Quieter Sidelines Initiative
What is the Quieter Sidelines Initiative?
The quieter sidelines initiative is simple - we ask parents and coaches to observe and adhere to some simple supporting and coaching guidelines:
Parents
Keep quiet when the ball is in play
Only cheer with ‘well done [player name / team name / player number]’ when the ball is out of play
Coaches
Don’t ever coach the player with the ball at their feet
Only coach the players who are away from the play. For example, repositioning your defenders when the ball is with your strikers.
Why?
The primary objective of the quieter sidelines initiative is to give the players a chance to find their voice, make their own decisions, and enjoy the game without feeling additional pressure from both parents and coaches.
Children’s game time is currently limited by the FA. When asked why, the answer was incredibly sad.
“The playing time is absolutely nothing to do with the kids. It’s to reduce their exposure in games to the coaches and parents who want to win so much they rant and rave on the touchline."
In short, kids exercise and activity is being reduced becuase adults don’t know how to behave.
However, as a Club we do recognise how difficult it is being a parent on the sidelines. For many, it is their first and only experience watching the person they love most in the world perform in a ‘competitive’ environment. And it’s an environment where the closest experience they have had is in the stands at professional club games. It’s our job to educate parents that there is a massive difference.
As a Club, we feel the FA’s ‘Only Positive’ message isn’t clear enough - it’s easy for parents to interpret only positive in many ways. For example, ‘play it up the line’, ‘pass it’, ‘shoot’ can all be said with a positive tone in the voice, but it’s not something we want to hear from our parents, or our coaches. The decision of when to pass, when to shoot etc should come from the player. Always. A ‘Well done’ is really all that is needed.
There is an additional benefit to quieter sidelines for match day referees, be those paid referees or volunteer parent referees. There is currently a national shortage of referees as they are dropping out of the game faster than we can recruit and train them, primarily because of the abuse they receive. Quieter sidelines means a better experience for referees.
This video from Gary Linker says it all.
The Results
The results have been staggering. For the teams who have implemented this (currently our two Girls teams), we have noticed a massive improvement in communication and game management. For example, they are telling each other who they are marking and who they should be marking at throws and corners. They are communicating at attacking corners and deciding between them who will make which runs. They are encoraging eath other and helping new players into the right place on the pitch during games. We’ve a team of leaders, and each player is gaining leadership skills on the pitch. What a life skill to have - amazing!
The Process
As a Club, we try to follow a process to make sure parents and coaches are continuously reminded about the expectations we place on them at games. We also extend this expectation to our opposition parents for our home games, to make sure the players get the full experience.
Coach : Send the template message to the opposition when organising each game
Coach : Reminds parents about the initiative the day before the game
Coach : remind the opposition coach on the day and ensures the opposition coach knows and has communicated the initiative to their parents
Coach : after each game, sends a poll to the parents asking how well they felt they supported the initiative, and how well the overall parent group supported the initiative
Template Messages
Message to opposition
Quieter Sidelines
Intro
Please read below for our quieter sidelines initiative. Please respect this initiative as we are trying to make a more enjoyable, less stressful environment for the players of both teams, whilst also making them better players. We fully appreciate this creates a different experience for the parent supporters, but we hope you enjoy supporting the girls while the ball is out of play (be noisy then!) and enjoy the game as much as the players.
If you have any questions, HJFC coaches, referee and linesman will be on hand to ask.
What & When?
We are asking parents to remain quiet while the ball is in play. We also ask that they restrict their vocal encouragement to "well done team/players/player number", and only when the ball is out of play.
Why?
We have observed far too much instruction and pressure being added to players in recent years. By keeping quiet while the ball is in play, we are allowing the players to make their own decisions and allowing more opportunities for them to communicate with each other. It also takes the stress out of having the ball at their feet. No panicking while others are shouting instructions at them - run with it, pass, shoot etc. We are only a few games in to this initiative, and are already starting to see big improvements in our players as a result.
Coaches
Our coaches are taking a similar approach, however they are permitted to offer instruction whilst the ball is in play, but only to players away from the ball. e.g. offer defensive positional instruction to our defence if the ball is at the other end of the pitch - away from the players being instructed.
Referees
Finally, please do not question referee or linesman decisions or call for decisions to be made - please continue to stick to encouraging the players when the ball is out of play.
There is currently a national shortage of referees due to the abuse they regularly receive both on the pitch and from the sidelines. This is why we often see parent volunteers stepping in, to help make sure the games go ahead and the players can play. This is the case at our Club and for this game. We are human and, while we will try our hardest not too, we will make mistakes. Those mistakes are honest mistakes. Please respect that.
Thank you.
Pre-match message to parents
Morning all.
Just a reminder of our quieter sidelines initiative:
1. When ball is in play please remain quiet
2. When ball is out of play, it is your chance to applaud and say “Well done, Hawks/Horsforth/child's name/opposition”
Thanks 👍
Post Match Poll
“Collective” Poll for Game on Sat 24th Feb
How well did you think our parent/spectator group, as a collective, adhered to the below guidance on “Quieter Sidelines”?
When ball is in play = please stay quiet.
When ball is out of play = applaud with “Well done, Hawks/Cheetahs/Horsforth” (or opposition)” - nothing more!
“Impeccably”: I didn't hear anyone stray from the guidance.
“Very well”: we were pretty good, just one or two instances straying from the guidance.
“Predominantly OK”: we had one or two people straying from the guidance regularly but most were great.
“Just about adequate”: we were ok I guess, but there were quite a few instances of straying from the guidance.
“Poorly”: Most parents/spectators were ignoring the guidance
N/A: I was not in attendance or was stood in an area where I could not hear/observe other parents or spectators.