A coach’s job is extremely important. No matter how young or old, good or bad, they all contribute to the success of a team while teaching life lessons along the way. To be a coach, it takes extreme dedication, commitment and patience. Even when the coach is a parent, nothing should change, right? Well, in some cases, other athletes and/or parents may believe that the coach’s kid receives special attention. Sophomore Tyler Oslage was coached by his dad in both track and football his whole life. He feels as if his dad helped him become a better athlete in the long run, even if he got some special treatment along the way.

“I think I get a little bit of special treatment just because my dad is always helping me with sports, but I think I have higher standards and expectations to be a leader because my dad is my coach,” Oslage said.

Being the child of a coach could not only affect the relationships an athlete has with their teammates, but it could also affect their performance. Some may argue that having a parent as a coach may cause the athlete to feel too comfortable and become cocky. Others may say that an athlete being coached by their parent will create more one-on-one time, and will have a better connection. Before making the varsity team at Antioch, freshman Ashley Piper was a part of the Antioch Vikings Cheerleading program and was coached by her mom for nine years.

“In cheerleading, having my mom as a coach helped me,” Piper said. “she could be completely honest with me and she could tell me exactly what I was doing wrong.”

Not only was Piper’s mom her coach for many years, but her dad also helped coach her softball team for three years.

“In softball, having my dad as a coach also helped me out,” Piper said. “He helped me outside of practice with both hitting and pitching to make me better.”

In Piper’s case, having her parents as coaches benefitted her greatly because of the extra attention she received that ultimately made her a better athlete. But, having mom or dad along for the ride 24/7 may not always be a positive thing. Some athletes say that having a parent as a coach causes them to become worried that they are not meeting their parents’ expectations, and that they are not performing to the best of their ability. Tyler’s dad, Dan Oslage, played football and was on the track team when he was in high school, which causes some stress on Tyler to meet his dad’s expectations.

“I feel a lot of pressure to meet my dad’s expectations because he played at such a high level and I know he wants me to accomplish what he did,” Oslage said.

On the other hand, athletes may say that having a parent coach them motivates them to be better. Junior Kevin Tebbe was coached by his dad in three sports: baseball, basketball and football. Tebbe feels as if having his dad on the field with him made him a better athlete because he focused on doing his best, in order to make his dad proud.

“I never felt pressured to meet his expectations, even though he was always pushing me to be better. I just saw it more as motivation to be better,” Tebbe said.

Youth sports thrive on parent-coaches, they make up roughly 90 percent of all youth sport coaches. Athletes may feel like their coaches are more accessible and more involved when it’s their mom or dad, which gives them a sense of comfort. Parents have a unique relationship with their kids that could benefit them greatly. There’s just something about being involved in their kids’ activities that makes parents want to coach, even if there are negative effects.

“I would consider coaching my future kids because I know how much it helped me, not only with the sport but other lessons were learned also,” Tebbe said. “Being a coach, you should never be late to practices so always being driven to practices by my parents helped me learn time management and the importance of showing up on time.”

Growing up being known as “the coach’s kid” may not always be an easy concept, constantly feeling the pressure, taking tough criticism on and off the field, relationships with teammates being threatened because the thought of receiving special treatment. No matter what age, being coached by a parent isn’t always what it seems. Yet, it could also be one of the greatest gifts an athlete could receive. Having a coach that is one of the most important and influential people in one’s life is something an athlete will never forget. In the end, being “the coach’s kid” may not be such a bad thing after all.