Parents and families of athletes represent a group of individuals who can be a source of advice and counsel for an athlete. Their participation in the development of the athlete is often left to chance which is not an optimal situation. Journey Sports Consulting believes embracing and actively engaging parents and the family dynamic intentionally is one of the great opportunities in youth sport. The younger the athlete the more the parent has an important role to play – indeed the parent is the client. Take the steps to actively and purposefully develop the athletic family as part of your club’s culture and to help each athlete reach their full potential.

Sport Parent Development and Education

• Why kids play sports and why they quit
• Why parents want their kids to play sports; what is in it for the parent?
• Specific, detailed sport knowledge and details of your club’s programs developed for each age groups’ parents. Essential knowledge for youth sport parents in such areas as; education in sport specific knowledge, culture of a specific sport, how you play that specific sport, and how to create a complete program for an athlete.
  • Sport comprehension
  • Application of knowledge to family sport participation
  • Analysis
  • Synthesis
  • Evaluation
• General athletic topics presenting specific information on pedagogy (styles of learning), learning styles, training methods, and more, to create an informed, supportive parent culture for sport clubs.
• Family systems and support for the children playing the game
• Club’s expectations of parents
  • Ethical behaviors
  • Conflict resolution and dispute arbitration
• Parent’s expectations for the sport/athletic club

Methods & Content Areas

• Philosophy and methodology of the sport club
  • Meaning of the Mission and Vision statements of the sport club
• Parent manuals and guidelines
• Parent’s rights
• Communication systems
  • Pod casts
  • Blogs
  • Email
  • Social media
  • Printed newsletters
• Parent clinics by age group
  • Essential Knowledge for Families Participating in Youth Sport – research being conducted for a forthcoming book written by Lester L. Keller, PhD
• Parent sport specific training clinics
  • “What your kids do & why we do those things” – demonstrating activities related to training to parents
  • “How we do those things” – methods explained to parents
• Motivation Theory explained
• Life skills and the role positive psychology plays in sports
  • Character strengths and virtues
  • Value systems and ethics
• Sport Science trends
• Youth sport cultural trends – what are the accepted norms of your sport?
• Understanding the rules of the sport
• Understanding advancement, chronological as well as because of improved ability