Parents of athletes performing consistently well and score two stars are calm and confident when it comes to their child’s performance. At the regular parent meeting, we can talk at length about the key points of children’s development, the necessary milestones. Typically, athletes and their parents who dedicate their (already older) typically 13-16 year old children to a sports career are regularly interested in how they could excel in their performance, i.e. earn three stars. Those achieving three stars come to the next training with great motivation, and the positive feedback confirms their commitment to the sport.
If an athlete’s performance falls short of expectations, that is, he/she receives one star rating, it turns out countless times that there is some real, non-sport related problem behind the poorer performance: not sleeping enough the night before, malnourished or not eating at all, illness, injury (not reported), sometimes an emotional problem (low mark at the school, first girlfriend, parents arguing, etc.). These can often be easily improved by changing daily routines. The initial mixed feelings that arise in parents due to the one star are quickly transformed into a useful status indicator, which also helps them a lot to get to know and understand their child better.