Hint: It’s as easy as pushing the Post or Send buttons
As a parent, it’s perfectly natural that you want your child to make the best choice during the recruiting process. And, while coaches do want to get to know you, their greater concern is your child and what he or she can bring to their program. In other words, you’ve done your work as parents or guardians, but it’s time to step back, know when to speak up, and let your child spread their wings.
Given that, some parents still feel the need to speak up and advocate for their children. That’s fine if it’s done at the proper time and place. However, if you as a parent are going negative on social media to benefit your child’s recruiting. It’s more than likely you’re actually poisoning it.
Coaches Evaluate Parents Too
There’s plenty of advice for how a recruit should handle social media during their recruiting process. And there are plenty of other ways an overzealous parent can negatively affect their child’s recruiting opportunities. But just as bad choices on social media can sink a student athlete’s recruiting, in this day and age, the actions of parents on social media can also affect your child’s recruiting efforts.
It’s no secret that coaches take into account a recruit’s family. In addition to athletic ability, coaches are also looking at a player’s character and ability to stand on their own two feet. As parents, it’s up to you to instill a sense of right and wrong in your child so that they build character and develop their own core values. As coaches look for blue-chip recruits for their program, they’re also looking for individuals who won’t give their school a black eye.
As part of a coach’s evaluation process, he or she will not only look at a player’s social media accounts, but they may also look at your social media accounts as well. And if you’re using Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or any other form of social media to attack other people, airing dirty laundry, or simply expressing your support for others’ attacks or reprehensible opinions, there’s a good chance you’re damaging your child’s recruiting efforts.
Why Your Posts And Opinions Matter
You’re an adult and you’re entitled to your opinions. But if your opinions cross the line on social media, or you use your posts to attack others, people will notice. People will definitely notice if you use your social media platform to vent about your child’s current coach or coaches, their playing time, or their teammates. And if a coach notices, he or she will immediately draw a line from you to the child you’ve raised and they’re recruiting.
As coaches see it, if you post like that on social media, it’s likely a green light for your son or daughter to do so as well. If a student-athlete thinks online attacks or online drama are normal, it’s likely they’ll repeat those same mistakes once they’re part of a college athletic program. And that’s a headache no coach wants to deal with.
Social Media Tips For Parents
If you don’t want your social media activity to affect your child’s recruiting, the easiest thing to do is to simply stop posting. If any of your existing posts have crossed the line or might be misconstrued or offensive to anyone, anywhere, go back, reevaluate every post and reply, and delete anything that’s negative or hateful.
For those who might still feel the need to post on social media, stop and think about every word before you post and consider if it would be taken as hateful or offensive by anyone who might see it. And remember that no message or post is private, even if it’s posted in a private group. As soon as you hit “Send,” anything you post is out of your control and subject to copying, reposting, and forwarding.
If you feel like you’re being asked to censor yourself, remember this is no longer about you. This is what you need to do to improve your child’s life, help them live out their dreams, and hopefully continue competing in the sport they love at the next level. Is your son or daughter worth that sacrifice?
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