When your child wants to quit a sport

Your child wanting to quit a sport may be an unexpected or difficult situation. Watch this video for great advice from John O'Sullivan, founder of Changing The Game Project, on how to communicate with your kids when they want to quit a sport.
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When your child wants to quit a sport

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If you have a son or daughter who is doing very well at sports but all of a sudden comes in and says. "I wanna quit, I wanna walk away", its a very difficult situation as a parent and its really your job to go to the heart of the problem, why do they want to walk away? Some kids are in a difficult situation where other kids are grown and now they're a little bit small. So they've gone from being one of the better players to struggling a bit and its your job to help them see that sports is a marathon, not a sprint. So you talk them through the situation. Other kids wanna quit because they have other interests and you have to understand that they're never gonna pursue something to a high enough level. If you think they're gonna be a professional player or college player and they don't absolutely love to play the game and show up for practice outside of organized practice, they're probably not going to make it. So its better to help them find something that they truly love to do. And then the real difficult part is maybe they do love the game but they're on a team or they have a coach that's treating them in a way that's taking away that love. So the thing that you have to do as a parent is have a great talk with your kids and get to the heart of why are you walking away. And if you don't have that type of relationship with your son or daughter to do that, find a trusted coach, find a trusted family member or friend who can have the conversation because so many times what will happen is you'll realize that the reason they're walking way is not the reason you thought.

Your child wanting to quit a sport may be an unexpected or difficult situation. Watch this video for great advice from John O'Sullivan, founder of Changing The Game Project, on how to communicate with your kids when they want to quit a sport.

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John O'Sullivan

Founder of Changing The Game Project

John O’Sullivan founded the Changing the Game Project in 2012 in order to help parents, coaches and youth sports organizations create a more child-centered sports experience for our young athletes. John is a former collegiate and professional player, and worked for 20 years on the youth, high school and college level as a coach and club Technical Director. He holds a USSF A License, NSCAA Advanced National Diploma, and a US Youth Soccer National License. His blog is now one of the most popular youth sports websites in the US, and he has been a featured presenter at TEDx Bend Oregon, IMG Academy, and this week at the NSCAA Convention. The Changing the Game Project provides live and online parent and coaching education workshops, webinars, and consulting services.

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