MISSION STATEMENT
‘Working with Parents in Sport’ supports organisations, coaches, parents and children to work effectively together to help young people fulfil their potential both in and out of their sport.
ABOUT
We are a UK based company that works globally with sporting organisations, providing unbiased information and support whilst recognising the difficulties that organisations, parents, coaches and athletes face in today’s world.
We currently work with amongst many others, football academies across the Premier League and Football League, England Rugby, British Gymnastics, Gymnastics Australia, Gymnastics Canada, UK Coaching, British Sailing, Cricket Scotland, Irish Football Association, Sport Ireland and Sport Northern Ireland, Leinster Rugby, Bath Rugby, Leicester Tigers, Ulster Rugby, Netball Scotland and during the course of 2024 engaged with over 100 different sporting organisations.
BACKGROUND
A generation ago children went out to play sport for the fun of the game and if they became successful and were able to make a living from it then that was great. It was not the primary motivation for parents setting out their children on their sporting careers.
Many parents from the moment they see their child in sports kit and they begin to look like mini-adults, have a much greater expectation, which can often outweigh their patience in helping their child develop at the appropriate speed.
As obesity rates continue to rise globally, many young people are giving up sport in their teenage years due to some of the pressures, behaviours put on them by parents during their formative years and they simply fall out of love with sport. It is no longer fun and that is the primary reason that children want to play sport in the first place.
We all have a responsibility to address this. Sport and physical activity should be seen as a lifetime investment for our children, not a short term gain.
We need to go back to basics and see sport for what it is, a chance for our children to learn experiences for life through their sport.
Teamwork, creativity, self reliance, good communicators, adaptability, resilience, developing friendships and sportsmanship are all valuable traits in life and not just in sport.
Gordon MacLelland set up ‘Working with Parents in Sport’ after 20 years as a teacher and coach across all age levels from 7 year olds to adults.
He has a degree in Sports Science from University College Chester and a PGCE from Lancaster University.
His background is in education and coaching with 25 years of experience. He was a Director of Sport at an independent school in the UK for over a decade and has worked in schools in both the UK and New Zealand.
He is the author of four books, ‘Sports Performance Parenting’, ‘Two Hats’, ‘Great Sports Parenting’ and ‘Engage.’
He is a parent to two children who have both been involved in performance sport and the early sporting experiences of his own children prompted him to set up the company as well as write the four books above.
As a speaker he brings a wealth of experience to working with organisations, coaches, parents and athletes gathered through 25 years as a teacher and coach, as well as a parent currently living and breathing the sports parenting journey.