Parent-Child Communication and Sport Power Point

2. } Parents have numerous opportunities to
interact with children during sports
} Sports consumes a significant portion of
family’s leisure time
} In many cases, sports is the where parents/
children spend a majority of time together
} 90% or children take part in organized sport
between 5-17
} Interaction can be constructive (e.g.,
encouragement) or destructive (e.g., verbal
abuse)

3. } Sports is a financial investment for families
} Average spending is 3-12% of income for
sports’
} More expensive if children are involved in
club sports

4. } Parents put kids in sports:
◦ Socialization
◦ Skill development (teamwork, leadership)
} Underlying motives:
◦ Live vicariously through child’s sporting
accomplishments
◦ Live out their sports goals through the child

5. } Family identity tied to children’s performance

6. } Evolving
} Shifting from game-based to sports-based
} Game Culture:
◦ Children responsible for design, maintenance, and
development of games
} Sport Culture:
◦ Sports organized by adults, especially parents

7. } Outcomes:
} Adult models applied to youth sports
} Skill development and competition are norm
} Travel/club teams
} Schedule demands can become consuming,
especially for families with more than one
child playing sports

8. } Rise in sports specialization
} Parents forcing their children to “specialize”
in one sport, to maximize their success.
} Is this problematic, why or why not?
} What were your experiences?

9. } Outcomes:
} Sports Rage
} “Any physical attack on another person such
as striking, wounding or otherwise touching
in an offensive manner, or any malicious
verbal abuse or sustained harassment which
threatens subsequent violence of bodily
harm”

10. } Increasing incidents of pressure and abuse
from parents, coaches, and fans
} In some cases this had led to physical
altercations and murder
} Happening at younger ages (4-5 years old)
} 15% of parents will embarrass their child at a
sporting event
} Behavior becomes normalized through
communication of parents/coaches

11. } Sports attrition is on the rise
} Many kids drop sports by age 13
} Led to sports leagues requiring signed codes
of conduct
} Ways that children view their sports
experience is dependent on ways that parents
communicate to them about the importance
of sports and what occurs during
participation

12. } Children learn in sports:
} Through exposure to sports
} Reinforcement received from others
} Parents make initial decision for child to be
involved in sports
} Parents who are actively interested in sports
are more likely to enroll children in sports

13. } Sports has parental benefits and child
benefits
} Parental – seeing child’s enjoyment, skill
improvement, and success, sense of
community
} Child – experience winning/losing, learning
valuable lessons (e.g., sportsmanship),
handling adversity

14. } Sports also brings parental and child
challenges
} Parental – considerable expense, time
commitment
} Child – finding balance between being a
child/adult as seriousness of sport increases
} Intensity from parents/coaches

15. } Parental influence can be supportive or
pressure based
} Supportive – behaviors or comments that
foster athletic participation, open
communication, allow child to develop at own
pace
} Pressure – messages that continually focus on
success and fosters improbable and
impossible expectations

16. } Children perceive two types of parental
involvement:
} Parental Facilitation – paying fees, purchasing
equipment, providing transportation
} Parental Control – imposing performance
standards

17. } Level of family involvement plays a role
} Moderate involvement – ideal parents who
find balance between competitive and
enjoyment objectives
} Low involvement – creates anxiety and
uncertainty in children
} Highly involved – creates stress, fear of
letting parents down

18. } Parents talk about sports with children in
several ways
} Encouraging participation by emphasizing:
} Goal reaching
} Child’s personal improvement
} Importance of trying
} Providing rewards for overcoming difficulties

19. } Turman (2007) interviewed families and
found four types of sports talk in family
settings
} Playing Time
} Sport Politics
} Negative Coaching Behavior
} Sport Competitiveness

20. Family Sports
Talk
Definition
Example
Playing Time
Conversations about the extent
that an athlete is obtaining
adequate participation levels.
“If you don’t see an increase in
playing time then maybe you
need to reconsider going out for
swimming next year.”
Sport Politics
Discussion about the decision-
making practices employed by
the coach to determine
participation levels or player
positions.
“It always seems that your coach
puts in his own daughter at the
end of the game even though the
seniors should be getting an
opportunity to play.”
Negative
Coaching
Behavior
Interaction to discuss or question
the coaching practices or
behavior used to guide a team.
“I don’t think it is useful for your
coach to discipline the entire
team because of what one of
your teammates did.”
Sport
Competitivenes
s
Conversation about the
heightened levels of
competitiveness generated from
sport participation.
“I accept that winning is
important, but are there ways to
still be competitive and make the
experience enjoyable for the
kids?”

21. } Parents feel innate need to provide public
disclosures at sporting events
} 46% of sports fans feel parent sideline
behavior is most significant problem facing
youth sports programs
} Children learn from watching parents/
coaches

22. } Can be:
} Positive (congratulating players, supportive
comments)
} Negative (failing to shake hands, questioning
officials)
} Positive/negative spectator behavior predicts
behavior from athletes

23. } Sex of Parent and Sex of Child play a role in
communication between parents-children
about/during sports
} Traditionally, fathers provided parental
pressure and support, trend emerging of
equal support level regardless of child sex
} Positive comments more likely at girls
sporting events
} Male athletes perceive fathers providing more
stress, while female athletes perceive both
parents equally providing stress.