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I’ve yet to meet a child who doesn’t like to be encouraged. And I’ve never met a kid who likes to be criticized.  

Out with the “boos” … and in with the cheers.

That should be the theme for every youth sport, every season, no matter the age or skill level of the players on the field.

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It starts with us. Yes, us parents.

Kids never make mistakes on purpose. They don’t want to drop the ball any more than we don’t want to watch them do it. If they accidentally trip over their own feet on a running play or after catching a pass, it’s not because it’s designed that way. If they forget exactly where they are supposed to be on a particular play, as frustrating as it can be to watch, they aren’t messing up the execution on purpose.

Despite these facts, parents often overreact when these types of unintentional errors happen. Even if we don’t yell something negative to our kids, our body language often tells the unspoken story of anger or frustration.

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Parents need to do their best to promote sportsmanship in the bleachers. Yes, the same type of sportsmanship we constantly preach to our kids to display on the field.

There’s a reason we tell our kids, “If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all,” and that “actions often speak louder than words.”

Parents should avoid criticizing their own child verbally or with any other facial or body expression that sends a negative message. A parent should also never criticize someone else’s child. That unwritten rule should be a given, but unfortunately parents don’t always follow it.

Showing frustration toward your child in any fashion doesn’t fix the mistake and usually doesn’t motivate them to try harder. Think about what your reaction would be if your boss ever called you out in a staff meeting about a mistake you made or something you could have done better. My guess would be that once you got back to your desk after the meeting, you’d spend the next hour mulling over being embarrassed, instead of striving to be a better employee.

Cheering the good plays by every player in the game is easy. It’s the challenge of not criticizing the bad plays that provides the biggest obstacle for us parents to be the best fans we can be.

Working together as a team, it’s a challenge we can meet.

Jon Buzby has been involved in and writing about youth sports for the past 30 years, originally as a coach and board member with his now-adult son and most recently "just as a dad" with his 8- and 10-year-old sons. Jon is an award-winning writer and his latest book, “Coaching Kids Made Easier,” is available on Amazon. Send comments or future blog topics you'd like to see to JonBuzby@hotmail.com and follow him @YouthSportsBuzz on Twitter.