As an organisation, we’re often asked to support and promote events like Silent Weekend, Silent Sunday or Silent September, and people often ask what we think of them. Our answer has always been the same. We love the idea and the motivation behind them, but something is missing when it comes to supporting the parents on the sideline.
These events do a great job of raising awareness. What they haven’t always done well is give parents a positive space to understand why certain kinds of support help their child develop and enjoy their sport. Too often, they’ve felt like another chance to criticise parents for showing what are, in many ways, completely normal human emotions. Some of those behaviours are misguided, of course. But how much have we done to address the beliefs behind them, rather than just the behaviour itself?
Sport is passion
Tension on the sidelines isn’t new. You can trace it all the way back to the crowds at Roman games. Sport has always offered an escape from everyday life, a chance to let off steam. In many ways, today’s sports parents are simply continuing that tradition.
Life can feel pretty routine for many of us. Do we really want to strip the excitement out of watching our children play? And is silence even a natural thing to ask of people?
Parents largely behave the way they’ve learned sport should be watched: in the stadiums they’ve sat in and the matches they’ve seen on TV. They bring that same instinct to their child’s game. The finer points of coaching and child development aren’t top of their mind on a Saturday morning. Helping them get there is our job, as coaches and educators.
Sport is passion. We need better, more engaging ways to help parents channel what are, at heart, completely normal emotions. For many people, the weekend is when that passion comes out.
Local bragging rights are often at stake, and plenty of poor behaviour comes from a very human fear of dented pride. If that’s the root of it, a silent weekend works against how people naturally feel. Could we try something that works with that instinct instead, and helps parents adapt their behaviour as they go?
Most parents (not all, but most) are reasonable people who’d be glad to be guided by their club, their coaches and each other. That puts a real responsibility on all of us to create environments that feel natural while still giving children space to flourish.
Introducing the Noisy Weekend
So here’s an idea, and we’d love your feedback on it.
In the Noisy Weekend, parents can make as much noise as they like and create a fantastic atmosphere, within a few simple guidelines:
- No instructions. Don’t shout instructions to your child or any other player.
- Leave the official alone. Nothing shouted at the referee or umpire.
- Respect the opposition players. Nothing shouted at them, though praising a great bit of play is very welcome.
- Respect the opposition’s coaches and parents. Nothing shouted at them either.
- Otherwise, be as noisy as you like!
Does it work?
On the sidelines of grassroots matches, we’ve seen it work brilliantly: great games, great support from both sets of parents, and standing ovations for players on both sides after a fantastic, entertaining match.
It can be done. But it’s not easy to achieve consistently, and it depends on everyone at the game buying into the same approach.
We’re not claiming to have solved what happens on the sidelines. We’re simply asking whether it’s worth being a bit more creative. Let’s try ideas that raise awareness but also create environments that feel natural, help everyone flourish and give every parent something to look forward to at the weekend.
