Rose Zhang explains ‘lifelong’ skills from being a good teammate

Editor’s note: Steve Borelli has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999 and after 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams, he now writes a weekly column on sports parenting. The following piece centers around being a good teammate (especially when injured). For past columns, click here.

This is an important issue that can play a role in every young athlete’s athletic, social and character development. Being a strong and loyal teammate, no matter what the circumstances, is a quality that will help them as they grow through adolescence and into adulthood.

The issue of encouraging and reinforcing our kids to play and work as a team constantly comes up in my interviews. These interviews include a recent one I conducted with Pro Football Hall of Famer Calvin Johnson and one our video team did this week with 20-year-old LPGA sensation Rose Zhang.

In sports, as in life, teamwork goes well beyond showcasing your skills. We want our kids to learn to become strong teammates, and the case of being injured provides the perfect opportunity to do so.

Here are three points to remember to help you make the best of this situation:

The most important quality you can gain from youth sports is becoming a good teammate

Think about your own childhood sports career and what you remember most fondly. Was it how many games you won, goals you scored or home runs you hit? Or was it how much fun you had with your friends and teammates?

We all love to win, and as parents, we love to watch our kids win, but the thrill of competition alongside teammates with a common goal is what we enjoy most.

“I think there’s something to being in a team sport,” says Calvin Johnson, now a father of three young boys. “Not that you can’t be great at individual sports, nothing’s wrong with that, but team sports tell you a little bit more about yourself than I think you can learn from individual sports because you’re working with other people.”

OK, but your son or daughter can’t play because he or she is injured. Does that mean they are not part of the team anymore? Would he or she want their teammates to think that is the case?

If your teammates see you out there supporting them, they are more likely to cheer for you when you are playing once again. In the meantime, ask the coach (or, even better, have your son or daughter ask the coach) if there is something he or she can do to help out on game day. Maybe that means coaching a base in…