By Andrew Tidswell
Elite Sports Academy MD and Holbeach Utd player/coach
The role parents have in youth sports, community clubs and the development of children is often under appreciated.
Without committed and understanding parents, many community based sports clubs wouldn’t run or function.
Not only will parents take their children to training sessions and matches of their child’s favourite sports, but they will also support fundraising nights or events for the club.
I think the parents who do this are a credit to themselves and I think back to my upbringing and the things I maybe didn’t appreciate when I was younger.
I was part of Cambridge United Academy set-up when Peterborough United closed down. My family, in which I have two brothers who were both at school at the time, found it difficult to commit to taking me to Cambridge three times a week, twice being straight after school in the evenings.
With my two brothers also needing the attention and help, the balancing act for my parents’ time is a situation I don’t envy.
I know many parents who do something very similar now and I can see how difficult it must be, so these people should also be commended because without them we wouldn’t have community clubs, we should remember this.
Should coaches, clubs and organisations be more thoughtful to this or are they already very aware of the situations and difficulties sometimes facing the modern day parent?
