Coaching your kids can be fun, and I have enjoyed doing so for the past 8 years. Recently, I had the opportunity to help coach middle school and elementary school teams. It was the first time I’ve coached a team without one of my children playing.
The experience showed me over the years of coaching my kids, I have given them special treatment. I don’t coach them the same as their teammates. I shared my experience this week on the CoachUp blog. Below is an excerpt of the post:
As a parent-coach are you guilty of treating your kids differently than the other kids on the team? My guess is yes. It is in our nature to give them “special” treatment. All of my coaching experience to this point, has been coaching my kids and their teams. Can you say emotionally vested?
“Oh, he’s that coach”
You are probably saying, “I cannot believe he admitted that, publicly!” Yes, I do admit it, publicly. When I say my kids are treated differently here is what I mean. They are not given more playing time, more plays are not run for them, and they do not get any “passes” from the coach. Actually it is just the opposite. I have been more inclined to sacrifice my son or daughter’s playing time for another kid on the team, call an unbalanced number of plays in favor of their teammates, and I am
probablyharder on them than any other players.
Click here to read the full post, and to join the conversation taking place on the CoachUp blog.
Question: Have you had the opportunity to coach (or teach) your own children? Please share in the comment section below.
I am a contributing writer for the CoachUp blog. Click here to read more of my posts about Sports Parenting and Youth Mentorship.