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I am firmly in the camp of letting parents set the standards. I have had parents withhold basketball from some of my players as a punishment, and I support their decision. If it is their favorite thing, sometimes it is what you need to take away in order to get results. Of course, I would recommend removing the video games and TV from the equation first, because those are waste activities compared to a sport. But sometimes the most important thing to a kid is what you need to deny to get through to them.
And yes, the A standard sounds tough, but if a kid was achieving As before sports, he should continue to achieve and not allow their sports activities to cause their education to suffer. I have always expected my kids to achieve higher than the minimum standard, and they in turn expect it of themselves.
I have learned from working, coaching, and parenting that the leaders set expectations - and parents and coaches are the leaders for their children and their players. Low expectations almost always result in low performance. High expectations and appropriate positive reinforcement (helping them get there) will always result in higher level performance.
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