A majority of parents who support their kids at sporting events understand it is essential to follow the rules and etiquette of the sport their kids are playing.
Unfortunately, some parents just don’t get it! The following situation illustrates that point with parents Mr. and Mrs. D and daughter D.
Recently two 14-year old girls were enjoying the challenges of a competitive first round match in a small tennis tournament. Daughter D won the first set 7-5, after being down 4-2. In the second set daughter D took a commanding 5-2 lead.
Mr. D was ready to break out the cigar and the bubbly. Suddenly, the score was 5-5 and Mr. and Mrs. D began verbalizing about how his daughter’s opponent was making bad line calls against daughter D. The couple couldn’t accept the fact that daughter D was being outplayed by her opponent.
Mr. and Mrs. D were making their claim about bad line calls from their lawn chairs perched on the on the clubhouse porch. Their vantage point was such that they were looking into the sun and passing judgment on line calls that were being made two courts away.
Suddenly the score was 6-6 and daughter D decided to take a bathroom break prior to the second-set tiebreaker. (If the girls would have split sets, a tiebreaker would have been played for the match, in lieu of a third set). In other words, a case could be made that the request for a potty break was gamesmanship and not a legitimate request.
When Mr. D saw his daughter heading off the court he immediately moved to the general area of the bathrooms. He waited for daughter D and coached her prior to her going into the restroom and after she came out.
Much to Mr. and Mrs. D’s delight daughter D returned to the court and won the tiebreaker. While the two girls were solid players, there was nothing Mr. D. could have said that would have helped his daughter. The bottom line was that she wasn’t good enough to convert anyone’s words of wisdom into action on the court in a way that could make a difference in the match.
The score of the match is irrelevant. The real outcome was that Mr. and Mrs. D taught daughter D a lesson that gamesmanship and illegal coaching are an acceptable part of the sport of tennis.
Some parents just don’t get it!