It has become a ‘normal thing’ to see Irish parents ‘shouting and screaming’ on the sidelines of children’s sports matches, campaigners are warning.

It comes after a new Australian study warned that parents’ behaviour on the sidelines has a major impact on their children’s behaviour on the pitch.

The study calls for the promotion of positive parent behaviours to “improve prosocial athlete behaviour” in children.

Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, Silent Sideline campaign founder Antonio Montero said bad adult behaviour at matches has become a “social norm”. 

“Children will always be influenced by what they see around them and their introduction to sport is this and they don’t know anything different,” he said. 

“So, to them, it’s actually become such a normal thing to see lots of parents prowling along the side lines, passing on information, screaming and shouting.” 

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

Mr Montero is also a Castleknock Celtic coach and said, in his experience, most clubs already have rules about respecting players and coaches - but they just are not being adhered to.

“If you look around many clubs, you’ll see signs everywhere,” he said. 

“The minute you walk into a park, there’s signs everywhere about respecting the game, about staying silent, about respecting the referee. 

“So, it’s all out there.” 

Despite this, Mr Montero believes many badly behaved parents have no idea they are behaving inappropriately because “nobody has brought this to their attention”. 

If any club has parents like that, he urged them to raise the issue. 

“The key to it is education and it’s up to clubs to educate parents as they enter into… the early stages of sport,” he said. 

“That’s the only way to get the parents [to behave] is by educating them that there is a better way.” 

Children playing football. Photo by Robin Utrecht/ABACAPRESS.COM

For those parents who find themselves tempted to roar and scream during a match, Mr Montero had this advice. 

“If you find yourself getting emotionally involved in a game, then the best thing to do is to stand back away from the action,” he said. 

“Try and find a place where you’re not encroaching on the sideline, you’re maybe five or 10 yards from the pitch - that will have an influence on how you behave.” 

According to Sport Ireland, 96% of primary school children and 84% of secondary school children play sport once a week.

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Main image: Children waiting to play a match. Picture by: Alamy.com