Why do so many parents decide to place their child into a sports club but still continue coach their kids — and the coach — at the same time, all from behind the white line, where many of the “has beens”, “dreamers” and mostly, angry parents sharpen their pitchforks and come out on a Saturday to slaughter a referee, coach and even their own kids?

A recent incident involved a mother who removed her son from the pitch as she felt he could play a better position, hurling insults at the coach, whose team was leading 3 - 0.

The truth is, it's usually parents who had a dream that tanked and now see their offspring achieving what they failed to. Hats off to the idea, but in reality, going onto the pitch and personally forcing open the road for your child is not the way to go.

The first challenge for any player, starting at a young age especially, is to be able to determine whether or not they able to take part in a team sport or an environment which requires you to be a team player.

Many parents fail to understand this, because they expect to babysit their kids from cradle to their grave, but don’t properly prepare their kids for what is to come.

That is why so many South African players fail to make it at a youth level abroad. They eventually become homesick and long for that nurture and care. In other countries, especially South American and other African countries, boys get sent away at a young age to learn to adapt. And often they end up saving their parents, buying them mansions and a new life.

While I acknowledge the sacrifices made by parents, running alongside your child, trying to be his personal GPS tracker towards goal and then getting furious when he doesn't score is not the way to help him succeed. Screaming at the coach to change his position is not the way. Blaming the referee and asking for decisions is not the way.

But trying to educate a stubborn parent is another challenge because many feel it’s okay to teach the kids to take what you want and not have to work hard.

Many coaches are trained and able to assess your child without being biased towards him or her and that should be seen as a benefit. It’s hard enough trying to manage a squad of kids, but then to have to be able to manage parents as well can be quite exhausting.

So parents, take GoalMOUTH’s advice. Take your camp chairs, find a nice quiet area around the field, away from coaches, and support your child, win or lose. Support the coach as well, because most parents will not be able to do a better job. On match day, don’t take the shape of Jose Mourinho or the angry and raging Jurgen Klopp during Liverpool’s 2 - 0 loss to Manchester United.

DISCLAIMER: These are the views of GoalMOUTH, if you don't like them, great, I'd like to hear why.

So step into my GOAL and don't mind to watch your MOUTH! :-)

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