As parents we all want to protect our children and try to shield them (or at least soften the blow) from some of the harsh lessons life throws at you while growing up. But there is a fine line between trying to help your child navigate the difficulties of life and doing all the work for them. Are you one of those sports parents that fight all your youth athlete’s battles for them (also known as a helicopter parent)? You might not be doing your child as big a favor as you thought.

Childhood obesity is a scary reality in this country, with approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years being obese. Obviously we as parents and coaches need to help our kids make the right kind of decisions when it comes to food and to encourage a more active lifestyle. But on the opposite end of the spectrum we have those “super youth athletes” that play sports all year round and are at risk of being over-trained, especially if they only do one sport, which can lead to burnout and overuse injuries. But does it have to be all or nothing when it comes to youth sports? Can’t we help our kids find a happy middle ground between not enough activity and too much?

Recently SportsSignup had the chance to interview Janis B. Meredith, the sports mom behind the widely read and respected sportsparenting blog JBMThinks. She’s been a sports mom for 20 years, and a coach’s wife for 28, and sees life from both sides of the bench. We hope all the sports moms and dads out there take something away from her advice.

Sometimes it seems like we as sports parents are scheduling our kids (and by default ourselves!) to death. Soccer practice, swim lessons, reserved time in the batting cages, one-on-one coaching sessions—every minute of free time during the week and on the weekends is carefully planned and organized and scheduled to keep our kids busy. And while there is nothing wrong with making sure your child stays active and off the couch (especially now that the weather is finally warming up!) there is something to be said for regular old play time. You know what we’re talking about; the “unstructured” play in the backyard, on playgrounds, on the bike path or empty basketball courts and baseball fields. Maybe we, and our youth athletes, could use a little more free play.

If you haven’t heard the story yet, Rutgers basketball coach Mike Rice was recently fired after videos of him screaming and swearing at, pushing, grabbing, and throwing basketballs at his players surfaced. We’re all familiar with the antics of coaches like Bobby Knight, who are about as famous for their sideline temper as they are for their winning records. And while many sports coaches can probably remember a time or two in their coaching careers when they lost their cool and yelled at a player, the kind of physical bullying Rice was videotaped doing is completely inexcusable.

Let’s be honest, no one likes losing, especially if it is something they are passionate about. But just because you lost this time around that doesn’t mean you can’t come out on top the next time. Youth sports can teach our kids a lot of great life lessons and arguably one of the best lessons to learn at a young age is that you can’t win them all. School, play, work, sports—sooner or later you’re not going to be #1 in something you care about. But guess what? That’s okay! Youth sports should teach our kids understand that failing is not the end of the world, but another chance at becoming great!

As sad as it is to say, coaches aren’t the only ones in youth sports that can take advantage of their position of power to abuse a player. Too often we are hearing stories of older players intimidating, bullying, harassing and even physically abusing their younger teammates. Earlier this month 3 Bronx Science students were arrested on hazing charges (although the allegations go far above and beyond what you might think classifies as simple “hazing”). One student on the track team said that hazing was a fairly common thing, with the juniors and seniors regularly picking on the freshman.

Let’s start off by saying that we at SportSignup love to hear about parents getting involved in their child’s youth sports league. Many local organizations are struggling to find enough volunteer coaches and officials to keep things running smoothly so any parent that steps up when needed deserves a trophy in our book (whether or not you think everyone deserves a trophy for just “participating” is a debate for another day!). But some parents, as parents are apt to do, can get a little overzealous about their child’s athletic career. While enthusiasm is always appreciated there does come a point where your eagerness crosses the line and turns you from excited sports parent into frustrating helicopter parent.

Hey sports parents—think back to when your child was 3 or 4 years old. Sometimes you could hardly get them to sit still for more than a few minutes, right? How many times did you have to tell them to slow down, wait up and stop running so far ahead? Little kids are natural born runners! But as our kids got older and started getting involved in other activities like baseball, football and so forth running stopped being something you just did on the playground (think how many schoolyard games involve racing around) and almost turned into a method of punishment. Running was what the coach made them do during practice and sprint and speed drills are usually no one’s favorite.

Once again our sports parents have come up with a great insight that we just had to share (you guys are really on a role lately!) Last week we wrote about those sports parents that think their kid is Heir Jordan and how that can impact the dynamic of the team. There’s a fine line between being a proud sports parent and being a boastful one and when you cross that line it can but the other parents, the coaches, and even the players themselves in a tight spot. But here’s what one baseball dad has to say to those other parents;