Description
The updated, expanded edition of the go-to guide for sporting families everywhere.
Since the original Sports Performance Parenting landed in 2022, Gordon MacLelland and Sarah Murray have continued to work with sporting organisations, families and athletes across the globe. The sporting world hasn’t stood still, and neither has this book.
Sports Performance Parenting 2.0 is a fully upgraded edition, built for the world sporting families are navigating today. Alongside enhanced content across every original topic, this edition adds brand-new sections on parenting in a digital age, balancing education with sporting ambition, and supporting your child’s wider wellbeing.
It also includes new interviews with British Lions, Olympians preparing for Los Angeles 2028, and seasoned internationals across a whole host of sports.
There is no such thing as a perfect sports parent and rarely a one-size-fits-all approach.
Sporting parents are asked to navigate more than almost any other role in their child’s life. Working alongside coaches, supporting the healthy use of comparison, managing disappointment, supporting a healthy identity, managing technology usage, navigating the ups and downs of selection to name but a few.
This book walks alongside you through every stage of that journey. It offers space for honest reflection, works through the real scenarios you are likely to face, and hands you practical tools and strategies. By no means is it a rigid formula, but options to experiment with and adapt to your own child, your own family and your own sport.
Ultimately, this book isn’t just about performance. It’s about helping your child reach their potential both in and out of their sport, while making sure you get to enjoy the journey alongside them by guiding, encouraging, and hopefully setting them up for success in whatever walk of life they end up in.
What’s inside:
- Enhanced, updated content across every topic from the original edition
- New chapters on digital-age parenting, balancing sport with education, and holistic wellbeing
- Brand-new interviews with British Lions, LA 2028 Olympic hopefuls, and international athletes from a range of sports
- Practical tools, reflection points and strategies for every stage of the sporting journey
Without sporting parents, there is no youth sport. This book exists to acknowledge that and to make sure you feel equipped, supported, and a little less alone on the journey.
Here is what leading figures from across the sporting world are saying about the book.
There has never been enough support, information, tips and independent advice for sports parents. Until now. I’m delighted to endorse the great work that Gordon and his team have undertaken to provide guidance. It’s all based on common sense and lived experiences of teaching sport, parenting athletes and understanding human behaviour.
This book touches on an area that has remained largely untapped but to me remains one of, if not the most, key aspect in the complex picture of talent development – that of the role of parents/guardians. It is full of rich experiential learning, written in a manner that captures the important aspects whilst being easy to understand and apply. Gordon and Sarah have produced a timely and usable text that can help any parent/guardian whose child is involved in a sports performance environment.
Success in sport relies, to a great degree, on the role of the parents and families. But who guides them?
Sports Performance Parenting 2.0 offers clear and helpful advice. It’s a trusted companion for parents looking to offer the right path for their sporting children.
Having seen first-hand the vital role parents play in a young athlete’s experience and development, I strongly support work that helps them feel informed and empowered. This is an important contribution to a vital area of sport.
This book fills a huge gap in sport and life in modern society, providing much-needed support for parents to ensure their children thrive in sport. (It also applies to the world of academics, music, theatre and other high-performance pursuits.) With huge dropout rates and diminishing rates of health across the population, Gordon and Sarah’s expertise shows us how youth experiences of sport can and should be positive in both the short-term and longer-term.
The role of the parent or guardian is a crucial one in Talent development due to the multi-factorial role they play in a young performer’s development. Whether it is retaining the athlete in sport or helping them to excel it’s crucial that parents have the support and knowledge to best navigate a very complex journey. This book supports the parent in brings together talent development theory with a fantastic blend of experience in a manner that is easy to read and digest. This book is a must read for anyone embarking on the journey with their child who are looking to develop towards excellence in sport.
This book is a must read and practical guide for any parents with children in sport to understand how best to support and navigate the journey to success in sport and life.
As a former athlete, national team coach, member of a sport’s national governing body, a safeguarding sport educator and now also the parent of an athlete myself, I consider this book essential reading for both parents (and coaches!) in creating a holistic approach to athlete development and welfare, that centres the child’s voice and individual progress and allows them to thrive in the sport they love.
I have been aware for some time of the excellent work that both Gordon MacLelland and Sarah Murray do in the world of sport. I am delighted that they have come together to produce this book which I’m sure will make a significant contribution to creating a sustainable culture in performance sport.
A couple of years ago, I had a vague idea about writing a book like this, realising how helpful it would be to share psychological theory and practical ideas with parents and carers who support young athletes. I’m delighted that Sarah and Gordon got it done and did it so well – there’s a wealth of information contained in these pages, packaged up in an engaging and accessible style. Well done guys!
This book is a fascinating and informative must read for anyone interested in sports performance parenting. Gordon and Sarah manage to create space for critical questions, insightful stories and superb summaries. An incredible resource to add to your collection.
I read this with my parents’ hat on. Despite being involved in young people’s performance sport for well over 20 years, I still looked at this through the parent lens – looking at each scenario as I take my boys to the huge variety of sports they do. That’s because despite being well versed in what I should be doing based on good practice and research, when the emotion of being a parent kicks in, everything goes out of the window, and we do things that we wouldn’t ordinarily do. That’s why I have some sympathy when parents lose their minds! This book helps you reflect and is a great addition to parent and carer resources. It’s based on a series of questions to ask yourself and reflect on. We can’t be perfect parents ever – but we can be better.
I have been coaching for over 20 years now, and some of the most challenging times have been around communicating with parents, parents not understanding the roles and responsibilities of each integral stakeholder in a child’s sporting journey, and relationships breaking down as a result. The link between parents, club and coach is integral and this book ticks all the boxes to help build those bridges, educate all involved, and is something we should encourage all parents and coaches to read. Amazing.
Sometimes the simplest pieces of advice are the ones we forget but are ultimately the most important to remember. After reading the words throughout the book it was a reminder to me as a mother to remember the simple things. As a former professional athlete, I put a lot of importance on winning and losing. However, towards the end of my career I realised the performance and the journey were what made it enjoyable and were also the reason I achieved my goals. Getting back to the basics of parenting, enjoying the journey we are on and understanding why I want my children to play sports were all brought back to me throughout the book.
The work by Gordon continues to influence and support parents and coaches as well as sport governing bodies. He has developed an excellent resource here alongside Sarah and their insight has created a significant influence in such an important, and often misunderstood, area of sport participation and coaching.
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