Sports centre sign reminds parents to keep their cool
A SPORTS centre has come up with a novel way of reminding parents to keep their cool while watching their children play football.
Neath Sports Centre has erected a sign near its new 3G pitch asking those who come to watch the match to: “Please remember, 1. These are kids, 2. This is a game, 3. The coaches are volunteers, 4. The referee is human, 5. This is not the World Cup.” It was the idea of supervisor Daniel Thomas and his former colleague Rhys Surringer who decided to put it out on match days after noticing a trend in the behaviour of spectators.
Mr Thomas said: “We have seen a lot of times over the years where there’s been a lot of parents shouting at kids and putting pressure on them. It’s for them to see that it’s not about shouting at kids.
“I think the sign is helping, quite a few people have commented on it. It was meant to be funny as well as serious. It’s just about getting the message out that it’s just kids out there.”
One dad, Dan Ley, who was on hand to watch his daughter Ffion play for Pontarddulais under-eights on Sunday morning, said he thought the sign would act as a “reminder to parents”.
He said: “I work for a charity (Dallaglio Rugbyworks) helping disadvantaged children using sport as a way of improving their lives academically, professionally and personally.
“There are already barriers to sport participation for many young people across South Wales and one of these is negative attitudes and behaviours from people who should be positively promoting sports participation. “It is a shame that signs like this are put up but hopefully it will serve as a reminder to parents, guardians, coaches and players that we should promote fun and inclusivity at children’s sports events and not take it too seriously. “Luckily, all the parents and coaches at Pontarddulais girls under-8s are supportive and just enjoy watching the girls have fun and make friends and the head coach Rob does a fantastic job of running multiple teams and giving the girls the opportunity to play and enjoy and he also organises trips to watch the Wales women play so they girls can be inspired.”
I think the sign is helping, quite a few people have commented on it. It was meant to be funny as well as serious. It’s just about getting the message out that it’s just kids out there Daniel Thomas