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It's Monday night. Dad's favorite football team is playing their rivals. Dad's team makes a long touchdown, and he picks up his 7-year-old son and twirls him in a victory dance around the house, the boy giggling the whole way. The next possession, his quarterback fumbles. Three times. Like a disappointed coach, Dad throws his baseball cap to the ground, muttering, and utters a four-letter word. His son looks up at him curiously; he quickly assures the wide-eyed child that he was really saying something else. His son nods, unconvinced.

That Saturday, nine kids sit in a dugout yelling the boy's name, cheering him on. The helmet almost covers the boy's eyes and the bat is almost as tall as he, but his eye never leaves the ball as the coach tosses it towards him. He swings and misses-but he doesn't just miss, the bat carries him in a full circle, and he teeters to regain his balance. He loudly exclaims the same four-letter word that he had heard his Dad say the other night.

The cheering parents and coaches silence for a moment, and a shocked quiet covers the stands. When the boy strikes out and his at-bat is over, he mutters all the way back to the dugout in the same fashion as his father always does when something goes wrong for his sports teams, his coach stops him and asks him where he learned that word. "My Daddy says it!" The boy goes on to tell the coach that his dad says it means something else, though.

Imagine this boy's life ten years from this situation. A senior in high school, he will have learned much from his primary role model, his dad, and these father-son lessons may have the power to make the boy or break him. His attitude performance-wise, his mannerisms, and his habits such as drugs, alcohol, smoking, and profanity will have been very much influenced by his parent's role modeling. After he graduates from high school and is on his own, his parents influence will have rubbed off on him even more, and his life choices will depend on the example that his parents set for his sports career.

It is crucial for parents to set the guidelines for their children in sports, because often the teams they are on as young children don't reflect the high standards parents should have. All training begins in the home, and teaching a child through example to become a better sport and a positive athlete is something that he can take with him for the rest of his life.

Learn more about this author, Carissa Johnson.
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