How parents can get it wrong at times

The Noida Junior Squash Tournament 2008 was on during the weekend of 12 April 08. Lots of kids were in high spirits...doing their best to win matches. Parents were in tow, cheering them to do well.

Children have a tendency to observe their parents for approval, encouragement and support while performing action. So these kids would look at their guardians every time they won points...and more when they lost a point or a game. The reaction of parents was worth noting...and I made some observations which need to be discussed.

All parents wanted their kids to win...nothing wrong with that. But in the process of trying to win most of them missed the point when they went overboard in cheering their kids. A parent took up a fight against the referee...his son was playing extremely well against a very tough opponent. A few 50-50 points went against his son. The son looked towards him each time with an air of despondency as if saying that the whole world was ganging up against him.

All this made the father go into hyper mode. He demanded that the referee be changed... but that was promptly turned down by the tournament organisers. He then created a hue and cry and also blamed the organisers that his sons opponent was over-age. That too did not gel with the organisers. By this time the match was over...and his son had lost in straight sets.

The boy came out...weeping his heart out. His father took him in his arms and consoled him... explaining how 'cheating' had been done against him and that he was a better player any day.

All this while I watched the drama in utter amazement. The whole episode was a classic case of the glass half full or half empty. The father simply failed to see that his son (much younger in age) had given a spirited fight to the top seed. The sense of being wronged overtook everything else...and all of this got transferred to the son.

A great performance had been brought to its knees and marred by an immature parent. What a shame, I thought. If only the parent could see the victory in his sons defeat. The victory of a fighting performance by the underdog; the victory of how ability and will power can transcend age barriers and most importantly the victory of the birth of self-belief in a little kid that he can do it despite all odds.

Alas! If only the father had other work to do that Saturday afternoon.