Several years ago USA Today released a survey of young athletes that found that 41 percent admitted they wake up during the night worried about a game.
That's a lot of stressed out children arriving at fields, rinks and gyms with unwanted pressure draped on them that cripples their ability to perform at their best, as well as drains a lot of the fun out of the sport.
Be on the lookout for any indication that your child is feeling a heavy dose of pressure this season. Headaches, muscle aches, sleepless nights and digestive problems are all warning signs that should not be easily dismissed.
The following are some tips to keep in mind to help reduce your child's stress level and increase their enjoyment:
* Children must be made fully aware that it's OK if they make mistakes during games. As psychologist Orv Owens explains, "I know a corporation that promotes people by how many mistakes they make. And you can see how that frees them. All of a sudden they're relaxed, which means they don't make very many mistakes. But the person making the most mistakes is normally the one who's doing the most. In basketball there are a lot of players who will never shoot because they're afraid they might miss.
In football, there are quarterbacks who will take a sack before they throw the ball - because they're afraid they're going to be intercepted. The problem with that, of course, is if you never shoot the basketball, you will never score a basket; and if you don't throw any passes in football you won't complete any either."
* Be honest with your child about what you expect from them. Children naturally want to please their parents, and when it comes to sports that means scoring goals, hitting home-runs and catching touchdown passes. It's up to you to constantly remind your child that you simply expect them to do their best and have fun in the process.
* Make sure your actions during and after the game back up what you've told your child. That means taking them out for a post-game ice cream regardless if they went 4-for-4 or 0-for-4 during their baseball game. That also means cheering not only just the good plays, but making sure you acknowledge when they hustled to run out a ground ball, when they're showing improvement in any aspect of the sport, or they demonstrated good sportsmanship.
* Talk to your child to make sure they have realistic expectations themselves prior to the season. If this is their first year playing hockey, for example, help them to focus on developing some basic skills and then working to improve them as the season progresses.
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