Parents and Sports

I meet parents at the tennis tournaments all the time, but only few times was I lucky to encounter friendly ones who taught their kids to applaude a good shot from their opponent and to congratulate her at the end of the match. Few parents come to the matches to support their kid, most come to support a dream of theirs or an ambition imposed on their child. Too often I see parents I have to hide from. They do not greet anyone, they yell at the kids on the court when they are not supposed to interfere, they coach kids in their native language (when different from English) during a match, or they directly tell kids terrible, disrespectful things right there on the court. One father yelled at his daughter not to shake hands with my daughter at the end of the match. In a complete lack of respect and reasonable understanding of the game, another couple once applauded and cheered their daughter at every unforced error my daughter made. What do these parents think they teach their kids? Is this how tomorrow's athletes are being educated by their parents? Is this true in every sport? In every country? Not only is tennis by definition a lonely sport, but today I felt that it is a socially difficult sport. The ball in my picture expresses this loneliness.