Ben Affleck Jokes About 'Loudly Complaining' at His Kid's Sports Games

Ben Affleck has had to reel himself back from being a typical sports dad.

The Air actor and director, 50, recalls in this week's issue of PEOPLE that he recently had a "really embarrassing" experience while cheering on son Samuel, 11, at a basketball game.

"I have found myself just this year really embarrassing myself. I was at a basketball game for 11-year-olds, loudly complaining about the inconsistencies of the traveling calls against [them]," says the father of three.

"And I just was like, 'Get a hold of yourself.' Do not be a Scott, sitting here bitching about the guys calling, traveling," he continues. "I was like, 'That's a… Look at that, that's a travel.' Because my son got called for traveling."

Affleck notes that he doesn't want to be "one of those parents."

"I mean, listen, you don't want to be one of those parents, and you don't necessarily get your own esteem out of it," he explains.

"It's that thing, I think, in modern parenting, especially. We want to help our children. We want them to succeed. We love them so much. And yet the real challenge is to get out of the way and let them do it on their own."

The actor recently sat down with The Hollywood Reporter to talk about his film Air and his decision to increase focus on the production side of things. Affleck revealed that he was seeking out ways to expand his career while staying in Los Angeles.

"One of the reasons I did it was, I'm divorced. I share custody. I don't want to go to Austin and New Orleans and Georgia anymore and not see my kids," he leveled.

The Argo director and actor shares Samuel and daughters Seraphina, 14, and Violet, 17, with ex-wife Jennifer Garner. He's also stepdad to wife Jennifer Lopez's 15-year-old twins Max and Emme.

"It just doesn't work. These years are too important. If I miss them, I'll regret it for the rest of my life," he continued. "And then I thought, 'OK, well, if I'm in Los Angeles and I'm in an office and I'm doing this work, I can step out for the basketball game or the jazz performance.' So I protect those things."