ABOVE IT ALL PARENT CODE OF CONDUCT
Our Parent Code of Conduct is about creating a great environment for both parents and athletes and fostering a healthy competitive youth sports program.
Encouragement, not criticism. These are young athletes – they make mistakes and they need continuous reinforcement from their parents and coaches to keep trying.
Praise of effort and focus, not analysis of performance. Repetition is the name of the game when learning new skills. Much like when your player first learned to walk, celebrate the little victories that will give them the reinforcement they need to keep progressing. Parents and Coaches should praise the effort of the player, not the result. If the coach teaches proper mechanics at practice and the parent practices with the player at home, the results will come. So, praise the effort that will produce the result.
Competitive fun, not burden of loss. Here’s some simple math – in a two-team competition, the scoreboard will reflect that one of the teams has lost. But losing the game doesn’t mean you lost the experience, fun and development opportunity that the game offered. The real loss would be to burden your young athlete with the outcome of the contest and discourage them from all of the benefits that youth sports offers – don’t do it. At One Sports Nation, we promote competitive fun. We want-to-win, but we don’t have-to-win to enjoy the experience.
Developing life skills and confidence, not fear of failure. Youth sports is about preparing kids for life – not just winning games or trophies. Out there, in the real world, our kids will have to deal with competitive loss whether it losing out on that job opportunity, getting a C+ in math, or dealing with social strife. Youth Sports prepares them for all the curve balls that life will throw at them in an environment that can be framed by quality adult leadership. The parent has a huge role and opportunity to make their youth sports experience a rewarding and educational one that will help them overcome adversity in their adult life.
Family Fun, not family stress. Your young athlete does not play for your favorite professional sports team. The impact you can make on your young athlete is to give best effort, gain confidence, develop respectful mannerisms, engage socially, experience winning (AND losing) nd seeing other people do the same…. That’s a positive youth sports experience and one you can share with your whole family. Game Day should be a family fun celebration before during and after the game. Do something special with your game days!
The Social Contract – As members of this youth sports community, each person is responsible for their own behavior and has an obligation to your community to behave appropriately in an environment that is NOT adult focused… its ATHLETE focused. This is not a professional sports arena and is not a professional sporting event. We exist for the youth sports community as a whole. Poor behavior and poor language are not appropriate at our events and will not be tolerated, and neither will any other any other violations to the parent code of conduct.
Additionally, our event staff is not present to perform adult babysitting services. Our officials do not enjoy verbal abuse or sideline antics. If you like to yell at the refs – go see a professional sports game. Remember – the officials are somebody’s kid too.
There are no scholarships at stake this season, so sit back, relax and enjoy watching your
child. Our expectations for your behavior are simple and reasonable as outlined below. If you find them too unbearable to abide by, please stay home so everyone else can enjoy the day!
Parents are responsible for any guests they invite to the events. Please make sure your guests also behave appropriately. *