Recently, we came across an article by FootballScoop.com that discussed a new study that came showed “37% of young athletes don’t want their parents at games” due to the pressure parents are increasingly putting on their child to perform.

The article also mentions that more and more colleges are now taking into account the parents when potentially recruiting a young player.

These colleges simply CAN’T afford to have parents around their program that might become a team/program “cancer.”

Moreover, the article’s main source talks about how reffing these days has become harder and harder due to the rising abuse by parents and fans from the stands.

All of this adds up to a really unfortunate reality in the youth sports world where players are feeling TOO MUCH pressure from mom and dad, parents are too caught up in their child getting a college scholarship, and referees quitting due to the abuse they’re taking.

Overall, youth basketball and youth sports, in general, can sometimes be a really negative environment.

Well, at Pro Skills Basketball, we are trying to change all of that. One of the main things we do is make all of our parents sign a code of conduct for our PSB Select AAU teams.

The code of conduct states:

1. I understand that I am representing Pro Skills Basketball, and I will ALWAYS do my best to positively represent the organization and its values.
2. I promise to let the coaches coach and will not coach my child or child’s team from the sidelines during practices or games.
3. I promise to let the referees ref and will not yell at them or berate them before, during, or after games.
4. I will do my job as a parent, which means that I will not speak negatively about any coach or player, but rather positively encourage and support my child and my child’s teammates and coaches.
5. I will abide by the “24 Hour Rule”, which means I will not speak to my child’s coach about playing time or game strategy within 24 hours after a game ends.

This code of conduct has been EXTREMELY helpful in our vision to change the negative, win-at-all-costs environment of youth basketball, and we believe has created a more positive and fun environment for our parents, players, coaches, and yes, even referees!

For more, read the Footballscoop.com article here and/or see the original source of information here!