Ideas for Being a Supportive AYSO Parent

 

Before the Game

• Tell your child you love him/her regardless of the outcome.
• Say “Have fun! I love watching you play!”

 

During the game

• Understand that kids are over-stimulated during games. The coach may be giving instructions, opponents and teammates are talking, the crowd is cheering, and the referee is blowing the whistle. To a youth sports participant, the atmosphere is much like that of a fighter pilot with enemy jets racing all around.
• What spectactors say can be supportive, distracting, or harmful. Stick with Supportive.
  • Supportive: “Nice pass, Amy!” (after the action has moved away from Amy)
  • Distracting: “Pass the ball!” or “Shoot!”
  • Hostile: “Why’d you do that?”
  • See: https://thesidelineproject.com/

• Often, the best thing you can do as a parent is to be quiet.
• Cheer and acknowledge good plays by both teams

 

After the game

• Thank the officials for doing a difficult job.
• Thank the coaches for their efforts.
• Understand that after a difficult loss is not a good time to question a coach.
• Thank your opponents for a good game.
• Congratulate your child and teammates for their efforts.
• Compliment individual players on good plays they made in the game.
• Recognize coach or referee actions at https://ayso13.org/feedback

 

During the car ride home

• “I love watching you play”
• Talk about literally anything other than soccer. Especially not the game you just watched.
• If you must, point out a good play your child made during the game.
• Avoid criticizing or identifying mistakes.
• Ask open-ended questions about how the game was played rather than how many points were scored. Here are examples of open-ended questions that might apply:
• Did you have fun?
• Did you give it your best effort?