Am I Overparenting My Young Athlete?

Do you over-prepare your child before each game?

Are you likely to over-analyze each game?

Do you tend to over-talk the game at home?

Do you over-train your child during off-season?

Do you often try to handle your kids’ problems?

Do you have a hard time tolerating your child failing?

Do you argue with the kids’ coach(es)?

Based on your answers, you are not overparenting your young athlete. That is, of course, positive news. Being an involved parent is certainly a good thing. As a parent, your duty is to be active in your child’s life, not only to show them your support, but also because it can help them build their confidence. But there is a difference between an engaged parent and an overparenting one. Especially in youth sports parents are often guilty of overparenting. But it’s essential to allow children to safely be independent and to learn from their successes and failures. This will help them to successfully navigate life’s challenges.

Based on your answers, you are displaying some signs related to overparenting. This is not a very good thing. A common problem in youth sports is that the parents take the game more seriously than their children do. Especially in the car on the way home after a game this is evident. Overparenting is a term used to describe parents that are extremely worried about the safety or successes of their children. In consequence, they often do too many things for their children which will not allow them to be independent. Parents should stimulate independency in their kids to teach them coping skills and resilience that are critical for successfully navigating through life.

Unfortunately, you are displaying the signs typically seen among individuals are overparenting their young athlete. Being interested in your child’s sports is great, but it can also be too much of a good thing. For example, you may want to let your child decide how much you talk about sports at home. Besides, if your child is eager to work on his or her skills, that is great! But when the parent is the one who is doing all the pushing, it’s not good for the child. By being too involved in a child’s life, it may cause anxiety in a child. Besides, it will prevent the child from developing problem-solving skills.