear feedback that feels or sounds off, you could be correct. Again don’t hesitate to ask coaches about their backgrounds in the sport: Coaching experience? If so, where and what level? Playing experience? If so, where and what level? 

Don’t get caught! Clear the fog and make the decision best suited for healthy long term development of your young athlete.