Parents and Youth Sport: Silence or Support?

It is broadly accepted that parents have a substantial and sustained influence on the youth sport experience (Knight, 2019). Consequently, over the years, and increasingly within the last decade, researchers have committed to examining parental involvement in youth sport (Dorsch et al., 2021). Particularly, consideration has been given to how parents are involved in youth sport, what influence they have on the experience of various stakeholders (i.e., parents, coaches, other parents), and the factors that may impact on parents’ involvement and subsequent influence (Knight et al., 2017). Most recently, drawing together the evidence regarding parental involvement, studies have increasingly focused upon examining different approaches to educating or supporting parents (e.g., Lisinskiene & Lochbaum, 2019; Tamminen et al., 2020; Thrower et al., 2019). Together, this research provides substantial insights into the topic of parents and youth sport, and this presentation will provide a brief and critical review of this substantial body of literature. However, despite this research and the ongoing recognition that parents may benefit from support, it is my experience that many working within youth sport still push for parents to be silenced, with a suggestion that “good parents” do not interfere or question coaches or organisations. The consequences of such approaches can be devastating, as evidenced by parents feeling that they cannot speak up when witnessing abusive practice. Thus, the purpose of this presentation is not to simply present and critique what we already know but to reflect on where we need to go to finally move from silencing to supporting parents in practice. Particularly, based on the current youth sport context and over a decade of experience working directly with organisations to enact change, consideration will be given to the research and applied gaps that exist, the need for nuance in communicating complex ideas and messages, how to consider multiple (sometimes seemingly competing) agendas, and what is required to genuinely, positively, impact on the experiences of youth athletes and parents themselves.