The argument use to fly in college walking back from the liquor store with hands full and contemplating a long night ahead of you.  Now you drive a minivan and instead of road trips you are behind the wheel transporting your offspring made from the strongest swimmer in the bunch.  Days no longer allow you gym time or intramural activities you once enjoyed on campus.  Today, the responsibilities of fatherhood find you courageously playing dad and coach to your son or daughter's travel team. 

As a coach, who would have known parents could be so brutal.  Sometimes, you probably more feel like you are coaching the Bears at Lambeau than facilitating tomorrow's potential high school and college stars.  A recent indoor soccer league game gave me first hand insight to the insanity that comes from parents in the stands.  I swear they were welcoming in the opposing teams bus on homecoming at Camp Randall rather than watching a youth soccer game. 

Here are the facts for sports parents and coaches who want to make a difference and preserve their place to watch and cheer young athletes later at the high school, college or maybe even at the pro level. 

 These stats come from the National Youth Sports Coaches Alliance or otherwise known as National Alliance for Youth Sports (NAYS).

-70% of children drop out of sports before the age of 13. 

-Less than 1% of high school athletes receive a Division 1A sports scholarship.

-1 of 100 plays even a minute in college.

-1 out of 100,000 gets any type of pro contract. 

University of Florida research interviewed top collegiate coaches and asked them what characteristics top players possessed.  They identified three:  1)A passion for the game 2) A positive attitude 3) coachability. 

As a parent who might be possessed with the idea of winning at all cost be careful how you act in the stands.  The weak ones are prevalent in youth sports, top athletes are raised a little differently.