Do you get a gnawing feeling of dread ahead of your child’s sports matches? 

If so, it turns out you’re not the only parent who feels they would rather be somewhere else. 

Recently, journalist Dave Hannigan penned an opinion piece admitting that he had grown to “despise” watching his children play sport. 

He described the behaviour of coaches as “demented” and said the attitudes of parents were “dysfunctional”. 

Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, journalist Jen Hogan said she could understand why he feels that way.

“I’m not sure I’d go so far as to say that I hate watching my kids play sport,” she said. 

“The children that I have who are involved in team sports at the moment really look [forward to it], there’s huge excitement about it and you tend to feed off that knowing how much they’re looking forward to it. 

“However, I totally get where he’s coming from. Over the years, I have seen plenty of demented coaches, demented parents and ugly activities on the sidelines. 

“It does spoil it.” 

Children playing football in a park in March 2021. Picture by: PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo

Ms Hogan said far too many coaches take the game too seriously when the emphasis should be on children having fun. 

“I think there’s lots of brilliant coaches and I’m lucky enough that my own kids have some brilliant coaches,” she said. 

“But there are still a fair few angry coaches and, judging by the amount of emails and messages that I get in from parents, there’s still a fair few coaches prioritising winning over making sure children get sufficient playtime.” 

Girls playing football. Photo by Yuri Arcurs / Alamy Stock Photo.

Ms Hogan acknowledged that sports can cause ‘distress, stress and worry’ for parents but said she has seen “parents losing the plot” far too often when a match does not go entirely their child’s way.

“Roaring at kids on the same team and on the opposing team - I’ve witnessed that on many occasions,” she said. 

“My own kids have heard awful things said to them because maybe the parents on the other team… were a bit cross.”

According to a recent study in Australia, there is a strong correlation between parents behaving badly at sporting events and “youth antisocial behaviours”.

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Main image: Children at a football match.