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by Rose
Snyder, Managing Director Coaching Division, USOC I. Thou shalt not
impose thy ambitions on thy child. Remember
that swimming is your child's activity. Improvements and progress occur at different rates for each individual. Don't judge
your child's progress based on the performance of other athletes and don't
push him based on what you think he should be doing. The nice thing
about swimming is every person can strive to do his personal best and
benefit from the process of competitive
swimming. II. Thou shalt be
supportive no matter what. There is
only one question to ask your child after a practice or a competition -
"Did you have fun?" If meets and practices are not fun, your child
should not be forced to participate. III. Thou shalt not coach
thy child. You are
involved in one of the few youth sports programs that offers
professional coaching. Do not undermine the professional coach by trying to
coach your child on the side. Your job is to provide love and support. The
coach is responsible for the technical part of the job. You should not offer
advice on technique or race strategy. Never pay your child for a
performance. This will only serve to confuse your child concerning the
reasons to strive for excellence and weaken the swimmer/coach bond. IV. Thou shalt only have
positive things to say at a swimming meet. You should
be encouraging and never criticize your child or the coach. Both of them
know when mistakes have been made. Remember “yelling at” is not the same as
“cheering for”. V. Thou shalt acknowledge
thy child's fears. New
experiences can be stressful situations. It is totally appropriate for
your child to be scared. Don't yell or belittle, just assure your child that
the coach would not have suggested the event or meet if your child was
not ready. Remember your job is to love and support your child through all of
the swimming experience.
Please don't
criticize those who are doing the best they can in purely voluntary
positions. VII. Honor thy child's coach. The bond
between coach and swimmer is special. It contributes to your child's success
as well as fun. Do not criticize the coach in the presence of your child. VIII. Thou shalt be loyal and
supportive of thy team It is not
wise for parents to take swimmers and to jump from team to team. The water
isn't necessarily bluer in another team's pool. Every team has its own
internal problems, even teams that build champions. Children who switch from
team to team find that it can be a difficult emotional experience. Often
swimmers who do switch teams don't do better than they did before
they sought the bluer water. IX. Thy child shalt have
goals besides winning. Most
successful swimmers have learned to focus on the process and not the
outcome. Giving an honest effort regardless of what the outcome is, is much more important than winning. One Olympian
said, "My goal was to set a world record. Well, I did that, but someone
else did it too, just a little faster than I did. I achieved my goal and I
lost. Does this make me a failure? No, in fact I am very proud of that
swim." What a tremendous outlook to carry on through life. X. Thou shalt not expect
thy child to become an Olympian. There are
250,000 athletes in USA Swimming. There are only 52 spots available for the
Olympic Team every four years. Your child's odds of becoming an
Olympian are about .0002%. |
