The most important words any parent can tell their kid after a game is: “I love watching you play.”
We need to save the coaching for the coach, save the rule making for the referees. We can be our child’s biggest champion by simply encouraging the effort and supporting the process of their growth in sport, or school, or whatever.
The effort is what matters, watching them be their best should be our source of pride – but it’s hard.
I yell a lot on the sidelines of my sons’ soccer games. I urge them to try harder, I encourage them to focus, I tell them about players behind them, I check their positioning. I yell a lot.
I wish I could keep quiet.
I love watching my kids play, I genuinely do. I don’t expect them to be the greatest in the league, but I do want them to be their best.
Focus! Behind you! Run! Go! Shoot!
Every time I bark something, my head is telling me to be quiet. I am constantly reminding myself of the most important thing to tell them: “I love watching you play.”
They don’t need glowing praise, they don’t need specific criticism, they just need to know that I love watching them be their best.
If you love watching your kid play, and they are the ones pulling the chain with a passion for sport, they could be the next Under Armour star. This summer, Under Armour is looking for kid athletes between the ages of 7 and 12 to join 2018 Team UA NEXT Canada powered by Sport Chek.
For more information and to submit a nomination, visit TeamUAnext.ca. Also check out @sportchek on Twitter and Instagram. It’s easy to get your kid involved, submit the application and have them them show off their skills, passion, and effort through the summer using #TAKEYOURSPOT and #UANEXTCANADA.
Zacharie made a video to show his nina warrior skills at our local gym. Do you have a kid with a passion for sport that can top this?
At the ninja gym, and away from the soccer pitch, I find it so much easier to cheer my sons on. The only competition is themselves, their only foe is their own determination. To give a high five when they climb a warped wall, or to give them a hug after they fall from a climb is so much easier than watching them on a soccer pitch.
And the best part? My kids don’t really even need the encouragement. They pick themselves up, they dust themselves off, they walk back to the starting line, and they try again.
I love watching them play.
This post is sponsored by Under Armour
