Let them fight for it... or not!

Should a parent step in if a child is having a problem on the team, like sitting on the bench too much?

The ideal situation is to let your kid fight his own battles. If the kid is not getting playing time, the parent can’t go complaining to the coach. The parent needs to teach the kid to go out there and prove the coach wrong by being the hardest working kid at training and by going in the backyard to improve his skills, so he can force his way onto the team. Now the kid is learning how to persevere and solve a problem.

How does a parent encourage a child who is talented in a sport but not interested in pursuing it?

The child shouldn’t play if his heart isn’t into it. It’s the child’s life. As parents, we need to guide them through the obstacles and the path they want to go through. We can’t force them down a path if that’s not what they want, because when they go there, they’re not going to put in the effort. They are probably going to be disrespectful. They will probably show bad body language and not concentrate. That’s going to force their teammates to not like them, anger the coach and embarrass the child.