Parental Influence on Motivation in Youth

Football

A Parent at a Rugby match

It is not just Dads

To produce top players we need to • Encourage enjoyment • Provide for accelerated development • Understand the dynamics of motivated behaviour

Some of the player’s motivation stems from within, from themselves

A significant influence is given by outside agents – parents, team-mates and

coaches

Two types of goals that are promoted by coaches and parents

• outcome/ego goals which emphasise comparisons with known standards or

outperforming others

• mastery/task goals which emphasise effort, personal improvement and task mastery ( irrelevant of other players )

Mastery goals lead to

• positive affect / enjoyment • reduced pressure / tension • greater confidence • effective learning strategies • moral behaviour • greater skill development

Three types of support

• competence support

• relatedness support

• autonomy support

Competence support

Feedback and input that supports the player’s sense of

competence and positive achievement

Relatedness support

The fostering and facilitation of the feeling of belonging and

being part of a group as well as the creation of a friendly

atmosphere

Autonomy support

Where players feel that their team-mates allow them input in decision-making and the way

they play

Unconditional support

All support offered by parents should not be contingent on results or performances, but

simply offered unconditionally.

Watching - spectating

Parents being at training but particularly at games.

Before and during games – do you give support or put pressure on your son ?

Parent pre-performance motivating behaviours

Support

Pressure

Notice for Parents

Parent evaluative behaviours

1. over-critical feedback

2. balanced feedback

3. praise and positive feedback

4. negative feedback

Parent reward behaviours

1. effort / attitude contingent rewards

2. unconditional praise

3. outcome dependent re-inforcement

Parents’ emotional responses

1. parent anger

2. tolerance of failures

FA Respect Campaign

FA Respect Campaign

FA Respect Campaign

Parental leadership styles

1. controlling style 2. autonomy supporting style 3. different mum/dad styles 4. parent’s expertise 5. collaboration with player 6. empathy-understanding

Parent play-and-teach behaviours

1. encouraging practice

2. garden play

Conclusion

Parents have a significant and sizeable influence on the motivation of their children, particularly up to the U15

stage

There are many ways in which parents can directly and indirectly influence

their child’s motivation

Recommendation

You should consider the extent to which your actions support the player’s drives to feel COMPETENT AUTONOMOUS and RELATED.

Reminder

COMPETENT – Emphasise what they are good at and what they can do

RELATED – Encourage the feeling that they are part of a group in a friendly atmosphere ( WE )

AUTONOMOUS – Help them to feel that they can make decisions as an important individual in the team ( ME )

Advice to Parents Do Communicate the positives Give positive encouragement to all players Help them to focus on the things that can be controlled Display appropriate game behaviour Praise effort and improvement, not outcome Keep things in perspective – do not make too much of successes and failures Be her/his best fan – unconditionally Discuss examples of bad sportsmanship on the TV Encourage her/him to play by the rules Support all of our efforts to remove verbal abuse from our Academy Monitor her/his eating and sleeping habits Encourage her/him to see all sessions as valuable Encourage responsibility, looking after her/his own kit, drink, etc., punctuality Encourage her/him to help others – team-mates, coaches, etc. Keep a regular check on whether she/he is enjoying the experience

Advice to parentsDo not Coach from the side-lines

Be too intense when driving to and from games and practice

Undermine coaches/players/parents

Talk to coaches during practices/games

Shout at or insult referees, opposition players and parents

Force her/him to practice at home ( encourage - yes, force - no )

Instil that winning is the only measure of success

RememberOpponents

The opponent is not the enemy. We need the opposing team or we do not have a game. The better the opponent performs then the bigger our challenge and the more we can stretch ourselves towards achieving peak performance.

Match Officials They are human and they will, like all of us, make some mistakes – but they will be ‘honest’ mistakes. They do not aim to cheat nor favour one team. No matter how fierce you protest, the decision will not be changed. As with opponents, we need match officials to have a game.

Respect The RESPECT Campaign is a very worthy initiative. It starts with players, parents and coaches. For it to work and improve our game, we must give this respect to the officials unconditionally.

Respect

The RESPECT Campaign is a very worthy initiative. It starts with players, parents and coaches. For it to work and improve our game, we must give this respect to the the coaches, our players, the opponents and the officials unconditionally.

Six words to say

Six words to sayResearchers asked young players what their parents said that made them feel great and

brought them joy when they played sports. Want to know the six words they most want to hear

their parents say?

“I love to watch you play.”

That’s it. Not any major praise like “you were brilliant,” and nothing discouraging like “here’s

what you did wrong.” Just “I love to watch you play.”

Bill Shankly’s message to me

“John, always remember, coaches don’t make players; Mums and Dads do.”

Thank you