On any given night of the week, you can see youth sports going on in Richmond County.

While it is a good thing that children partake in sports, there comes a time when a parent has to decide whether they are going to be a parent, or a fan.

Some people seem to find it hard to balance the equation of responsibility vs. cheering on their kids.

However, it is not a task that should be taken lightly.

As both a coach and a reporter, I can’t tell you how many times I have heard a parent, be it at a college game, or a Little League game, yell out a negative comment to a player.

Young kids learning their way in a perhaps unfamiliar game shouldn’t have to listen to this kind of negativity.

What many fail to grasp about this situation is the lesson that it teaches their young children, as well as other impressionable young minds sitting around them.

Bad sportsmanship is taught at home. Sure, your child may be the best on their Little League team now.

But when they move up, they could be the low player on the totem pole.

They may struggle, and the game may seem less fun.

Parents, sit back, take a breath, and realize that youth sports are more than the win/loss record at the end of the year.

The thing children should take away from the experience is the fact that they are learning to play a game.

That’s all: A game. It’s not life or death. it doesn’t call for children to be yelled at when they make a mistake.

It’s just a game.

While criticism is best when it is constructive, you have to know the right way to handle it.

Most children — at least the 6-14-year-olds I know — do not respond well to yelling and screaming.

So much more can be taught by showing them the proper way to handle a situation, when things are calm.

For many children, youth athletics is about having fun — not the record, or the number of times they score. It’s just a fun game.

Many professional athletes and fans have forgotten that.

It’s not about the millions of dollars that the athletes make, or the cars, houses, and everything else that goes along with being an athlete.

People who play sports at the youth, high school and collegiate levels play it because they genuinely enjoy the game.

And it’s about learning lessons that will endure long after the uniforms and cleats go into the closet.

Personally, I would rather have a child learn the right way to play the game, and how to be respectful to the other team, than have a perfect record with players playing the game the wrong way and learning the wrong lessons.

Contact sports reporter Travis Anderson at 997-3111 ext. 44 or via e-mail at tanderson@yourdailyjournal.com.