The other day at a huge high school sports event, I watched a large, loud dad yelling at a ref. On the sidelines, the coach looked furious. Being abusive to an official not only models terrible behavior; it’s a terrible strategy.
I started to wonder: what other parental actions do coaches hate, that might not be so obvious? What other terrible lessons are well-intentioned parents teaching their kids, without even realizing it?
I set out to interview coaches, and consistently heard six things that drive them nuts and send bad signals … and what to do instead: