Advice for Parents and Guardians

In the UK many millions of children enjoy taking part in sport every week.

If parents don’t take part in sport themselves, it can be difficult to navigate the physical and emotional challenges children might face as part of their experience.

Most parents provide fantastic emotional and practical support to their children, however when it comes to sport, you may find that some parents struggle to get involved or don’t know how best to support them. 

Talk to parents in your sport and get them thinking about the following things they can do to help their child get the most out of sport:

• take time to talk to your child and find out why they want to take part in sport
• take time to learn about your child’s sport, what it means to them, and how they see sport fitting in their lives
• try and focus on the range of benefits your child will gain from taking part in sport, rather than just the wins and losses 
• ask your child what they would like you to do before, during and after competitions or matches. Children usually know what’s going to help them deal with the stresses of competing
• recognise that competitions can be emotionally challenging and demanding for you as a parent 
• develop strategies to stay calm when watching your child compete
• most importantly, remember that your child’s sport experience is unique to them. They will develop in different ways, at different rates, and achieve differently to other children.

Protecting children from County Lines

County lines is a form of criminal exploitation where urban gangs persuade, coerce or force children and young people to store drugs and money and/or transport them to suburban areas, market towns and coastal towns (Home Office, 2018). It can happen in any part of the UK and is against the law and a form of child abuse.  Please click here to read more about protecting your child using the NSPCC resource.

Below you will find some documents that will help you, as parents and carers, make the right decision about where your child takes part in sport, and how to ensure their safety.

Useful Documents

• Safe in Sport Leaflet
• Code of Conduct for Parents
• Football Associations Respect Programme
• Parents in Sport – Leaflet for coaches
• Youth Sport Trusts Performance Parent App

Every October the Child Protection in Sport Unit run their ‘Keeping your child safe in sport’ campaign focusing on giving parents the information and tools they need to spot potential concerns and to speak out about them.