How Should You Deal with Sport Officials?
Officials are fallible human beings, just like all the athletes, coaches, and spectators. Don’t demand that they be “perfect.” It is as American as apple pie to boo and criticize judgments made by officials. But such behavior has no place in youth sports. The officials are honestly trying to do their best. But they are human, and they do make mistakes. Booing their decisions will not change the outcome or improve the situation in any way. Moreover, parents who “get on” officials provide very poor models for their children, and such behavior can prove highly embarrassing to the young athlete.
3 Enlightening Perspectives About HEP
What does HEP mean to an association? It depends on who you ask and what part of HEP we are discussing. The following article, provides input from a parent and coach of the St. Cloud Youth Hockey Association as well as insight from the ACE/HEP Coordinator.
Helping Your Child Cope with Losses
Children differ a great deal in their reactions to a loss. Some may be barely affected or may forget the loss almost immediately. Others will be virtually devastated and may be low-spirited for days. Avoid the temptation to deny or distort what the child is feeling. If your daughter has struck out three times and made an error that lost the game, she does not want to hear, “You did great.” She knows she didn’t, and your attempts to comfort her may well come through as a lack of understanding about how she feels. Likewise, it is not very helpful to tell a child that “it doesn’t matter.” The fact is that at that moment it does matter a great deal!
Top 4 Ways Coaches Harm Goaltenders’ Mental Game
The following article from Justin Johnson, USA Hockey’s Minnesota District Associate Goalie Coach-in-Chief, outlines some of the common pitfalls coaches have when working with goalies.
What Should I Do If My Child Wants to Quit Hockey?
There are alarming statistics surrounding the number of children who permanently drop out of youth sports. The following article provides advice on how to handle this situation if your child wants to quit.
6 Ways Parents Can Help Improve Youth Hockey
Much of the joy of being a youth sport parent comes from watching your child practice and compete in games. What youngster isn’t bolstered by looking into the stands and seeing Mom and Dad cheering for him or her? As part of their responsibilities, parents should watch their children play sports using good sports behavior.
3 Important Tips for Parents Who Coach
Many volunteer coaches find their way into youth sports because their own son or daughter is participating. Therefore, the majority of coaches end up coaching their own child at one time or another. This often results in confusion as to how to deal with the dual roles of coach and parent.
7 Proven Steps to Resolve Any Coaching Issues
Some of the most difficult problems that arise in youth sports involve the relationship between parents and coaches. Your responsibility for what happens to your child does not stop when he or she enters a sport program or joins a team. As a parent, you have every right to be involved in and to look out for your child’s welfare. The tricky part comes when deciding how and to what extent it is appropriate for you to be involved.
7 Ways to Overcome Athletic Stress
Some parents unintentionally become a source of stress to young athletes. How does this occur? All parents identify with their children to some extent and want them to do well. Unfortunately, in some cases, the degree of identification becomes excessive making the child an extension of the parent. When this happens, parents begin to define their own self-worth in terms of their player’s successes or failures. This means the child must succeed or the parent’s self-image is threatened. When parental love and approval depends on how well the child performs, sports are bound to be stressful.
“Fair Play” in Invitational Tournaments Explained
In order to encourage “fair play” in all areas of hockey competition, HEP has provided the following description of fair play in tournament situations.
