Bring Your Child Prepared To Play:

Athletes should come to games and practices ready to play.  This means that every player needs shinguards, uniform, shoes appropriate to field of play, have all jewelry removed, and have plenty of water.  We also advise players to wear mouth guards to protect those smiles from unpredictable elbows and tumbles.  Children cannot play without shin guards.

Talking to the Coach:

Getting to know your kids coach and interacting with him or her occasionally is highly recommended.  We encourage our coaches to meet with parents at the beginning of the Fall season to go over coaching philosophy and expectations.  Bow Soccer Club teams are competitive and geared towards improving caliber of play and competitive skills, but they are not the Olympic tryouts.  Please discuss your goals for your child with the coach.

We strive to treat all children and their parents fairly.  Please be aware that the coaches often see behavior that parents don't get to see.  Kids may have a different rendition of an event when they talk to Mom and Dad.  For example, kids may misbehave, refuse to play a position, or tell us that they don't feel well, but then tell their parents that they don't know why a coach limited their play.  The end result, parents conclude the coach is not being fair to their child.  Before getting upset, talk to the coach and get both sides of the story. 

Above-all, please remember that while our coaches are trained and licensed, they are still volunteers who use their spare time to coach your children.  Please offer them your respect and support.

I Can Help From the Sidelines, Right?

When working with youth players, one of the most difficult things for a player to do is play while being yelled at from the sidelines by a parent, spectator or fan. Professional players are paid a LOT of money and one of the "sacrifices" they make in return for this money is they are subjected to this type of yelling from the stands on a regular basis. However, when we are dealing with youth players, they are not prepared to handle much of the yelling that occurs from the sidelines and they should not be subjected to this yelling either.

It's natural for a parent to want to cheer for their son or daughter and that is perfectly acceptable but anything more than cheering actually can become a problem.

How many times have you heard a spectator to "kick it" or "boot it" when in reality the team would like to maintain possession? How many times have you heard spectators yelling at the ref and then you notice that the players start to do the same thing because it's what others are doing?

It's truly a sad thing when after a game a player is crying and when you ask them why they are crying they respond, "Because the parents were yelling at me". I wish I could say this never happens or rarely happens but with young players, it happens a lot more than it should.

If you are a parent, give some thought to whether you are acting in a positive or negative way on the sidelines. As a coach, how often do you meet with the parents and let them know what is expected of them on the sidelines? It's something that needs to be done early in a season to prevent this type of thing from happening and it becoming a problem within the team.

Parental Behavior on the Sidelines (with thanks to a coach somewhere on the Internet):

• Pants shall be worn high enough not to show your underwear at all games.
• Jewelry is allowed, but only if tasteful and does not present a danger to the person sitting next to you.
• Your eating area shall be cleaned after any post-game meal in a restaurant; food fights with the other team's parents are prohibited.
• Only those persons who get above a 90% or above on the yearly referee test may yell at the referee; only those with an IQ of less than 50 may yell at a coach.
• You do not need to genuflect in the presence of a coach; a curtsey or slight bow is all that is necessary.
• There shall be no foul language, birdcalls, peacocking, goosing or ruffling of feathers during games.
• At no time shall you make derogatory comments towards the opposition, as they may be a distant relative.
• Long balls to the opposition are not to be complimented with "oohs" and "aahs" on the length and height of the pass; however, short, precision passes that may lead to a long ball to an open teammate can be applauded.
• And last, but not least, you are mandated to have some fun this season. Everyone else will.