Players Rights and Responsibilities

Reprinted from Coaching Youth Sports newsletter by Richard K. Stratton, PhD.

Dr. Richard K. Stratton, PhD. (Florida State University) has been the motor learning and sport psychology specialist at Virginia Tech for the past 20 years. Between his Masters and Doctoral studies he taught physical education and coached four sports at Appling County (GA) Middle School. His primary interests are the developmental aspects of information processing and motivation and stress in youth sport participants.

Players Rights and Responsibilities

So, you have decided you want to play sports. Or maybe you are already on a team. In this day and age it seems like everyone is talking about children's rights. When you participate in youth sports you have certain rights also. This is not a new idea. In a book, "Guidelines for Children's Sports", edited by Rainer Martens and Vern Seefeldt and published by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance in 1979, there is a list of 10 rights called the Bill of Rights for Young Athletes. We are not going to reproduce that list here but instead want to highlight the points they made. What are your RIGHTS?

- To have fun
- To learn skills
- To be coached as a child, not as an adult
- To get to play your fair share

With these rights you have responsibilities that you must accept. Among these RESPONSIBILITIES are:

- To try your best at all times
- To give your coaches the respect and attention they deserve
- To be present and on time for all team activities
- To respect the rights of your teammates

You must fulfill your responsibilities if you expect people to respect your rights.