Go to any youth sports setting, listen to the spectators at any football or soccer game, watch the behavior at any basketball game or volleyball match--you will either see happy positive parents, or unhappy, complaining ones.

How did the happy ones get happy? What drove the unhappy complainers to the dark side of negativity?

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I believe that there are 11 habits that happy and positive parents have developed. Whether it was intentional or not, they’ve found that the secret of positive sports parenting is really no secret at all. It’s decisions they’ve made--weekly,daily, and hourly--to practice behavior that will allow their children to get the most out of the youth sports experience.

Happy and positive sports parents make choices that become habits, and those habits not only make their own experience as a sports parent more enjoyable, they make their child’s youth sports experience more enjoyable as well.

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Would you like to give your child a positive youth sports experience? Then start practicing these 11 habits of happy and positive sports parents.

•  Express Unconditional Love

•  Be the Parent and Let the Coach Do His or Her Job

•  Lighten Up: Don’t Take the Game So Seriously

•  Think Realistically about Your Child’s Abilities

•  Volunteer to Help Your Child’s Team

•  Let Your Child Play Their Game, not YOURS

•   Avoid comparing your child to another athlete or sibling

•   Show Gratitude for all victories, big and small

•   Support the Whole Team, Not Just Your Child

•   See the Bigger Picture of Youth Sports

•   Learn from the Mistakes You’ll Make as a Sports Parent

Are you tired of the negativity, drama, and selfishness that sometimes takes over a team or a league, and the entire season? Spread the positive by practicing these habits.

Janis B. Meredith is a family and parenting coach. She provides resources to help parents raise champions. Learn more about how she can help parents Raise Champions.