When your kids are small, sports are easy. Well, maybe not the sports themselves, but the actual "parenting" of them. On fall weekends, you see parents and kids crowding soccer complexes and it makes moms and dads eager to get their youngsters involved. They, too, want to tote the collapsible chairs and the water jugs, buy that first pair of cleats adn most importantly, revel in the joy of watching their child's little legs carry him up and down the field with his teammates. Cheering for children is a parental right and nothing feels better than that old "atta boy!" sensation that peels through your heart when your child makes you proud. Granted, at 4 years old, your little soccer player is more likely to be picking clover from the grass than kicking balls in the net -- but when they're young it's all a part of the journey that takes them through their athletic development. With T-ball, you may watch more wacky base running than you've ever seen in your life, but you also have a lot of great laughs with other parents as your child begins to grasp the great sport of baseball. The beginnings are simple and sweet for any sport.

Fast forward several years and you may just find your child beginning to concentrate on one sport over another -- or perhaps YOU are. There are plenty of moms and dads who want so badly for their kid to be "the best" at what they play that they themselves go overboard in their zeal for their child's ability. These are the parents who get ticked on the sidelines when the team's not winning. The ones who pepper conversations with criticisms of the coah, the facility, the management or the development of the child. These parents have some kind of blinder on; they don't realize that negativity doesn't belong in sports; that it zaps the joy right out of a child's playing ability which results in crushing a child's confidence.

If your child plays competitive sports -- often known as select, or travel -- you know very well which kids are suffering from over-zealous sports parenting. They're the ones who scowl at their bat after striking out like the bat itself is to blame. They're the ones who literally stop trying in the middle of the soccer game's third quarter. They're the ones who don't smile before, during or after the game because they've been overly conditioned to be focused and serious about their sport. They may be the ones who end up burning out. So a couple of thoughts.

As a mom with three kids who play competitive sports (and with a 4-year-old about to get started), I've learned it's best to keep cheering and that's that. Don't say anything about the game beyond the positive. Just help them with their needs like water, equipment and being on time. Let their coaches by the coaches and by all means if you don't like the training they're receiving then switch it up without making a big deal about it. It doesn't matter if your kids are "the best" at their sport and it has nothing do with YOU, anyway. As a great teacher of mind once said, "If you're great, the world will know it."