Relax, It’s Just a Game: The Lesson Behind Hockey Canada’s “Pin the Tail” Skit
No parent means to turn their kid’s game into a pressure cooker — it just kind of happens. You spend the week juggling work, paying for registration, rearranging schedules, packing snacks, and sitting in traffic… and then suddenly you’re shouting “Go get that donkey!” at a birthday party game.
That’s the brilliance of Hockey Canada’s “Relax, It’s Just a Game” campaign — it takes our sideline intensity and drops it into a totally ridiculous setting: Pin the Tail on the Donkey.
In the skit, parents hover, yell directions, and act as if the championship’s on the line. One even mutters, “I can’t believe I missed Pilates for this.” It’s funny — until you realize how familiar it feels.
Because that’s what so many kids experience every weekend. The game stops being fun the second adults start treating it like a job interview instead of playtime.
The message isn’t that parents shouldn’t care — it’s that kids perform, learn, and love sports more when we take a step back. They need the freedom to make mistakes, to laugh at them, and to figure it out on their own.
So whether it’s hockey, soccer, or musical chairs, maybe the best coaching advice for parents is the one Hockey Canada nailed years ago:
Relax. It’s just a game.
Ian Goldberg is the CEO of Signature Media and the Editor of the largest and fastest growing sports parenting newsletter. He’s been recognized as an industry expert by the National Alliance for Youth Sports, the US Olympic Committee’s Truesport, and the Aspen Institute's Project Play. Ian is also a suburban NJ sports dad of two teenage daughters and has over 2,000 hours of volunteer time coaching them (which he calls the most fun form of R&D for his newsletter content). Ian and his team provide players, coaches, parents and program directors with the articles and content they need to have a great sports season. Ian has spent most of his career in digital product development and marketing and got his start at the White House where he worked for the economic advisors to two US Presidents.
