As a younger child, it seemed like I was always at the gym. My dad is a varsity basketball coach, and has been since the time I was born. I was always at a practice, shooting around on the side, or at a game sitting with my coloring books and toys in the bleachers with my mom along with the rest of our fans. This was our way of life, and what I figured to be the norm. I have always felt that these experiences at a young age are what caused me to be the athlete and sports fam I am today. “Identity refers to our sense of who we are as individuals and as members of social and culture groups” (Erikson). Similar to what Dr. Erikson stated; the culture we are a part of develops who we become. I have always been a coach’s son. My role in this culture and how I view it along with how others view it has just evolved. When I was younger, I was the young son, just hanging around my dad. Whereas, now I am an athlete playing for my dad. The concept is still the same but how other people see me has just changed. As a younger athlete I never felt the pressure of others watching me as an athlete. But in high school, with many more spectators and community members watching, I felt the pressure to do well for myself and my dad. I sometimes feel like my …show more content…
For me, the last thing I want to do is let my dad down. My dad has a problem where he can never sleep when we lose a game. I remember coming out of the locker room after a loss and all I could think about was that my dad wouldn’t be able to sleep that night. I wasn’t even worried about myself. I find myself in a similar situation to Doug McDermott from Creighton University. McDermott played for his dad while at Creighton and stated after the final game of his senior season; “As I walked off the floor, I remember thinking how badly I had wanted to win that game, but then in the locker room after the game I realized how much I just wanted to win for my dad”
High school coaches been sworn at called names and physically threatened by parents before,during, and after the games. Playing time is often at the root of the problem though sometimes a parent is outraged that their son or daughter isn’t being played at what the parent thinks is their child’s best position (Nolan). In addition, equal playing time is important because it developed every player skills.(Nicole). Take, for instance, the case of a young player who has never played for a club before. He’s 11 and charges around the place without being able to control the ball or kick. Many of his teammates didn’t think he should play for their team but the coach has been working with him and one day he wanted to let him play and believe it or not he did very well for his first game that he even made a goal for the team (David). The best thing to do whenever you’re in a sport is that the coaches
My personal family was extremely big in basketball. Both of my parents played basketball in highschool, my father has coached basketball for over fifteen years. So naturally I played basketball as a young child, my childhood was centered around basketball. I would go to watch my dad coach his high school almost everyday when I was younger. I played in recreational leagues when I was young, i was eventually invited to play on a traveling basketball. After all this you can imagine the shock when I did not show up to my first middle school practice, and told my parents I was going to wrestle. My parents were upset and said I was a waste of talent, they eventually got use to my decision and support me in my new endeavour. This decision took a lot of courage, and caused a lot of backlash, but I have never regretted it for a
Leff, S., & Hoyle, R. (1995). Young athlete's perceptions of parental support and pressure. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 24(2), 187-203. Retrieved November 18, 2013, from http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01537149#page-1
In a study by Beamon (2012), the phenomenon of athletic identity and identity foreclosure following the retirement from sports was examined. Athletic identity can be defined as a social role or an occupational self-image incorporated of the social, behavioral, cognitive, and affective, obligations associated with athletic identification. Due to the entertainment nature of our culture, elite athletes are socially reinforced for their physical abilities and success. Unfortunately due to this, a majority of athletes conceptualize their identity and “self...
Throughout our lives we have always been competing for the best job, our position in the sport we play, the colleges we want to go to etc. We work hard for what we believe in and many achieve their goal as many do not. And there is always someone who has an advantage over us even if they do not even deserve it. For example, John worked very hard throughout his years playing baseball to get on the major travel team, even though there was only one spot left on the team. He practiced everyday after school for weeks and when it finally came time of tryouts he crushed it. However he did not make the last position because the coaches son was handed that spot and everyone knew who really deserved it. “The coach's son, ” is a person who we call an
Youth sports parenting can be very impactful for children depending on the parenting style. In the article of “Why Kids Quit Sports” the author discusses the major roles that parents play in their kid’s youth sports life. He discusses a personal experience that he had before with a young player from his little league discussing a conversation with one of his team players. He says that a young athlete had told him that she did not want to do sports anymore because her dad kept on coaching her in the car and sidelines of each game. She stated, “I can’t play when he is around, and he insists on coming to every game, every road trip, you name it. It’s like it’s more important to him than it is to me” (“Why Kids Quit Sports”). Parents are the main
The process of becoming a great Coach requires a mix of intelligence, time, hard work, dedication, and knowledge of the sport that someone is coaching. Coaches have the opportunity to impact the players life in a huge way. Most players want to look up to their coach; because that is how influential that they can be in life. The goals every year of a coach is to win a conference championship and win a major championship. The goals vary every year for certain teams and coaches. A reason to become a coach could be the influence that coaches had on one’s childhood growing up, as coaches are usually looked at as great role models. (Foster)
Sports play a very important role in my life ever since I could walk. My interests in playing sports began at the age of three as my parents signed me up for soccer, flag football, basketball, and lacrosse. First grade started my competitive edge as I began to play for travel teams in various sport tournaments. This competitive edge transferred from the sports field to the classroom having teachers and coaches helping me be the best I can be. Sports have continually well-shaped and defined my character by teaching me how to accept a win from working hard, also how a loss is an opportunity to learn and fix mistakes.
From a young age, my parents have always focused on teaching me to be the best person I can possibly be. Life skills, discipline, and good morals highlighted the long list of qualities my parents believed I should practice and aim to perfect. However, the most important thing to realize and accept, according to my parents, is that life will not always go how you want it to go, and that one can never dwell on the past. Being a football player, I had always heard that high school football was politically based, that the coach's favorite players would be given more opportunities than others. Upon hearing such assertions, I had trouble believing this to be true, that the best player deserves to start regardless of the popularity of the athlete. Despite my initial perspective, when I finally worked my way to a spot on the varsity football team, I realized that high school football was not what I thought it was,
According to Sheed, “Schools and colleges also teach something by their very natures, which is that you are now playing for a whole community and not just yourself” (498). Typically, what Sheed is saying is that sports have brought peers, schools, students, and even communities together to share and engage in one thing they love, sports. The people that are not even engaged in the physical aspect of sports are still brought together. They are able to cherish their favorite teams and show pride as their team endures the road to glory.
“The Effects of Sport Participation on Student-Athletes’ and Non-Athlete Students’ Social Life and Identity.” Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics. College Sport Research Institute. 2010, 3, 176-193. Cosh, Suzanne. Tully, Phillip.
Athletics is not the most important part of the educational offerings at a school, it is the most visible aspect. Everything coaches do will be easily observed and under constant scrutiny. This makes a coach one of the most important role model accosicated in a child’s life. When going out for a sport, you want to have love for the game. The number one thing that is important is that the coach doesn’t make your love
They were administered multiple measures including the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS), the Athletic Identity Questionnaire (AIQ), the Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (Godin), as well as several others. Reifsteck (2011) measured athletic identity with the AIMS, addressed the research question with the AIQ, addressed physical activity levels with the Godin, and required participants to provide self-report ratings of past and present athletic identity (Reifsteck, 2011). Results indicated that stronger athletic identity was correlated to higher physical activity levels, and most participants had a difficult time transitioning into retirement from sport (Reifsteck, 2011). In addition, participants reported that their physical activity was promoted by simply identifying as an athlete; however, time, motivation, and a reduction in athletic identity were the biggest obstacles in continuing to exercise, after athletes’ athletic career (Reifsteck, 2011). Moreover, the results demonstrated that the athletes in this study were generally externally motivated, in that they relied on coaches, trainers, and teammates for motivation to engage in physical
With more and more children participating in some sort of organized sport than ever before, there is a constant concern regarding the pressures kids are brought into to excel. Emotionally over-involved parents often think that it is their responsibility to persuade, push, or support the children's fantasies or sporting objectives, even if the kids themselves do not share the same aspirations as his/her parents. Part of growing up is learning what interests you the most. It's how one becomes familiar with who they really are and what they enjoy doing in life. Unfortunately, for many young children, his/her parents seem to take his/her own lives into their own hands. Most parents want their kids to grow up to be "superstars", make it big after the college scenario, and perhaps go on to play professionally or succeed in the Olympics. We all know that there are the few that make it professionally, and having your parent paint a picture for you as you're barely going into grade school is unethical. Yet for the unfortunate, these kids are helpless to the pressure that is put on them at such a young age. Take Todd Marinovich, for example. For the child's entire life he was exercised, fed, schooled, and drilled with his fathers' one g...
Being a parent is one of the most rewarding, yet difficult jobs in the world. We want our children to grow up to be well-rounded adults and to succeed in everything they do. As role models, we give direction to our children, motivate and inspire them to reach a goal, and encourage them to do the right thing. We are molding them to be the next generation of successful leaders. We want to teach them life lessons, be high performers, and most of all, we want them to be happy. Parents want school and sports to be positive experiences in their children’s life, however, what if a parent’s leadership creates a negative experience? What if parents push their children too hard? What if parents create such negativity regarding sports, that it results in emotional, physical, and even health related problems?