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Filed under: In The News
Miller Donnelly, then 9, delivers his message about how parents can ruin sports for kids if they are too wrapped up in winning and losing. The Donnellys didn't expect the video to attract a large audience -- it was shot in their basement with Miller wearing his pajamas.
Most kids learn valuable life lessons playing youth sports. Miller Donnelly teaches them.
When he was just 9, Miller, who lives in a small town in Ontario, Canada, wrote a clever three-minute speech about overwrought sports parents and how their behavior squeezes the fun out of youth hockey.
First, he presented it to his school class. Then his uncle wanted to listen, so Miller's dad made a video and posted it on YouTube. One of Canada's top amateur hockey associations picked it up and posted the video to the club Web site. Then, last January, Miller really went big-time: One of Canada's most-watched TV news shows devoted an entire story to the speech.
Now, Miller is becoming the pint-sized oracle of responsible sports parenting. The speech – "The Magic Hockey Helmet" – has been shown at arenas before hockey games. More than 200 sports organizations have linked to it on their Web sites. And the video has been watched on YouTube more than 286,000 times.
Miller's message to parents is simple: Stop yelling. You're ruining sports for kids.
"I think a lot of kids feel the way I do," Miller, now 12 and a star defenseman on the Rayside Balfour Tigers, tells ParentDish in a phone interview. "They're kind of scared to admit it because they don't know how their parents might react."
Miller is hardly afraid. In the video, he points to an ordinary hockey helmet and explains that there's magic in it, but not the good kind.
"How is this hockey helmet magical? It does something simply amazing. When I put it on, it changes me from a 9-year-old boy to a 20-year-old man. There are no puffs of smoke. No lightening bolts and it needs no magic wands. It just makes me older. Much older."
Miller tells his audience that the adults he meets at hockey rinks are unfailingly friendly and helpful – until the games begin.
"The minute I put on my magic helmet and step on the ice, adults treat me much differently. They yell at me, they curse me and they call me names. They treat me like I have been playing hockey for 15 years and get mad when I make a mistake."
It's hard to gauge the impact Miller's video is having, but his message has already gotten more attention than he ever dreamed of.
"I feel kind of proud about that," he tells us.
His parents are understandably proud, too. "You know how every parent feels their child is remarkable? Miller actually is," his mom, Cori Niemi, tells ParentDish. "I look at him and can't believe he is my son. How in the world did all this happen?"
ParentDish sports reporter Mark Hyman is the author of "Until It Hurts: America's Obsession With Youth Sports and How It Harms Our Kids" (Beacon Press) Have a suggestion for an article on youth sports? Contact Mark at pdyouthsports@aol.com.
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ReaderComments (Page 2 of 3)
12-02-2009 @ 8:36PM
greg said...Grow up
Reply
12-02-2009 @ 8:48PM
afun said...Who cares if he didnt write it! It's all true
Reply
12-02-2009 @ 8:58PM
john perry said...When my boys were little I coached T- Ball then Little league for one year.
Miller put into words why I quit coaching. It was the MAGIC BAT.
I turned normal everyday parents into flaming idiots.
Thank you Miller.
Reply
12-02-2009 @ 9:23PM
B Williams said...I was totally impressed. I remember the days when my husband coached little league football and the parents were the ones who could either make or break having a good game. Like the young man says, let them have their run and learn sportsmanship without parents making problems for all.
Reply
12-02-2009 @ 10:53PM
tvpRich said...Grow Up & Get Some Cahunas! or go and play Barbie with your sister, 'cause most other kids love all the Hoopla that goes with the sport! There's always Chess or Ice Fishing for all you Wimps! Besides, the script you memorized was obviously written by an adult.
Reply
12-02-2009 @ 11:03PM
sfdavis1089 said...To "tvpRich": If that's what your beloved "cahunas" are all about, I'd be honoured to be coloured "Christmas, Christmas time is here...."
12-02-2009 @ 9:53PM
Nancy Little Lewis said...This kid is awesome. He is so well spoken for his age. We adults can learn a lot from him. I agree parents should have to watch this video.
Reply
12-02-2009 @ 9:55PM
Jennifer G said...Thank you Miller Donnelly, you are so right. I have seen it many times when our son was playing t-ball, baseball, basketball football and wrestling. I use to be one of those parents but I only took the kind of action Miller speaks of when it came to wrestling. I am not sure why it was only wrestling but, I was so crazy. I guess I could say that because my son always won. But none the less Miller is right, we parents need to tone it down, our kids are in the sports to have fun. That's the problem with sports, we take it too seriously.
Reply
12-02-2009 @ 10:00PM
Bored in OC said...Excellent job Miller! Sometimes parents need a little kick in the butt (and sometimes parents just need to grow up)
This should be required viewing to all parents putting their children into sports - remind them to teach sportsmanship and not *ssholeness
Reply
12-02-2009 @ 10:05PM
QBuster said...Clever kid. Wonder if the adults that see it will get the message that he is trying to get across.
Reply
12-02-2009 @ 10:07PM
Jennifer said...(sigh) this kid will never go pro.
Reply
12-02-2009 @ 10:27PM
Cindy said...This is so true and would be great if it wasn't so dang rehearsed. I would love to get the message out to parents and coaches alike but this is obviously rehearsed and memorized and not straight from the heart as it tries to portray. It starts with the coaches and then the parents. What is important and what are we trying to teach our kids? Gee, wonder where the violence comes from when this crap starts in 2nd grade!!!!!!!!!!
Reply
12-03-2009 @ 2:07PM
brad said...this kid kinda makes me want to hurt someone
Reply
12-02-2009 @ 10:24PM
mezl said...simple solution. put the parents of each team in a different room with a big screen tv. the parents of the kids in "team A" are in one room. the parents of the kids of "team B" go in another room. NO ALCOLHOL. any one who appears intoxicated gets arrested for being drunk and stupid.
show the game on the tv. that way, the kids can have fun and not have to watch and listen as their "parents" turn into A**HOLES. isn't it amazing how that tiny little hole under and in between one's buttocks can actually grow in size until it consumes the person whole and make them into a TOTAL A**HOLE?!?!
magical. truly magical....
Reply
12-02-2009 @ 10:24PM
NATE said...It's kids like this that RUIN childhood sports for we beer-swilling adults. The little ingrate.
Reply
12-02-2009 @ 10:50PM
Wu Tang said...This is epic. I hope this becomes a mandatory video for all athletes. As a former national tennis player, I know how much pressure it is to perform whether it be in the rink or on the court or in the field. Parents need to step back and take sports as a fun event rather than a professional cutthroat environment where their child must win every game perfectly. I've gotten yelled at, cursed at, and punished for not playing well. Sadly I have heard worse stories of parents chasing their children around with belts trying to hit them in front of tennis players...Hopefully parents can learn a lesson through this young man.
Reply
12-02-2009 @ 10:54PM
sfdavis1089 said......and a little child shall lead.
Reply
12-02-2009 @ 11:09PM
Matty's Mommy said...Why does it matter if he was coached or not? He's an 8 year old boy for God's Sake. You're just jealous because you are probably one of those parents he is taking about. I think this young man is remarkable and coached or not, he did an amazing job. Kids should be able to play a sport and have fun instead of getting screamed at and being criticized adults. Come on, aren't the parents supposed to be more mature than the kids?? How pathetic to sit there and trash the kid on how he feels. Atleast the importance of the message is getting out there so these kids canplay a damn game without getting screamed at and called names..or in other cases.. getting beat for missing a point.
Awesome job Miller. I think you did great and I really hope this message changes the way "Adults/Parents" act towards their children or any other child for that matter, during sports. =)
Reply
12-02-2009 @ 11:43PM
Matt LeBaron said...This boys parents should be proud, and he's right. as a former athlete and coach I've seen it as well. this should be required viewing for all sports parents.
Reply
12-02-2009 @ 11:41PM
Mrblue said...We went to see the fights... and a hockey game broke out ;D
Reply