Coaches speak out after row about parents on the sidelines

There are some horror stories in fact, that have seen nasty verbal alterations, parents shouting abuse at youngsters on the opposite team and even a parent punching a linesman in an under 12s game in Hampshire.

That promoted the FA in Hampshire to ban all cheering at games over a weekend earlier this month.

The move sparked a fierce debate on social media, and an even bigger debate in the studios of Good Morning Britain last week.

Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid were joined by parenting coach Jane Evans, who backed the move to ban all forms of cheering, gloating or shouting at children's football matches.

The coach believes keeping supporters silent would stop any form of aggression of swearing, but Piers Morgan, like many other viewers on Twitter was having none of it.

Ridiculous

Coaches in Shropshire and Mid Wales have also had their say, and are having none of it.

Nathan Leonard, who coaches at The New Saints Football Club, agreed it is important for parents not to coach from the sideline, but labelled calls for them to be banned from saying anything as 'ridiculous'.

He says people are obsessed with wrapping children in cotton wool.

He said: "It is important parents don’t ‘coach’ from the sidelines as the information they give could contradict the coach and confuse the players.

"Yelling or shouting at players and officials is obviously a big no and we need to eradicate this from games at all levels of academy and youth football. We are lucky at TNS that we very very rarely have this issue and the parents let the coach do the coaching.

"But to say that parents should be silent from the sideline is totally ridiculous and gives a false impression of the real world to children.

"Why are we obsessed with wrapping children in cotton wool and not exposing them to the real world.

"If a player progresses into the first team at 16 years of age and he’s never heard any noise from the side, he or she will get a huge shock and more than likely not perform to their usual level.

"It’s a crazy idea and certainly does not need to be in place in my opinion.

"From a parents point of view imagine your child scoring a last minute goal and not being able to celebrate that special moment with them. Or if your child is having a bad game and needs encouragement you’re expected to just stand there and watch."

Anxious

In Hampshire, the FA said the move was being made to make youngsters feel less anxious on the pitch, and to avoid ugly confrontations between supporters.

Nick Evans, who runs a team in the Newtown AFC academy in Mid Wales admitted he used to be a competitive parent who would rarely applaud opposition teams.

However now he is a coach he can see the damage parents can cause from the sidelines, but was also against the idea of total silence.

He added: "I was once one of those parents that stood on the sidelines and being fiercely competitive I would often support and encourage my son, thinking this was helpful for him.

"I would also rarely applaud the opposite team when they scored or played some good football.

"I’m now a coach currently training towards my UEFA C licence. I can now clearly see first hand the damage that parents cause coaching their kids and team from the sidelines. This often has a detrimental effect on the kids, can cause confusion and knock their confidence.

"Coaching should be left to coaches. And one thing i have learnt is the importance of supporting all kids on the football pitch, as this benefits all involved."