Psychological insights into parental guidance for grassroots football players

Abstract

Grassroots football is the foundation for young children's football development process. It emphasizes several aspects that are necessary for children's psychological well-being, such as excitement, encouragement from coaches, and parental support. In the process of developing grassroots football players, parents have a very big role in the child, not only in providing support for the child but must be in accordance with the child's needs in the path of football development. This research aims to provide information regarding appropriate parental support for grassroots football players according to coaches' views. A qualitative approach toward grounded theory was used to formulate the research with 25 coaches from Indonesia and Malaysia who have a coaching license in football and at least five years of coaching experience. The participants were selected using purposive sampling. The research data was obtained through a semi-structured interview model, field observations, and document analysis, which were analyzed using N-Vivo 14 software. The research results show that parents should have wisdom in supporting players. Parents need to understand that grassroots football is early childhood football development and should avoid becoming obsessed with making their children professional players. They must provide support for the training program provided by the coach, always be positive by giving appreciation to children, monitor their children's eating times and sleeping patterns, update their children's learning at school/learning with coaches, limit and monitor their children's use of gadgets at home, and most importantly, be the primary fans of their children. Collaboration between coaches and parents will positively contribute to increasing achievement in grassroots football, and children who are coached from an early age will continue to pursue their dreams of professional football. Keywords: Grassroots, Football, Parent, Support, Sport Psychology.