10 signs of an Excellent Sports Program

When choosing a sports league program for your child, here are 10 things you may want to ask yourself before registering your young athlete.

1- Is Child Safety a BiG Priority? Ask if all adults working with children went through Background & Reference checks. Are there clear guidelines for coaches to follow and is there a 'code of conduct' for parents to reduce sideline negativity and disruption. Are steps taken to reduce Risk and likelihood of injuries?

2- Is the league really about Your child or the adults? Kids want an emphasis on Fun, skill development, do the adult just want to win at all cost and don't put losing and competition in proper perspective.

3- Does the league 'Exclude' (i.e. cut) children before Eight grade? All the kids need a chance to develop confidence and self-esteem, so a good program removes tryouts or cuts for younger athletes.

4- Are the teams well balance with kids of same age and mixed abilities before grade Eight? Every child deserves a chance to play and receive the best possible coaching.

5- Does the league use independent evaluators, not parent coaches to select teams? This avoids concerns about the fairness with selection.

6- Does the league have a strict rule of equal playing time for younger kids, and a significant playing time rule for the older kids? There's less stress for player, parent and coach since everyone feels they're in a win-win situation.

7- Does the league make all necessary information publicly available such as mission statement, names, phone numbers and emails, as well as solicits input from parents?

8- Does the league require that coaches receive training and be evaluated after every season? An excellent league requires coaches to receive training in not only the sport they are coaching but in child development; evaluations are used to eliminate coaches who are abusive, violate equal playing time rules or overemphasize winning at the expense of fun and skill development.

9- Does the league make parents training mandatory? Since parents who have been trained are better able to handle the stress of watching their child compete without losing their cool.

10- Does the league limit the number of practices and games per week? In order to make the program more convenient for parents and reduces the chance of overuse injuries in children.

Mr. Excellent wants you to find out the answers to these questions before signing up your child for a league experience that you both will not enjoy.