Participating in team sports is a great way to teach your children some of the most important life lessons. Loyalty, friendship, teamwork, and how to both win, and lose, graciously. Sometimes it may become necessary to offer up some extra encouragement to your children, and here is what I have found works.

The most important thing a parent can do to encourage their children to do their best is to be present at events. This cannot be overstated. Go to enough baseball, football, or karate tournaments, and you will be able to tell the children that do not have at least one parent cheering them on from the stands. Remember, nothing going on at work is more important to your child than seeing your love and support.

And don’t think the encouragement is done once the final whistle blows. Let your children know how great they were as soon as the game is over. Tell them how proud you are, and how you can’t wait until next week to see it again. And then follow through with that. Repeat this for every game, every time, and you will find that your child will continue to strive to make you proud.