Athlete-Parent connection – Talking about motivation and goals

As a parent you will have had a specific reason for getting your child involved in sport. You may have been involved as a child yourself and want them to have the same opportunities or it may have been something you didn’t do that you want them to have access too.

When your child has been involved in sport for a longer period of time your motivation for their involvement may change. You will also find that they are developing their own reasons for doing it, or they may want to explore other sports or activities.

Because of this it is really important for you to check in with your child and see how they are feeling about their sport involvement. Sit down and discuss their reasons for involvement.

Here are some prompt questions to help you:

• Does your child know their goals and what they are working towards?

• Does your chid know why they are involved?

• Has your child’s goals in their sport recently changed?

• Are you and your child identifying the same reasons or different ones?

• Have things changed in school or sport that are impacting their motivation or goals?

We don't have to know all of the answers on the spot. The key is to keep the conversation ticking over and notice if there are any changes.

This content has been developed as part of our #itsmyjourney project with Valleys Gymnastics Academy. Information has also been referenced from the CPSU keeping your child safe in sport resources.