Janis B. Meredith's Blog: JBM Thinks Sportsparenting, page 75

What Should Be Your Child’s First Sport?

A child’s first sport…. are you wondering what it should be? Perhaps your child is active and is wanting to try a sport. Or maybe you feel playing a sport would be a fun thing for your child. There’s a lot of options; do you know how to pick the right one? I just wrote […]

Raising Championship-level Kids Takes Championship-level Parents

I’m excited to have my friend and fellow parenting writer Jackie Bledsoe writing about raising championship-level kids. He’s always got good things to say, so listen up!   Today, the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament kicks off. And in living up to its name of March Madness, this tournament has been exactly […]

How to Beat the Negativity in Youth Sports with One Simple word

Negativity in youth sports has reached epidemic proportions. Parents, coaches and players are all guilty and no matter how much we preach against it, it persists. Is there an antidote to youth sports negativity? And if so, what is it? I believe that battling negativity starts with one simple word. Gratefulness. Of course, you may […]

Youth Sports Coaches: 5 Ways to Make Them Happy

Youth Sports Coaches come in a huge variety of shapes, sizes, and character types. Their strategies, temperaments, and likability vary, but there’s one thing that they all have in common: they can be pleased. Even if your child’s coach never shows his pleasure, you can be sure that there are ways to make him happy. […]

Wrestler Stuns the Crowd: Something to Celebrate in Youth Sports!

This wrestler stunned the crowd with what he did. This is one of those sports stories that reminds me that there are a lot of amazing young athletes out there. We tend to focus on the negative and call out the poor sports, the cranky parents and the irate coaches. But there really is a […]

4 Tools Your Child Needs to Deal with Annoying Teammates

Annoying teammates have been on almost every team my kids have played on in my 21 years of sports parenting. You probably know what I’m talking about. Has your child ever played with someone who rubs his teammates the wrong way? He may be cocky, selfish, bossy, or slow. She may be a drama queen, […]

5 Steps to Teaching Your Kids to Have Courage

Courage is a trait that parents may overlook in their attempt to teach other virtues such as compassion, forgiveness, and kindness, and honesty. Kids must learn that conflict is not always wrong, and we’ve got to stop feeding them the line that “nice boys and girls are cautious, compliant and pleasant instead of assertive, virtuous [...]

Why You Should Feel Bad for Your Child

We all have hard days, don’t we? So does your child. Whether he struggles with school, sports, or friends, there will be days when your child will come home discouraged, angry, or frustrated. What is your first response when your child comes home unhappy that he struck out three times in one game? Or when [...]

Role Models in Sports: Do they exist?

Role models–good ones at least–are hard to come by these days.  We see this in celebrities from all walks of life, and the mixed bag of good and bad role models has also permeated the world of sports. What are kids learning from celebrity athletes? This post I wrote for Coachup.com discusses the diversity of [...]

Nutrition Tips for Your Athlete

Nutrition is a subject that I should have focused on more when my kids were little. In my defense, there wasn’t as much of a push as there is now, but still I think that I could have done a better job of feeding my kids nutritionally. Good nutrition is imperative for young athletes and [...]