Raising a Team Player

Youth sports have become a pressure cooker of expectations. Parents scream abuse at players, coaches, and referees. Coaches demand that their teams win at any cost. Kids practice day and night. They face intense pressure to score, to win, to succeed. But is this the measure of success we want to impress upon our children? In the complex world of today's youth athletic programs, parents face many challenging questions. What is a successful athletic experience? How can you help kids deal with pressure from coaches, players, and other parents? How do you encourage healthy competitiveness and discourage poor sportsmanship? Can you help your child develop a strong work ethic without becoming discouraged at the slow progress? How do you support a child who sits on the bench all year long? What's the best way to encourage your strong-willed all-star to support his teammates? How do you teach a child to accept criticism positively? Most important, how do you help your child absorb real core values from sports? How can you use sports as a vehicle to talk to kids about life's challenges?

In "Raising a Team Player, " Harry Sheehy answers these questions and more. Offering lessons and wisdom learned from more than 17 years of working with elementary school children, high schoolers, and college players, Sheehy encourages parents to get involved in their kids' athletic experiences. He offers advice on how to praise, encourage, inspire, build, temper, support, and teach, working with children on everything from setting goals to teaching sportsmanship and humility to building character and a sense of self-worth. With direct, compelling words, Sheehy inspires in parents and coaches an attitude of self-realization, humor, confidence, and enthusiasm for both the successes and mistakes of young athletes.