London - Competitive parents are taking the fun out of school sport, a headmaster says.
Leonard Blom said pushy mothers and fathers were making exhibitions of themselves and damaging their children’s confidence.
They were losing sight of the importance of ‘good sportsmanship’ and setting a poor example, he said.
Blom, who is head at St Aubyn’s School in Woodford Green, Essex, said it was common to see a “hysterical parent pacing up and down the sideline, shouting instructions to the player on the field who is already doing his or her best for the team”.
One mother at a swimming gala, paced the pool, yelling encouragement to her daughter.
The woman did this “to the extent that she would collapse in a heap at the end of each race, exhausted at the attempt to get her daughter across to the other end of the pool”.
Blom said he had no doubt the girl would “never swim another stroke again” as soon as she hit puberty.
He urged parents to be proud when their child did well and “make sure that, win or lose, you love them and are not disappointed with their performance”. – Daily Mail