When my daughter joined a competitive travel soccer team, I quickly learned that not all sidelines are created equal. At nearly every game, there’d be at least one parent from the opposing team yelling at their kid—or ours. Shouts of “Shoot!” or “What are you doing?!” would cut through the air, and you could practically feel the tension ripple across the field.

Early on, the parents on our team made a silent pact NOT to be those parents. And from day one, our coaches gave us a clear rule: don’t coach from the sidelines. We’re not the experts, and barking instructions only chips away at a child’s confidence and instinct. “They need to learn how to trust themselves out there,” one of our coaches told us. “If they’re always looking over to see what you think, they’ll never build the instinct

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