Chris Mance II - Mental Skills Coach

I was going to title this post 7 sources of sports parenting success. However, as I started typing that title it hit me that it’s not wise for me to define the sources of success for anyone but myself.

On the other hand, peace and sanity are universal and often fleeting in the life of a sports parent. Especially if you’re anything like me. Yes, I am a firm believer that academics and other extracurricular activities are critically important in addition to sports. Yet, I just don’t seem to get as emotionally worked up in the other areas of my children’s life as I do with their performance in sports. This is not logical, but by definition emotion is not logical.

This is why I chose to title this post as the 7 sources of sports parenting peace and sanity. I believe if parents can get a grip on these 7 things, they can be far less emotional about youth and high school sports, and far more logical. In doing this, peace, sanity and a happy home will soon follow.

The 7 Sources

1. Support: Having a support system of family (most importantly your spouse), coaches, mentors and peers who know your goals, have the same goals, and who have a desire to collaborate with you to achieve those goals.
2. Strengths: Knowing your strengths and the strengths of your spouse and children. Then having the ability to invest in those strengths to capitalize on them and use them to help you achieve goals.
3. Motivations: Understanding what innately motivates you, your spouse and your children. Then being able to use those motivations to make hard work fun when working towards goals.
4. Mindset: Approaching life with a growth mindset as well as an optimistic mindset and getting your spouse and children to buy-in to these mindsets.
5. Purpose: Having a compass and knowing your why. This includes short, medium, and long term goals and having a clear statement on why these goals are important to you, your spouse and your children.
6. Process: Knowing what steps to take each day, week, month, and year to help you, your spouse and your children achieve their goals and having a means to measure progress.
7. Patience: An understanding that success does not happen overnight and that failure is part of the process. Avoiding the tendency of comparing the success and progress of other children to your children. Accepting the fact that every child matures differently and at a different pace.