PARENT'S PAGE

Being the parent of a young athlete can be rewarding and also very frustrating. To help you focus on the rewarding side, here are some tips to remember before getting frustrated.

Your Coach

• Reminder: In MOST cases, your athlete's coach is a volunteer and it is not a paid position. They invest their free time away from their families and hobbies to invest in your children. They are not professional coaches and they are human and will make mistakes. This doesn't mean they shouldn't be held accountable for misconduct but consider grace before getting too aggravated with them.

Referee

• This may be one of the most challenging roles in sports and is now suffering from a National Referee shortage due to disrespect, violence, etc... Reminder: Often youth sports does not run events with a complete staff of referees due to the expense. If you attend a Varsity High School Football game, you will see a team of 5 officials. During the game, you will see the referees covering all points of the field and they still miss calls. A youth football game, that only has typically two officials, and many times one of them is in training. In addition, youth rules sometimes vary from High School rules. Make sure you know and understand the rules if you plan to challenge one. Again, consider grace before frustration.

Athlete Conduct