Making the decision to coach children’s hockey, lacrosse, or a soccer team can be an incredibly enriching and rewarding experience — if you do it right. Here are some ways to ensure success as a parent and coach of your child or children’s team:

Don’t Show Favoritism, And Practice Positive Reinforcement
Countless TV series and movies harp on all of the bad things that can happen if you show favoritism toward your child or children as a youth sports team coach. Keep things simple, and don’t do it. Your child, your team, and the other parents will thank you for it. Another general rule of thumb is to favor positive reinforcement whenever possible. The fact remains that young children — and even teens, for that matter — do not accept or process negative criticism well. Framing things in a positive way and complimenting what kids do well can make all of the difference. This simple and straightforward tactic will boost confidence, which almost always results in more effort and a better performance.

Spoil Them A Little
Once or twice a season, it can be helpful to reward your team and show everyone how much you appreciate their effort and dedication. What are the perfect hockey gift ideas? What are the best lacrosse and soccer team gifts?

First, remember that not all parents are a fan of participation trophies. Instead of arguing over parenting and coaching philosophies, it is often best to avoid them altogether. Some of the best hockey gifts and soccer gifts are also the most straightforward. Purchase your team hockey apparel with your team name. Give the kids personalized hockey pucks or pass out soccer water bottles with the team name (whatever the case may be). It’s something small and relatively inexpensive, but it will give the kids something to carry around and express some pride in what they do.

Over half (between 55 and 65%) of Americans describe themselves as sports fans. Explore that by coaching youth sports teams and occasionally rewarding them with positive reinforcement and themed gifts (see above for hockey gift ideas, etc.). With hockey participation growing, 750,000 people in the U.S. playing lacrosse, and 250 million people playing soccer globally you have a lot of options to choose from, too.