One thing every football parent must do

By Jackie Bledsoe Jr. | Posted 9/30/2014

The job as a football parent isn't easy. It takes many long hours, many miles in the car and many sacrifices. No matter how much sports experience you have prior to becoming a sports parent, you still have a lot to learn.

One of the first things we should realize it's not about us. It is 100 percent about our kids. As such, our job is to make sure our kids have what they need from us. I'm not talking about gear and all the other physical things that come with youth football.

Lessons from a professional sports parent

I'm talking about the right support, mentally and emotionally. I recently had a conversation with Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. and his brother Bill Ripken. They both have some experience in learning from a sports parent as their dad was not only a sports parent but their coach at the big league level. He is the only professional coach in any sport to coach two sons at the same time.

In our conversation, Cal Jr. shared one thing that really resonated with me. It's something that I haven't always done well but I now feel it is the one thing every football parent and sports parent must do.

Your kids need this most from you

That one thing is take the pressure off our kids when they are playing sports. They face a lot of pressure at every level . We have to find a way to lower that by taking it upon ourselves as much as we can -- by helping them to focus on things that don't bring as much pressure or by putting it all in proper perspective.

Sometimes we add to the pressure versus taking it away. I encourage you to look at yourself, and do a self-evaluation to see how well you are at taking the pressure off your kids when they are playing football.

Below is the Cal Ripken, Jr. interview. See what he says about removing pressure as well as other things he learned and experienced playing for his dad.

How can you help take the pressure off your kids?

Jackie Bledsoe Jr. is a writer, blogger, speaker, husband and sports parent of three. He’s played sports for more than 30 years, including the collegiate level, while coaching youth sports for the past nine years. You can read more from Jackie on his blog, JackieBledsoe.com, and connect with him on Twitter (@jbledsoejr).

Share