Australian swimming champion Libby Trickett’s truth bomb on parents

Swimming icon Libby Trickett has told Australia we’ve been doing it all wrong with an ugly trend beginning to ruin Aussie sport.

Swimming champ Libby Trickett has issued an open letter to Australia to tell the country we’ve been doing it all wrong.

The four-time Olympic gold medallist has opened Pandora’s box by pouring gasoline on the burning issue surrounding the behaviour of parents at junior sporting events.

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The 38-year-old, who has four children, has re-ignited the debate with a call for parents to zip it when watching kids playing sport.

The issue is a generational problem that in 2018 prompted then-NSW Minister for Sport Stuart Ayres to launch a campaign described as the ‘Shoosh for Kids’ initiative — to “keep sports positive” for children.

Trickett has now gone on the front foot to bring the issue back into headlines.

Writing in Mamamia, Trickett points out data shows the participation rate of Australian kids plummets around the age of 13.

“This is actually a stage of their life where kids can benefit from sport,” Trickett writes.

“It’s a time where they deal with more stress at school, more screen time and are navigating tricky friendship issues. To step away at this moment is to step away from one of the best public health initiatives we have. And the behaviour of parents on the sidelines of sport is one of the main reasons kids are stepping away.

Libby Trickett at home with her children Poppy (age 8), Alfie (7 months) and Edwina (age 5), Tuesday. Picture: Richard Walker.

“Parents yelling. Running up and down the sidelines shouting instructions. Shaking their heads when a ball is dropped. Harassing opposition players, arguing with referees and directing coaches. Berating their child when they don’t play well.

“It’s like some primal switch is flicked and these parents are possessed with the need for their child to be the best and win. It’s ugly, and it’s everywhere you look when it comes to kids’ sports.”

The behaviours of parents remains particularly ugly towards referees and umpires with the AFL recently admitting the football code is at crisis point when it comes to the involvement of umpires.

Former chief executive Gillon McLachlan said last year the sport needed to find 6000 umpires and introduced strict rules to combat umpire dissent and disrespectful treatment of whistleblowers.

Trickett, meanwhile, has echoed the thoughts of many Australian parents in calling for adults on the sidelines to take a back seat.

“I want you to do less,” she writes in the letter.

Libby Trickett is an Aussie Olympics hero. Phil Hillyard.

“By all means, go to sport. Watch your kids play. But don’t get involved. You don’t need to coach them — that’s the coach’s job. Give the team a clap if they score a goal or win a point, cheer a little if you see great athleticism.

“And then, say nothing. Watch your child, talk to the other parents, and keep your opinions to yourself. OR if you think you’ll have a tough time doing that, just don’t go to the event (a strategy that I have already employed from time to time during my parenthood, because I’m not immune to the desire to yell my suggestions to my kid).”

Peter Gahan, the former head of player and coach development with Australia Baseball and the Queensland Academy of Sport, said 10 years ago that fun needs to be at the centre of every sport — even at the elite, high performance level.

“Research looking at 8000 schoolchildren in the UK revealed that the perceived lack of competency and ability stopped them from playing. They wanted to impress and look good but they couldn’t, (so) they gave up,” Gahan said.

The biggest message that has never sunk into the psyche of Australian sporting parents, Trickett notes, is that parents don’t need to give their child any feedback when it comes to performance — positive or negative.

So, take this time to ask, what do you say on the car ride home?

The correct answer is: “Geez, I love watching you play out there.”

Originally published as Australian swimming champion Libby Trickett’s truth bomb on parents