West Des Moines Soccer Club

Parent Education Resource Center

The following articles have been selected to help assist parents in the process of raising young athletes.

Do talented kids become elite adults?

A Father’s Covenant to His Son & Daughter Jack (8), Dublin (6), Finn (4) and Savannah (1) Keating, I’m writing this piece while you are all young. I have been coaching for a long time now and have seen the good, the bad and the ugly in youth sports. As you may know I played soccer for a long time; my first toy that I can remember was a yellow and black plastic soccer ball and for my third birthday I got a soccer jersey from a professional club.

Has Coddling an Entire Generation of Children Set Them Up for Failure? You’ve probably heard the phrase "Helicopter Parent" by now. It was coined by the authors of the popular book, Parenting With Love and Logic. A helicopter parent is one who hovers over their child’s every move in an effort to protect them from pain, disappointment, and failure in the process of achieving success.

Do Talented Boys Become Elite Adults? In searching for future elite players, coaches are looking for young players who have the potential or talent and present the highest probability to become elite players in the future.

What if your kid pressured you the way you pressure them? The parent that poses the greatest risk to the long-term development of young athletes is the fanatical parent who applies too much pressure. Athletes of fanatical parents experience greater parental pressure, argue more frequently with coaches and officials, experience more problems with eating and sleeping, show less effort and enjoyment during training sessions, and are more likely to drop out of sports than athletes of normal, supportive parents.

The Car Ride Home I recently had the opportunity to meet with a group of parents of a u-9 boys travel team to discuss our club’s mission with respect to facilitating the conditions which focus upon player development over match results. These particular parents had enjoyed a rather successful wins/losses record that leaned in their favor over the past few seasons.

The Importance of Parental Involvement in Youth Sports Parents, when it comes to the impact you have on your child’s sporting experience; do not underestimate your influence. Children learn from watching others and copying the behavior they see demonstrated. It is most often the parent who is the first person to introduce a child to sports, and parental involvement can affect whether a child enjoys the experience or not.

What Makes a Nightmare Sports Parent -- And What Makes a Great One Hundreds of college athletes were asked to think back: "What is your worst memory from playing youth and high school sports?" Their overwhelming response: "The ride home from games with my parents."

Are You Crazy on the Sideline? We recently received an invitation for one of our ODP teams to participate in a prestigious tournament in England and were surprised to learn, upon reading the fine print, that said tournament was a ’scout and parent free zone.’ Imagine that!

Concussions in Youth Soccer: Growing Concerns Fifteen-year-old Allison Kasacavage, once a rising soccer star in Pennsylvania, is slowly recovering after suffering debilitating concussions while playing the game she loved. “It’s almost like I need a sign on my back saying, ‘My head is broken.’ And you can’t see it. It’s like not visible and it’s like not many people understand, “said Allison in an interview.

Pushing Too Hard, Too Young Take away the fun factor in sports and kids can burn out. Intense training schedules. Pressure to win and be the best. Painful injuries. Given all these factors, it's not surprising that some athletes simply burn out on their sport. But what is shocking to many in the field are the young ages at which this is increasingly happening -- sometimes as early as 9 or 10.