Parenting Youth Athletes

GilroyDispatch.com of Gilroy California

Most parents often wonder and question when is the earliest and best time to introduce their child to competitive sports.

There’s not an easy solution nor is there a concrete answer because every child is different.In a lot of cases, perhaps, the better question is, when is the parent ready to face the politics, pitfalls and frustrations their young athlete may endure? Because of a lack of knowledge or first hand experience, a lot of parents don’t readily understand what they’re getting their child, or themselves into.

So we talk all the time about “ages of readiness” for youth athletes. It’s interesting to look at whether the parents are ready for their kids to be involved in youth sports.

Fewer and fewer officials

Visalia Times-Delta | Tulare Advance Register – www.visaliatimesdelta.com -

Ref mix-up sidelines Norfolk’s youth football

Just about anyone who has attended a high school football game has seen some type of discontent about officials, but Lozano said the problems his association has with verbal abuse has nothing to do with an irate high school coach or a chorus of boos bellowing out from the stands after a controversial call.

“It’s youth football,” Lozano said. “The abuse you take at a youth football game is five times worse than a high school game. You try to explain yourself at times, and it just gets worse. … The abuse we take at a youth football game is tough. The people in youth football think they can abuse an official like they see on TV.

It seems that any number of youth sports organizations are having a hard time finding enough officials. More and more pre-high-school-aged events I see are entirely officiated by youth officials not much older than the players.