Parental support; is it crucial to a developing Athlete? – Parents in Sport Week 2018

“My parents are my backbone. Still are. They’re the only group that will support you if you score zero or you score 40.”    Kobe Bryant

Mum and Dad coming out to watch the first competitive game between the Poole brothers!

Usually this blog is going to be every 2 weeks, but it was brought to my attention that this week is Parents in Sport week, and so I figured discussing one of the foundations of my sporting career to date wouldn’t be a bad way to kick things off.

Parents in Sport week is an NSPCC initiative that aims to show how parents can influence their child’s sporting potential. It’s about trying to encourage Parents to get more involved with either helping run clubs, learning more about the sport, or even just taking an active interest in how their child is doing in sport. One of the key mental factors of sport is confidence, and sometimes all it takes to give an athlete confidence is having a familiar face cheering for you on the side-line, or having someone to chat about the game with, or how your sporting career is not all over when you have a bad day. Parental support can make a difference to the way that a child perceives the sport and how they view their performance, because I for one have been through the psychological rollercoaster that is sport.

Parents:

My dad always tells me about one of his favourite moments in sport. He was in his 20’s playing for Ireland in a tournament, and his mum came to watch him play for the first time. She travelled all of the way from London on her own to watch and wore a green suit with a green scarf for the match. He said seeing her in the stand was one of the greatest gifts volleyball had given him. Add to this that his mum had the best time, she was invited to the VIP events after the game and experienced the sense of community that sport has to offer. One of my proudest moments was being able to see my parents watch me play for my country throughout multiple age groups and coming to watch my official England senior debut. I will always remember the feeling of winning the national final before I moved across to the USA, and the first thing that I wanted to do was go over to my family and say thank you for all the sacrifices that they had made for me to play the sport I love.

Some of the English Parents supporting the team at one of the Junior European Championships in Bulgaria

Now, parents may not have time to attend every single game that your child plays, but maybe you have the ability to make one game a month, and I promise you, that one game a month will mean so much to the athlete. I have been lucky enough to see my parents standing on the side-line through rugby games that have seen them drenched head to toe, but they always had a smile on their faces. It’s the thought that matters the most.

My first role models were my parents. My mum played volleyball at the top level of English volleyball and my dad represented Ireland in volleyball and won the English league with Polonia VC. They are both athletic individuals, but they never pushed me into volleyball, and I am glad of this. I remember going through a variety of different sports: gymnastics (safe to say I lost all of that flexibility), football, rugby, tennis, golf, even drama before I tried volleyball. One of my greatest memories is going over to the local park with my dad and brother during a wet winter day and having a kick around coming home soaked in mud, I don’t remember the score, but I remember the people and the feeling that I had. It doesn’t have to be an organised sports team, it’s about spending time with family.

You can’t force a child into sport. This is likely to bring about resentment and pressure and they are unlikely to enjoy or be dedicated to that sport. However, you can offer them the option and enter them into “taster” sessions. With so many sports available, there is bound to be an activity out there for your child. Even something as simple as going over the park with some jumpers and a ball or borrowing a tennis racket and going to the free local tennis courts can get a child’s interest in sport flowing, and from here you start to build the future athlete, not through rigorous training and a hatred of the sport from a young age.

Athletes:

Saracens Amateur Rugby Club which relied on parents to help with the coaching!

You also have a role to play. Have you ever been embarrassed at the thought of your parents being at a game? Why? Think about all of the times that your parents take pride in everything that you do. Be proud of where you come from. When your parent is the loudest one in the gym (anyone who has ever been to one of my games has heard the air horn and the famous “Go *team name*”) be proud of it because they sure are proud of you, and they might even put off the opposition! Invite your parents to your games, because then you have someone to celebrate the highs or to support you when you have a bad game. Your parents should always be able to find a positive, even in a defeat, but if they aren’t exposed to the sport how can they offer feedback and then it makes it easier to overlook what they say?

However, the best gift you can give to them is to appreciate every opportunity that sport offers you, and try to share your experiences with them, whilst also remembering to thank them every once in a while! I owe a lot to my parents, without them I may never have had half of the opportunities that I have had in my life so far, thank you for all your continued support Mum and Dad!

For any clubs wanting to involve parents more, the NSPCC has some ideas via this link https://thecpsu.org.uk/resource-library/2018/parents-in-sport-week-2018-resources/

So now, my challenge to you is this: think of a time when you have been able to share the sport you love with your family and close friends and leave it in the comments section of this post so that others can see how important a role family, or more specifically parents play in the development of athletes.

Tschüss,

Rob

Celebrating the National u18’s Final Victory with family

Things to watch out for in the coming week(s):

• The Bello Brothers represent Team GB in the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, so follow the guys on twitter to keep up to date with their results and experiences! They earned the berth after finishing in the top 5 of the European qualification tournament!
• VC Gotha play two matches this weekend away. A trip to Freiburg awaits on Saturday evening before the Regional Cup Final on Sunday.
• The next blog post will be coming out on the 19^th October, 2 weeks from today. One of the best ways to keep up to date is by subscribing to receive email updates by clicking on the “Follow this journey” button.

“Sports teaches you character, it teaches you to play by the rules, it teaches you to know what it feels like to win and lose-it teaches you about life”.  – Billie Jean King