Happy Holidays from iSport360!
Thanks for all of your support in 2019 as the iSport360 team worked hard to impact the culture in youth sports. We now have 100,000 subscribers to our FREE newsletter and we hope you enjoy our helpful and frequently-funny articles that shed light on the challenges we face as sports parents and coaches. As this year comes to a close, we are wishing you happy holidays and sharing our most successful posts of the year.
— Ian and the iSport360 Team —
Even Mark Wahlberg & Will Ferrell Are Guilty Of Being Bad Sports Parents
As we approach the new sports season, coaches and parents across the country will be asked to pledge that they will behave properly on the sidelines of their kids games. But at least we’re not alone: Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell are guilty of losing their minds on the sidelines of their kids’ games too. Click here to read more & watch the video!
Youth Sports Culture… Something Needs To Change
If you ask the biggest names in youth sports (The Jr. NBA, TeamSnap, US Youth Soccer, US Lacrosse, National Alliance for Youth Sports) what their most pressing challenge is, they will all say “Changing the Culture of Youth Sports” in one form or another. I know this because I have asked people at the top of these organizations that very question. Their biggest challenges are not “finding the next Lebron” or “putting together our next olympic team” or “getting athletes to peak performance”. Rather, they are trying to rein in sports parents and coaches so we can get the focus of youth sports back on kids. Click here to see how iSport360 is helping.
Leaving The Split-Second Decisions To The Kids (Can You Handle It?)
As a parent of a young basketball player, I know we all want to give our kids the best opportunity to succeed. As a result, many of us end up trying to coach our sons and daughters from the stands during a game. We have the best of intentions in most cases, we see something that we think our young player should be doing and so we want to get that message to them. Click here to read more and learn the ways we can leave the split second decisions to our kids.
I Dare You To Chill
For over 20 years Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) has been helping coaches shape better players and better people in youth sports. And that’s why I love sharing their amazingly funny, but oh-so-true video about how sideline parents’ behavior impacts their kids. Truth is folks: being a sports parents takes a lot of energy, patience, commitment… and yes, even self-control… I know first hand. But the next time your child gets knocked down, beat by an opponent, taken out of the game, put in a position you don’t like, I DARE YOU TO CHILL… literally! Click here to watch the video.
For Crazy Sports Parents (Like Me): The First Step To Recovery…
| I can’t thank Sports Nova Scotia enough for this hysterical satire of a Sport Parent “Support Group”. While it’s great for a laugh, what I loved about it is that it touches on all of the serious topics that we cover in our blog: early sports specialization, having realistic expectations about your kids and balancing fun vs. winning. So have a laugh, but take a lesson… and let’s keep the focus of youth sports on our kids. Click here to watch the video. |
All You Have To Say: I Love To Watch You Play
When kids and youth athletes tell us how they really feel, it makes it so much easier for sports parents to avoid coaching from the sidelines. And there’s no need for the “post-game analysis” in the car ride home. Saying “I love to watch you play” is sometimes the only encouragement our young athletes need. And I love that message in this compelling video where kids tell us, in their own words, how they feel when their parents yell and cheer from the sidelines of their games. Thanks to veteran sports broadcasters Asia Mape and Alex Flanagan for this amazing short video. Click here to watch the video.
Learn more or click here to get a new iSport360 account setup!
Have a great winter sports season and please share your product feedback with us here.