Cussing in youth sports seems to be commonplace these days. In fact, it is so prevalent that many people almost don’t even hear it anymore. We are so desensitized to it that words that would have never been used when coaching kids 20 years ago are regularly being used today in youth sports.

Call me old-fashioned, but I hated it when I heard that my son’s coach cussed royally in the locker room at halftime. (We’re talking the F word here) Yes, it was high school, and yes, my son had heard it all before, but I still didn’t like it.

It didn’t help matters that my son liked the coach using the F words and did not want me to complain to the administration.

You can win without cussing

Coaches don’t have to cuss to get their job done. My husband coached high school football for 28 years and high school softball for 10 and never cussed at the kids. When he was the head coach, he wouldn’t let his coaches cuss either. He was living proof that you can be a good coach, a winning coach, without using profanity.

No matter how you feel about cussing around kids or in youth sports, the fact is that there are just some things cussing won’t do for a coach:

Profanity doesn’t make someone a better coach. It may shock the kids, or even get their attention. But it doesn’t mean that the coach is teaching skills and helping kids realize their potential.

Profanity doesn’t get coaches heard any better. Kids hear profanity all the time, at school, on TV, in the movies, and maybe at home. Does using it really give the coach an advantages?

Profanity doesn’t set a stellar example. Using profanity sets the example for kids to use profanity. If it doesn’t bother a coach to hear 7-year-olds telling their teammates to get of their a**** or 12-year-olds telling someone he is playing like s***, then by all means, keep cussing.

Profanity doesn’t communicate clearly. In fact, it can be a crutch. If a coach doesn’t know enough about what he is doing, then sometimes cussing helps fill in the blanks, while relieving some frustration. Instead of telling someone to get off his f-ing a** and play ball, how about saying, “You need to hustle down the court faster and get set up to play defense”?

Profanity won’t make a coach popular. To some parents, cussing is still offensive; they’d prefer that their kids not hear it all the time, or at all, when they are playing sports. Out of respect for those parents, coaches might consider different ways to express themselves.

Janis B. Meredith, sports mom and coach's wife, writes a sports parenting blog called JBM Thinks. She authored the Sports Parenting Survival Guide Series and has a podcasting series for sports parents. You can also find her on Facebook and Twitter.