Parents in Sport Week

by JohnH · Published October 3, 2016 · Updated December 29, 2017

Parents in Sport Week – running from 3 to 9 October 2016 – focuses on how parents can greatly influence a child’s experience in sport through their actions, both positive and negative.

What it’s about…

The week looks at parental involvement under the following themes:

motivation
responsibility
communication

There are videos, leaflets and posters highlighting the important role of parents in supporting young athletes.

Some Key points

a parent’s role extends from securing access to the right training and coaching, to offering emotional and strategic support pre- and post-competition, as well as being there for the competition itself
in addition to providing funding and transport for training, a parent can help their child get in the right frame of mind to be motivated and focussed before a session
parents can also help young people reflect on what they’ve learned from the training and identify areas for improvement
in the lead-up to a competition, a parent knows how their child is feeling and can help tailor strategies for coping with crowds and the emotions of the other young athletes
parents can boost their child’s self-esteem by letting them know they’re looking forward to watching them enjoy their sport and improving on their performance, rather than focussing on winning – this translates into improved spectator behaviour too
a parent can be there for post-event analysis when their child is ready to have that conversation
by engaging in positive discussion, parents can understand what their child wants to achieve, so that both parent and child will better enjoy this involvement in sport