A Comprehensive Guide on Do’s and Don’ts for Parents in Volleyball Tryouts

The winners in life think in terms of I can, I will, and I am. Losers, on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have done, would have done, and what they can’t do.

Dennis Waitley.

Source: Hub Pages.

Do you want to know the do’s and don’ts for parents in volleyball tryouts?

Are you going to attend your child’s volleyball tryout session for the first time as parents?

Then this is the perfect guide for you!

As volleyball parents, your role is critical in shaping your child’s volleyball journey. No doubt that there are a lot of benefits and at the same time, challenges involved in your child playing volleyball.

But the first step for your child becoming a successful volleyball player starts with tryouts. And if this is your first time attending your child’s tryout session for the first time, then knowing the do’s and don’ts is essential.

So to make your job a little easier, we’ll have a closer look at the do’s and don’ts for parents in volleyball tryouts.

Let’s get started!

Did you know? The record for most consecutive passes during a volleyball match is 110 and it was achieved in 2010 at Raleigh, North Carolina. That must’ve been a long, exhilarating and exciting rally for sure!

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Do’s and Don’ts for Parents in Volleyball Tryouts

If your child just got started playing volleyball and this is their first tryout session, then knowing about the best volleyball tryout tips for beginner players and the do’s and don’ts in volleyball tryouts is critical to attend it confidently and give their best.

When they have this knowledge, you can be sure that your child has prepared well for the tryout and as volleyball parents, it’d be a big relief for you.

Having said that, knowing about the do’s and don’ts for parents in volleyball tryouts will give you the awareness in making the experience of attending your child’s important day in their playing journey worthwhile for everyone.

Let’s first look at the do’s and then move on to the don’ts.

Do’s for Parents in Volleyball Tryouts

Do Cheer Wisely

When your child attending their very first tryout session, both you and your child will be excited. You as their parent, want to cheer them up and motivate. There’s nothing wrong in that.

In fact, it’ll be a boost for them. But if you’ve decided to make yourself heard, choosing your words wisely before putting it out is crucial. That way, you can make everyone’s experience in the tryout venue a lot better.

Remember that your child can pick your voice during the tryout before all other things like coach’s instructions, teammates chatters and spectator cheers. Use your words to encourage their effort, attitude on the court and sportsmanship.

This’ll not only help your child but the entire group to perform at their best.

Do Stay Positive

Staying positive is absolutely critical as your state of mind definitely influences your child’s performance during the tryout. Your conduct matters to your child along with the result.

Cheer them on no matter whether things go in favor of your child or not. Say something positive about their performance and remind them to keep moving forward.

Keep saying to yourself that no good is achieved with a negative state of mind and remember that when you are positive, your child will be relaxed on the court.

Do Project a Winning Body Language

Not only pictures say thousand words, your body language has the same ability too. Your body language speaks volumes to everyone around you and that includes your child.

Even if you choose to be a silent observer from the sidelines of a tryout session, you’ll be able to communicate a lot with your child. Your body language will tell them all about your state of mind and emotions like whether you are excited about the proceedings, thrilled to watch the tryout/on the edge of the seat, angry/disappointed about their performance and so on.

Your child notes your body language all the time and the best things you can do is to cheer and encourage them even when things aren’t going in your child’s/their team’s favor, watch the match and don’t forget to give a thumbs up for their effort after every rally!

Do Focus on the Process

Before going to a tryout, your child needs to get many things right. From the basic skills of volleyball, getting good at most of them to acquiring playing experience in volleyball and preparing both mentally and physically, there are many things to focus.

Your child might feel that they’d have to put in a lot of effort and work before going for a tryout. This may create unnecessary pressure on them.

So in my opinion, don’t even talk about the tryout in the initial stages of your child’s playing journey.

Ask your child to focus on the process of getting good at the basic skills of volleyball. Once they are well versed in them, the next step is to make them ready for the tryout.

Remember that going for a tryout is an outcome of the process your child put in for performing efficiently on the actual day of the session.

Do Use Effective Methods to Communicate After the Tryout Session

It’s important for you as volleyball parents to use effective methods to communicate after the tryout session. The major thing is to figuring out an efficient way to talk to them so that they feel supported and understand that you’ve paid attention during the tryout.

It all sounds pretty good. Isn’t it?

Here are some pointers to consider when communicating with your child after the tryout.

• Let your child initiate the conversation.
• Keep things light and ask open-ended questions to understand more about the overall experience.
• Lend a listening ear when your child talks about the tryout and suppress your urge to reply back immediately.
• Let your child know that you support them and their effort despite the positive or negative outcome of the tryout.
• Talk about the positive plays, effort, team work, effective communication on the court and their overall attitude throughout the session.

Don’ts for Parents in Volleyball Tryouts

Don’t Give Coaching Instructions From the Sidelines

If there’s one thing that will distract everybody in the volleyball tryout venue is undoubtedly the coaching instructions you provide related to playing volleyball. Please don’t coach your child from the sidelines.

Coaches are there and it’s their job to coach and make your child become a better volleyball player.

Here’s what happens when you provide your own coaching instructions from the sidelines.

• Makes it harder for your child to focus on the coach’s instructions.
• It becomes that much challenging to fulfill their given role on the court.
• Your coaching instructions can be confusing for your child simply because more often than not, it’ll be completely different from the coach’s instructions.
• Your coaching instructions can be detrimental to their progress in the sport if they decided to follow yours rather than their coach’s.

No parent wants to experience these. Right?

Let the team coach do their job of coaching your child and during the tryout and break time, encourage effort and progress. Avoid talking anything related to playing volleyball.

Don’t be a Negative Nathan/Nancy in the Tryout Venue

Nothing good ever happens with the negative attitude of the parents in the tryout venue.

The main reason for the negativity is that you focus too much on your child performing perfectly and getting into the volleyball team.

This is an outcome based expectation that puts added pressure on your child. Due to this, you behave in unproductive ways when you see your child making an error or they fail to meet your expectation. The added pressure makes it difficult for your child to perform at their best in the tryout.

It isn’t going to be helpful in any way and all they want from you is support and encouragement.

So kindly don’t show any form of negativity in terms of your words, actions, body language and your gestures.

Don’t Let Your Emotions Run Ragged

I know that you as parents, are the ones invest in your child’s volleyball related activities physically, mentally and financially. So it’s natural for you to expect your child perform well in the sport.

But sometimes, you let your emotions take over and may say unproductive statements or show signs of disappointment. You may even start yelling at your child.

Here are the situations in which it may happen.

• When your child struggles to understand the coach’s instructions.
• Your child isn’t performing to the team coach’s expectations in the tryout.
• When you unintentionally expect your child to make the team in the first tryout itself.

As I said earlier, any expectation on your child will add additional pressure on them and it keeps you in a tensed state as well. It may also have a significant chance of reflecting on their performance.

Nothing wrong in expecting a good performance from your child in the tryout but don’t let your emotions take over.

Remember that volleyball is an emotions oriented sport and letting it run ragged will be a stressful thing to deel with for everyone involved in the tryout.

Don’t Argue with Coaches

If there’s one thing that’ll be frustrating for the coaches, it is to deal with the parents arguing to them. Too much emotions won’t bring anything good and it’ll be an embarrassing experience and distraction for your child as well.

Sometimes, you may not accept the coach’s decision for your child but arguing won’t help in any way. Also you need to understand that it is pretty disrespectful for the coach and sends a bad signal to them.

If you don’t like the coach’s decision about your child, the best course of action you can take is to ask them politely to explain the reasons after the end of the tryout session.

This gives you a chance to note down some valuable feedback and ask your child to improve on those specific areas. And who knows, you’ll develop a strong relationship with the coach in the long run and this discussion may be the stepping stone for that.

Don’t Embarrass Your Child with Singularly Pointed Cheering

What do you mean by singularly pointed cheering? Good question!

Cheering is good but read the following statements and think within yourselves how you feel about each one.

• That’s my daughter/son.
• That’s how my son/daughter plays.
• Yes, that’s my son/daughter right there!

Each of these would look like a nice complement to receive but imagine this. You are in the tryout and your son/daughter makes a very good play/performs very well in that particular instance.

You utter any one of the statements above and do you think what’d be the natural reaction of others?

It draws unnecessary attention to your child and it causes uneasiness for them.

It may be a distraction as well. So avoid this sort of cheering and stick to the regular ones like well-played/well-done. That’ll be positive enough in most situations.

FAQs on Do’s and Don’ts of Parents in Volleyball Tryouts

What You Need to Do as Volleyball Parents when Know One Cheering in the Tryout Venue?

When no one is cheering in the tryout venue, it’s a good idea to keep quiet and watch the session. If you cheer when no one is doing it, it’s an unwanted attention that’ll be directed at you and your child, and it can also be a distraction for them as well.

What’s the Best Way to Provide Feedback to Your Child as Volleyball Parents?

In my experience of playing volleyball for 7 years, the following method works out really well when it comes to providing feedback to your child as volleyball parents. This method was used by my coach and I hope that it’ll be useful for you as well.

First, talk about the positives that they’ve done throughout the match followed by areas of improvements and how to do each one effectively. Conclude the talk with some more positives of their performance.

Unfortunately if they didn’t do well in the tryout, complement for the effort and express their performance level with polite honesty.

What’s Important for Your Child to Succeed in a Tryout?

Along with the skills of volleyball and proper preparation for the tryout, it’s crucial to create a relaxed environment around your child. That way, it eases their nerves and lets them focus in performing their skills effectively on the court during a tryout session.

Conclusion

A successful journey of a volleyball player starts with the tryout and your contributions as parents are critical for your child in every step of the way.

I truly hope that you’ve now got a clear idea on the do’s and don’ts for parents in volleyball tryouts.

What are the things you’d like to add to this list?

What are your thoughts about this guide?

Share them away in the comments section below!

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