Olympic and Paralympic sports' support staff are gathering to explore the role of ‘parents as part of the support team’ as part of a UK Sport symposium on Wednesday 12 October.
Following a summer of historic success, the symposium at St George's Park will provide an opportunity for sports to review their current involvement of parents and explore areas of development ahead of the next cycle.
The event will be attended by GB Performance Pathway managers, coaches, practitioners and key personnel responsible for talent identification and development. Attendees have specific responsibility for the elite development journey of athletes who have shown potential to be on a medal winning trajectory in 2020 and 2024.
Attendee Julian Bellan, National Talent Development Manager from British Diving highlighted:
“I have worked significantly over the last three cycles with parents and their involvement in a diver’s development has been crucial. Having experienced building trusted relationships and learning a huge amount, I am looking forward to contributing to the afternoon forums and gaining feedback and insights from other sports. The opportunity to share our expertise as we look towards Tokyo and beyond is much appreciated and will help us to keep developing as a programme and ensure we build on our success in Rio.”
Parents are a crucial role in the support network of the developing athlete and feedback has suggested that this is a timely event with a number of sports looking to understand how best to support parents and how to manage their involvement.
The day will feature case study examples from the education sector and the youth justice system about why and how they involve parents in the development of young people. A panel discussion and afternoon forums will ensure that the audience have time to share their own experiences and learn from each other.
Dean Leak, Talent Pathway Manager, British Shooting commented:
“From the perspective of British Shooting's talent pathway I am really looking forward to the Parents symposium on Wednesday. It is great timing for us as a programme as we are looking to activate several initiatives involving parents as part of the support team. And it will be hugely valuable to hear from the different case studies and really importantly the experiences of other colleagues and sports.”