History Main / SportsDad

* In ''Film/ACinderellaStory'', Austin's father actively tries to dissuade him from going to any college other than the one he wants his son to go to. He has an entire plan laid out, starting with Austin playing football at a local college; unfortunately for Austin, he's a poetry lover who wants to go to Princeton. After Austin [[spoiler: leaves his high school championship game to reconcile with Sam, his dad protests that he's throwing away his dream. Austin corrects he's throwing away ''his father's'' dream. This makes his dad come around by the end.]]

* Russ Thompson Senior in ''Film/HoneyIShrunkTheKids'' (the next door neighbour to Moranis' character) really wants his son to be more masculine and athletic and his son is afraid to tell him he quit the high school football team. He gets over it after going through CharacterDevelopment after his son goes missing (having been shrunk).

* Spike's dad in ''Film/LittleGiants'' is your typical "sports dad"; in his words, his son was "bred for football glory." As such, Spike is a merciless JerkJock, stronger and faster than any other kid his age. Spike's dad is in tears when his son's team loses at the end.

** American gymnast Dominique Moceanu [[EmancipatedChild sued her parents for emancipation]] at the age of 17, stating that her father was abusive and controlling and had taken and squandered all of her (substantial) gymnastics earnings, and was more concerned with building a "brand" around her than with her as a person.[[note]]In fact, Dominique would later learn that her parents had another daughter that they ''gave up for adoption'' at birth because she had a disability and they were concerned that her needs would take resources away from Dominique's gymnastics career; fortunately, the girl in question ended up in a good situation -- arguably better than she'd have had with her birth family as she grew up with [[HappilyAdopted loving, supportive parents]] -- but it was a clear indication of their SkewedPriorities.[[/note]] A New York Times article stated that:

** American gymnast Dominique Moceanu [[EmancipatedChild sued her parents for emancipation]] at the age of 17, stating that her father was abusive and controlling and had taken and squandered all of her (substantial) gymnastics earnings, and was more concerned with building a "brand" around her than with her as a person.[[note]]In fact, Dominique would later learn that her parents had another daughter that they ''gave up for adoption'' at birth because she had a disability and they were concerned that her needs would take resources away from Dominique's gymnastics career; fortunately, the girl in question ended up with [[HappilyAdopted good, loving parents]], but it was a clear indication of their SkewedPriorities.[[/note]] A New York Times article stated that:

* ''Series/ColdCase'': The father of a high school basketball player murdered his son's main competition. He cut his son out of his life for quitting the game.

** Lewis Hamilton's dad and ex-manager Anthony was a total stage dad. Lewis eventually had to fire him, and they're no longer on speaking terms.

* American gymnast Dominique Moceanu [[EmancipatedChild sued her parents for emancipation]] at the age of 17, stating that her father was abusive and controlling and had taken and squandered all of her (substantial) gymnastics earnings, and was more concerned with building a "brand" around her than with her as a person.[[note]]In fact, Dominique would later learn that her parents had another daughter that they ''gave up for adoption'' at birth because she had a disability and they were concerned that her needs would take resources away from Dominique's gymnastics career; fortunately, the girl in question ended up with [[HappilyAdopted good, loving parents]], but it was a clear indication of their SkewedPriorities.[[/note]] A New York Times article stated that:

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* Siria Ashen's parents in ItWebOriginal/DinaMarino are disappointed in their daughter's choice of going to university instead of focusing soley on her martial arts skills.

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* American gymnast Dominique Moceanu [[EmancipatedChild sued her parents for emancipation]] at the age of 17, stating that her father was abusive and controlling and had taken and squandered all of her (substantial) gymnastics earnings, and was more concerned with building a "brand" around her than with her as a person.[[note]]In fact, Dominique would later learn that her parents had another child that they ''gave up for adoption'' at birth because she had a disability and they were concerned that her needs would take resources away from Dominique's gymnastics career; fortunately, this [[HappilyAdopted worked out fine]] for the child in question, but it was a clear indication of their SkewedPriorities.[[/note]] A New York Times article stated that:

* In ''Film/ACinderellaStory'', Austin's father actively tries to dissuade him from going to any college other than the one he wants his son to go to. He has an entire plan laid out, starting with Austin playing football at a local college; unfortunately for Austin, he's a poetry lover who wants to go to Princeton.
* Troy of ''Film/HighSchoolMusical'' has a father who is actually his basketball coach. Troy is a LovableJock and his father comes to realize how much pressure he is putting on his son.

* In ''Literature/LilyAndDunkin, JerkJock Vasquez' FreudianExcuse is that his dad screams at him in front of his basketball teammates when he doesn't play well enough.

* The young-adult novel ''The Perfect Score'' and its sequels, by Rob Buyea, have a rare female example. Randi's overbearing mother pushes her to compete in gymnastics. Randi likes gymnastics and is good at it, but often feels overly pressured by her mom.
* Prolific writer of 1960s youth literature Ethelyn Parkinson (author of the Rupert Piper books) centers the conflict of ''Today I am a Ham'' on this trope. The novel is more subtle than many other examples; the dad, a coach, is a genuinely nice, if busy, guy; the son actually wants to be an athlete, as well as a [[UsefulNotes/TwoWayRadio amateur radio operator]] -- the "ham" of the title, not an [[LargeHam overly expressive actor]] -- and the conflict is resolved in a clever and heartwarming way.

* Tyler in ''FanFic/TotalDramaLegacy''. [[DreamCrushingHandicap Because his klutziness prevented him from becoming an all-star athlete]], he decided to shape his son Wayne into the athlete he could never be. So he signed Wayne up for sports as soon as he was old enough, and to his delight, Wayne ended up not only enjoying sports, but being very good at them.

* Exaggerated for BlackComedy in a ''Series/MadTV'' sketch parodying ''Film/HighSchoolMusical''. The star of the basketball team sings about how his father is abusively obsessed with his performance in the games, and would brutally beat him when his basketball performance was deemed sub-par.

** [[https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/honor-thy-father/ Bill Butterfield]] was a man from [[UsefulNotes/DFWMetroplex suburban Dallas]] whose athletic aspirations were cut short in high school [[TeenPregnancy when his girlfriend became pregnant]]. He then tried to mold both his sons into sports stars in his place, through a strict diet and training regimen and years of verbal and emotional abuse. His elder son Billy eventually just walked away, leaving his father to focus on younger son Lance, who was eight at the time. Over the years, Bill became [[AbusiveParents increasingly controlling, abusive, and crazy towards Lance]], dictating his life, recording his matches, giving him steroids, and eventually beating him daily. His wife sometimes tried to intervene, only to be cowed into submission herself. The final straw for both was Lance's relationship with a girl named Kim; for Bill, it was the specter of [[ICouldaBeenAContender his own downfall]], and for Lance, it was his father becoming downright obsessive with ending the relationship and keeping it ended. Eventually, on December 27, 1995, [[TheDogBitesBack Lance snapped]] and [[SelfMadeOrphan shot him dead]]. Tellingly, at Lance's murder trial, the crowd booed the ''prosecution'', who could not find a single person who would testify that Bill Butterfield [[AssholeVictim didn’t deserve to die]]. The defense, meanwhile, fielded dozens of character witnesses for Lance, including Bill's own sister and father, with the latter writing a sworn affidavit that Lance shouldn't be prosecuted. In the end, after a mistrial, Lance Butterfield pleaded guilty to manslaughter and served two years in prison.

* American gymnast Dominique Moceanu [[EmancipatedChild sued her parents for emancipation]] at the age of 17, stating that her father was abusive and controlling and had taken and squandered all of her (substantial) gymnastics earnings, and was more concerned with building a "brand" around her than with her as a person.[[note]]In fact, Dominique would later learn that her parents had another child that they ''gave up for adoption'' because she had a disability and they were concerned that her needs would take resources away from Dominique's gymnastics career; fortunately, this [[HappilyAdopted worked out fine]] for the child, but it was a clear indication of their SkewedPriorities.[[/note]] A New York Times article stated that:

* American gymnast Dominique Moceanu sued her parents for emancipation at the age of 17, stating that her father was abusive and controlling and had taken and squandered all of her (substantial) gymnastics earnings, and was more concerned with building a "brand" around her than with her as a person. A New York Times article stated that:

** {{Defied|Trope}} by former NFL quarterback Archie Manning. Despite knowing the ins and outs of making it to the NFL (having played himself) and having three sons (Cooper, Creator/{{Peyton|Manning}}, and Eli) with huge potential, he had almost no involvement in his sons' football careers; in fact, as he revealed in a 2005 interview, there was a point in time when Archie thought Eli might not be interested in football, and his immediate reaction was to worry that Eli might feel pressured to play football anyway because of his family's association with the game, because that was the exact opposite of what Archie wanted, which was for his sons to choose their own paths (he described his thought process as, "If [Eli] wants to play piano, let's get him a piano"). When the boys reached high school age, Archie and his wife sent them to a prep school in New Orleans with rigorous academic standards and a poor football program because he felt school was more important. Even after the kids became hot college recruits, Archie didn't force them to attend his alma mater Ole Miss and let them choose their schools (though Cooper and Eli picked Ole Miss anyway). Though the college coaches invited him to sit in on games and meetings and discuss offensive strategies, Archie declined and sat in the stands on game day as a regular fan. In the end, Peyton and Eli became NFL quarterbacks with Hall of Fame-worthy careers that surpass their father's, while Cooper may have made it as a wide receiver had it not been for a severe spinal condition that forced him to retire in college (he had to settle for being an extremely successful investment banker and TV sports broadcaster instead).

** {{Defied|Trope}} by former NFL quarterback Archie Manning. Despite knowing the ins and outs of making it to the NFL (having played himself) and having three sons (Cooper, Creator/{{Peyton|Manning}}, and Eli) with huge potential, he had almost no involvement in his sons' football careers; in fact, as he revealed in a 2005 interview, there was a point in time when Archie thought Eli might not be interested in football, and his immediate reaction was to worry that Eli might be feeling pressured towards football because of his family's association with the game, because that was the exact opposite of what Archie wanted, which was for his sons to choose their own paths (he described his thought process as, "If [Eli] wants to play piano, let's get him a piano"). When the boys reached high school age, Archie and his wife sent them to a prep school in New Orleans with rigorous academic standards and a poor football program because he felt school was more important. Even after the kids became hot college recruits, Archie didn't force them to attend his alma mater Ole Miss and let them choose their schools (though Cooper and Eli picked Ole Miss anyway). Though the college coaches invited him to sit in on games and meetings and discuss offensive strategies, Archie declined and sat in the stands on game day as a regular fan. In the end, Peyton and Eli became NFL quarterbacks with Hall of Fame-worthy careers that surpass their father's, while Cooper may have made it as a wide receiver had it not been for a severe spinal condition that forced him to retire in college (he had to settle for being an extremely successful investment banker and TV sports broadcaster instead).

* In '''Film/TheHollow'', Ian's father Carl is the high school football coach who is determined that Ian will have exactly the same high school experience as him, including being a football hero. He ignores the fact that Ian is more interested in drama than athletics.

* In ''Anime/FutureGPXCyberFormula ZERO'', Henri Claytor's father was a former racer who trained his son to be one and wants him to be the youngest champion in Cyber Formula. When that doesn’t happen and Hayato Kazami gets that title instead, his father becomes an alcoholic and started to abuse and ignore him. This leads Henri to hate Hayato for taking what he thinks is his. After some lecturing from Osamu and then Hayato, [[spoiler: he starts realizing what he has become due to his father's training and starts seeing Hayato as the father he wishes he had]].