Etiquette at Saturday Sport

Saturday sport is exciting stuff – it’s an integral part of kiwi culture; the mud, the smiles, the tears and the hot pies afterwards. Playing team sport is an excellent way to keep children fit, teach them about winning and losing and how to share. Every weekend, future superstars and their supporters fill the parks and reserves around New Zealand.

Increasingly, it is the supporters attracting attention, not always for the right reasons.

Kids love to have family and friends on the sideline. However, supporters need to behave themselves. There is nothing worse than adults who become abusive at children’s sports matches – either to the children playing, the match officials or other supporters.

At some clubs, the problem has become so widespread that there are signs up reminding supporters how they are expected to behave.

Above all, people on the sideline need to remember that it is just a game. Being played by children. With all the noise coming from the sideline, it is hard for them to decipher individual instruction, so keep the messages short and clear; ‘good effort Jack,” “Great try/goal” “Have another go.”

Clapping and woohooing is fine, but show a good example and do it for both teams.

Occasionally referees get it wrong. However, they are volunteers who are giving up their time to ensure your children get to play. They are in the thick of the action and may miss the odd penalty.  Thou shalt not harass the ref from the sideline!

Your child, or someone else’s on the team may have a bad day. They will feel it already, there is no need to point it out, to other spectators, their parents or the children themselves. 

If you feel yourself getting overexcited and unable to keep your opinions to yourself, take a walk. Breathe for a couple of minutes and return to the game. The same applies if you are becoming irritated by another spectator. Ignore, remove yourself and watch from somewhere else. There is nothing worse than kids seeing parents shouting at eachother on the sideline.

After the game, play up the positives. Children are learning new skills which take plenty of time to perfect. If you’d like to help them practice, by all means do so, but allow them time to learn and make mistakes.

Better still, get involved with the team. Sports clubs and schools always appreciate the help!