Kids are naturally blessed with an abundance of energy, and what better way to spend it than in junior league sports? Although there is a plethora of options like hockey, soccer, softball, gymnastics, basketball, and others, competition and involvement are higher than ever before. Some parents may feel like they are out of their league and feel like they can't help. They can. Here are five ways you can help out even if you know nothing about your child's sport.
Find Sponsorships
Your child's team will undoubtedly need help getting things paid for. A pavement-pounding parent can track down sponsors who will help cover things like hotel rooms, equipment, and those sharp custom jerseys and sports apparel. Help teams with older kids set up camps to earn money teaching the game to younger players.
Track Stats
Nothing helps a child learn more about his or her performance quite as much as tracking progress through the season. Coaches love metrics, so if you can pick up the scorebook after the game and crunch numbers into a spreadsheet, you can help both the players and the coaches to improve.
Try Your Hand at Marketing
When our kids take road trips and hit the field or the court in custom jerseys and sports apparel, the professionalism factor goes way up. You may have an eye for style that will help you design promotional items. If you don’t, online design tools like this one by The Graphic Edge can help. You can also set up social media accounts to help family, friends, and maybe even scouts follow your team.
Plan Team Events
The most successful teams are the ones that play together off the field as well as on it. You can help by planning things for the team to do together. Have everybody over to your pool after a game, or get movie tickets for the whole team. Do whatever you can to build camaraderie while the cleats or pads are off.
Build Morale
Young players have a very fragile ego and need encouragement. A coach's job includes a lot of praise, but that coach is also the only person to pick apart the player's imperfections in order to foster improvement. From the sidelines, you can choose ways to recognize achievements by various players to help the coaches maintain a positive mindset for everybody on the roster.
With highly-qualified coaches taking the place of less-experienced parents, there is a need to find a role for moms and dads. Use your skills to help build your player's skills and turn the sport into something the whole family enjoys.
At Bat is striving to uplift the youth, and our goal is to increase the number of minorities playing baseball and softball. You can help contribute to the cause by volunteering or becoming a member today!