I posted this last year and I think it is a good time to run it again. It came from a team website and I thought it was worth repeating. As a fan, it is easy to fall into some of these traps. As parents we sometimes let our zeal and desire to see our kids succeed get in the way of setting a good example and teaching them a life lesson.

 

These may not be in the order I would place them, but they are all good. Feel free to add some of your own.

 

10 Commandments for Football Parents

 

1. Be Positive! Don't put your son down. Let him know he is accomplishing something by simply being a part of the team.
   
2. Don't offer excuses for your son if he's not playing. Rather, encourage him to work hard and to do his best.
   
3. Don't put down his coaches. If you are constantly bad-mouthing your son's coaches, you are teaching him to be a loser and a complainer. This is not what you want him to become.
   
4. Insist that your son follow team rules, whether he is a starter or a seventh stringer.
   
5. Insist on good grades! It is the duty of the parent to see that their son is working in the classroom. No matter how good he is, if he doesn't have good grades, he doesn't get into college. Eliminate use of the car, phone, etc. Do not eliminate athletics. These only encourage good grades by forcing him to stay eligible.
   
6. Don't develop a jealousy of other team members. This rubs off on your son and can devastate a team. Who cares who scores, etc.? EVERYONE has a job to do. Take pride in the fact that your son does his job well.
   
7. Don't be a know-it-all. The coaches work at their job 12 months a year and they know what each kid can and cannot do.
   
8. As a fan, yell for the team, not at it. Scream your head off, but please don't become belligerent at a player.
   
9. Believe in your son and his team and in what they are doing.
   
10. Insist on your sons respect for his teammates, parents, coaches, team rules, school rules, and game officials. Don't let him make a fool out of his family, school and team with some uncalled-for gesture or incident whereby he brings shame. Self-respect begins with self-control.

 

Parents, please encourage your son to play for the love of the game and to be unselfish. Do not play for the wrong reasons. Usually, good things happen to the hard-working, unselfish athlete.

I posted this last year and I think it is a good time to run it again. It came from a team website and I thought it was worth repeating. As a fan, it is easy to fall into some of these traps. As parents we sometimes let our zeal and desire to see our kids succeed get in the way of setting a good example and teaching them a life lesson.

 

These may not be in the order I would place them, but they are all good. Feel free to add some of your own.

 

10 Commandments for Football Parents

 

1. Be Positive! Don't put your son down. Let him know he is accomplishing something by simply being a part of the team.
   
2. Don't offer excuses for your son if he's not playing. Rather, encourage him to work hard and to do his best.
   
3. Don't put down his coaches. If you are constantly bad-mouthing your son's coaches, you are teaching him to be a loser and a complainer. This is not what you want him to become.
   
4. Insist that your son follow team rules, whether he is a starter or a seventh stringer.
   
5. Insist on good grades! It is the duty of the parent to see that their son is working in the classroom. No matter how good he is, if he doesn't have good grades, he doesn't get into college. Eliminate use of the car, phone, etc. Do not eliminate athletics. These only encourage good grades by forcing him to stay eligible.
   
6. Don't develop a jealousy of other team members. This rubs off on your son and can devastate a team. Who cares who scores, etc.? EVERYONE has a job to do. Take pride in the fact that your son does his job well.
   
7. Don't be a know-it-all. The coaches work at their job 12 months a year and they know what each kid can and cannot do.
   
8. As a fan, yell for the team, not at it. Scream your head off, but please don't become belligerent at a player.
   
9. Believe in your son and his team and in what they are doing.
   
10. Insist on your sons respect for his teammates, parents, coaches, team rules, school rules, and game officials. Don't let him make a fool out of his family, school and team with some uncalled-for gesture or incident whereby he brings shame. Self-respect begins with self-control.

 

Parents, please encourage your son to play for the love of the game and to be unselfish. Do not play for the wrong reasons. Usually, good things happen to the hard-working, unselfish athlete.

 

 

 

Great list!! (1) more if I may, instill into your child :" IF YOU START SOMETHING YOU FINISH IT"

Great list! Gotta love #5 where it talks about not taking away athletics... like soome KHSAA propsals want to do.

Two things also come to mind when reading these commandments

 

As a parent or a fan do not live vicariously through a kid or their team...

 

REMEMBER...they really are still just kids..!!!

I love it. I am going to make a copy of it and send it home with my middle school team.

These should be posted at every high school athletic contest all over the state. Maybe the KHSAA could actually make a decision that would make sense and make these mandatory for all schools to post.

Watusi, I'm really glad that you posted this again. Last season when you posted it, I swore to myself that I would try to follow it. Many of the posters that have been on here for awhile, know that I have been an ardent fan of the Conner Cougars (still am, too). My son was a senior on last year's team and went through a great deal of adversity with the season the Cougars had last year. There had been 3 really great seasons in the past (other than the playoff losses), but last year really took a lot out of these young men. I tried very hard to continue to follow these commandments mostly with success even with the adversity. It made a less than ideal season almost bearable (for me at least). I watched those young men as the wheels fell off during the season and they never gave up. It all came together during the last game with the victory over Boone Co. I learned that this really is just a game for the kids. I'm still a passionate football fan, but I learned to keep things in perspective last season.

 

This year I find myself in Detroit on another project for the season. I will have to miss some of the Cougar's games this year for the first time in 10 years. I'll be there when I can and keep up with them and all of the Kentucky teams as best I can on BGP (thanks 'Ru for all you do). For those of you that have sons that are seniors, you need to relish each moment and game, even if the outcome is not what you want or expect. Life continues to go on regardless of the outcome. But then again you know that since football is life as the saying goes.

These should be posted at every high school athletic contest all over the state. Maybe the KHSAA could actually make a decision that would make sense and make these mandatory for all schools to post.

 

 

:thumb: I thought the same thing after reading it. It should be at every gate at every field.

This is awesome list. From a coaches position I especially like #3,4,and 5. I

This should be sent to every Varsity coach and copied and sent home with every kid.

Raceland football coaches used to send a copy of this home to the kids for the parents to read and sometimes published it in the program on game night.

I think I originally got it from Raceland's website. I'm not certain.

11. Be a role model. Help influence sportsmanship both on the field and in the stands. Understand that the purpse of highschool sports is to contribute to the overall educational curriculum of the student participants and spectators. Do not confuse the role of interscholastic athletics with that of the professional variety.

 

offside