Parental Involvement

Given the age and level of emotional and financial dependence of youth athletes, parents play a critical role in the development and social climate of youth sports. Parents hold the responsibility of transporting their children to and from practice and games, providing the monetary funds for equipment and travel and most importantly, acting as the advocates and cheerleaders for young athletes. The social and emotional environment of a youth sport event is dictated in great part by the behavior of parents which can result in a positive or negative experience for all involved. Research conducted by Omli, LaVoi and Wiese-Bjornstal (2008) examines the influence of parental behavior on the youth sport experience and suggests the use of behavioral awareness and intervention among parents of youth athletes in order to facilitate a positive, developmental environment within youth sport.

From yelling at officials and other parents to "coaching" from the sideline, the current behavior of parents within youth sports does not reflect the preferred behavior of young athletes (Omli, LaVoi & Wiese-Bjornstal, 2008). Children participate in sport for social, developmental and enjoyment-seeking purposes. These motives should overlap with the parental and organizational vision for the youth sport experience but due to the competitive, win-at-all-costs nature of sport, the social environment of youth athletics has begun to reflect this disconnect in the form of negative parental behavior. Whether it is the result of "vicarious living", excessive emotional investment or pure aggression, the "crazed fan" or "demanding coach" behavior of parents has created a stressful and embarrassing sport environment for youth athletes (Omli, LaVoi & Wieses-Bjornstal, 2008). The results of the KIDS SPEAK (Omli, 2007) research project demonstrates the impact of negative parental behavior in that children have reported some behaviors to be hurtful and distracting and would prefer encouragement and cheering only during positive events of the game or, as described by Omli (2007), "attentive silence". It is not the responsibility of young athletes to dictate the behavior of adults but they remain the most vulnerable to the social and emotional consequences of inappropriate, negative behavior of parents.

With an understanding that parental behavior influences the youth sport climate, it is the responsibility of parents, coaches and youth sport administrators to develop and maintain a positive and developmentally focused environment for young athletes. PLAYS (LaVoi, Omli & Wiese-Bjornstal, 2008) is a youth sport initiative aimed at bringing awareness to the impact of parental behavior within youth athletics. By incorporating research with parental and community perceptions of the local youth sport climate, PLAYS works to educate parents of young athletes about the potentially negative effect of inappropriate parental behavior and provides them with communicative strategies to help deter or improve negative behaviors (LaVoi, Omli & Wiese-Bjornstal, 2008). It is critical for parents to be conscious of the influence their behavior has on young athletes and the overall sport environment in order to recognize and maintain the balance between distracting, overbearing conduct and complete parental absence from youth sport. An appropriate level of active parental involvement, one of "attentive silence" (Omli, 2007) and productive communication, will create a healthy, positive environment in which young athletes are able to experience the physical, social and developmental benefits of sport participation.