Illustration by Brian Taylor
A few years ago, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny agreed to coach a youth baseball team and outlined his expectations for the season in a four-page letter. The Matheny Manifesto, as it’s now known, is full of helpful advice, which we’ve adapted into New Year’s resolutions for sports parents, regardless of what game your little all-star plays. Repeat after me.
I will not question the coach. “One of the greatest lessons that my father taught me was that my coach was always right…even when he was wrong,” Matheny writes. “The principle is a great life lesson about how things really work.”
I will help my kid improve. “As a parent, you can help out tremendously by playing catch, throwing batting practice, hitting ground balls… This is the one constant that I have found with players that reached the major leagues: Someone spent time with them away from the field.”
I won’t heckle officials, and I won’t cheer to the point of distracting or applying pressure. When in doubt, I will shut up. “I believe that the biggest role of the parent is to be a silent source of encouragement. I think if you ask most boys what they would want their parents to do during the game, they would say, “Nothing.”
I will instill a strong work ethic. “Their attitude, their concentration, and their effort are the things that they can control. If they give me these things every time they show up, they will have a great experience.”
