21st October 2019
| Mallory Gray
Pathway support a key priority for the development of athletes
Four National Governing Bodies with the assistance of Sport Wales and Cardiff Metropolitan University are teaming up to facilitate a series of coaching and parent engagement sessions across Wales over the next 6 months.
Cricket Wales, Welsh Athletics, Welsh Gymnastics and Hockey Wales will join forces with the widely acclaimed Richard Shorter (the ‘Non Perfect Dad’) to offer a unique insight into the talent pathway from a parent perspective, and to discuss the pivotal roles that all parents and coaches play in youth development in a bid to maximise potential. Richard has a wealth of experience working across a plethora of sporting pathways and organisations from England Rugby, England Hockey, Saracens, Manchester United and the ECB with outstanding reviews.
Cricket Wales Talent Programme Manager Matt Thompson said, “we talk a lot about supporting players throughout their pathway journey, but rarely do parents receive the same degree of support despite the pivotal role they play. It’s really exciting to be able to offer this provision for parents of multiple sports across the pathway. Regardless of what sport they are invested in their experiences will be relevant to all and add some real value in some key areas.”
Welsh Athletics Coach Development Coordinator Zoe Brown said, “Parents and coaches play such an important part in the support system of active young people. As a sport we want to help create a platform for sharing of experiences and knowledge around interacting with a young developing person who may be juggling the pressure of sport and school, in amongst the challenges of growing up.”
Welsh Gymnastics’ Performance and Talent Development Manager Holly Broad said, “we are very excited to be able to extend the offer of opportunities and information available to parents and coaches involved in the performance pathway, through this fantastic collaborative project.
Hockey Wales’ Performance Coordinator Aoife Smyth commented, “we are very excited to be a part of this collaboration and to be able to offer coaches and parents within our sport the opportunity to work with Richard. We recognise that parents and coaches are a huge part of an athlete’s journey and quite often are the most important people in the athlete’s life. We are delighted to be able to offer support to both parties through the Coach and Parent engagement sessions. Sporting parents and coaches share a lot of the same challenges and it will be interesting for these challenges to be discussed in such a diverse group of sporting disciplines.”
All parent and coach sessions are free of charge, although spaces are limited due to venue capacity. To book your place follow any of the links below – parents and coaches need only attend 3 sessions in total with each session being repeated in a different location. For more information on Richard Shorter’s work please visit: https://non-perfectdad.co.uk/
For general enquiries about the sessions please contact Matt Thompson: [email protected]
Parent Sessions
Session 1:
Ynystawe Cricket Club https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/essential-information-parent-engagement-sessions-tickets-73972388405
Cardiff Met https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/essential-information-parent-engagement-sessions-tickets-77116426307
Session 2:
Eirias Park https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/essential-information-parent-engagement-sessions-tickets-77118119371
Sport Wales https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/essential-information-parent-engagement-sessions-tickets-77119816447
Session 3:
Haverfordwest https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/essential-information-parent-engagement-sessions-tickets-77120664985
Cardiff Met https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/essential-information-parent-engagement-sessions-tickets-77121822447)
Coaches Sessions
Session 1:
Ynystawe https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/non-perfect-dad-coaches-session-tickets-76420639189
Cardiff Met https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/non-perfect-dad-coaches-session-tickets-77125742171
Session 2:
Eirias Park https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/non-perfect-dad-coaches-session-tickets-77134125245
Sport Wales https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/non-perfect-dad-coaches-session-tickets-77136424121
Session 3:
Haverfordwest https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/non-perfect-dad-coaches-session-tickets-77137609667
Cardiff Met https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/non-perfect-dad-coaches-session-tickets-77137996825