My generation of athletes did not have too much choice. We were so much luckier than we knew.
We had teams to play for and sports to choose, but there were not a bazillion companies vying for our parent’s youth sports money. I feel for young sports parents. The noise is almost deafening.
“Build your child’s coordination!”
“Buy the equipment and go to the training!”
“Attend our elite camp!”
“Schedule the mental coach therapy sessions.”
“Try out for this special, special off-season team!”
“Make your kid faster and stronger!”
“Let us be your sports agents and get them into the school of their dreams.”
The choices are ultimately a good thing, but it is easy for parents to become quickly overwhelmed with the paradox of choice. It’s a psychological phenomenon to become paralyzed with choice and youth sports parents are certainly subject to the challenges of having too many good things from which to choose.
The decisions seem compounded for parents because they attempt to forecast the effectiveness of their decisions on the life outcome of their children. They tell themselves if they choose the wrong soccer team when their daughter is ten it could impact her chances of making a college team when she is eighteen. This is a popular lie.
So what do you do? How do you know the choices you make are the right ones? How can you ensure that you will make the very best decisions each and every time you are faced with a choice?
The short answers are: You will never know if the choice you made was the right one and there is nothing you can do to ensure the choices you make are the best decisions. So, first, let go of that expectation. You will never know and there is nothing guaranteed. But there will always be a new choice right around the corner.
With that pressure off, you do not need to obsess over the decisions as long as you probably do.
TIGHTEN THE LENS: CHOOSE FOR SIX MONTHS AT A TIME
If you are a future forecaster and that is why the decisions seem so big, shorten the timeframe you are considering. What is the best decision for right now? What do you want your schedule to be for the next few months and is your kid on board with the activities you put on that six-month schedule? Move forward with your choice accordingly.
DECIDE YOU WILL LOVE IT THEN COURSE CORRECT WHEN YOU NEED TO
Buyer’s remorse is a choice and you can choose to spend a lot of time questioning your decisions. OR, you can choose to believe you made the best choice at the time. Decide your choice will result in something positive and worthwhile and you will find something positive and worthwhile to celebrate. You will find what you are looking for, so look for the reasons to defend why your decision was a great one. Then when the next six-month-decision needs to be made, you can bring with you the lessons you’ve learned and new confidence that every choice is an opportunity. You’ll know when you have landed on the right path and you’ll also know when you need to course correct instead.
Meagan Frank 
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