MISSION STATEMENT
‘Working with Parents in Sport’ supports organisations, parents and coaches in working together to provide children with the best possible sporting experiences.
ABOUT
We are a UK based company that works with sporting organisations globally, providing unbiased information that understands the difficulties that parents and coaches face in today’s world.
Our partners currently include amongst others, the Youth Sport Trust, England Rugby, UK Coaching, British Gymnastics, Gymnastics Australia, Cricket Scotland, Irish Football Association, Basketball England, Judo Scotland, Leinster Rugby, Derby County, Sport Ireland, Sport Northern Ireland and the Little Athletics franchise in Australia. We also work with soccer organisations in the USA and Canada.
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 sport.
Teamwork, creativity, self reliance, 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 as a coach to all age levels from 7 year olds to adults.
He has a BA/Hons degree in Sports Science from University College Chester and a PGCE from Lancaster University.
He has a background in education, is a qualified teacher and was a Director of Sport at an independent school in the UK for over a decade. He has worked in schools in both the UK and New Zealand.
He is the author of three books, ‘Two Hats’ – a book for parent coaches who are coaching or thinking of coaching their own children, ‘Great Sports Parenting’ – A pocket guide for parents of children in sport and ‘Engage’ – A coaches guide to building positive relationships with parents.
He is a parent to two children and the early sporting experiences of his own children prompted him to set up the company as well as write the three books above.
As a speaker he brings a wealth of experience to working with organisations, coaches and parents gathered through 20 years as a teacher and coach as well as a parent currently involved in children’s sport.
