Parents/caregivers
The role of a parent or caregiver is to assist and support their child in their dual career. The programme is a personal development process and the stimulation of autonomy is very important. Therefore, parents should not be telling their children what to do or what not to do, but their role is more giving direction and to be someone they can talk to when necessary. To give a clear overview, we listed activities that parents have to do to contribute to the dual career of their child.
The parents are overall the ones who feel mainly responsible for the personal development of their child, which makes them of great importance for a dual career.
What do parents need to know?
The importance of a dual career for their child (what are the main advantages and how does this help them).
The club’s dual career vision / philosophy (to know in what ways their children will be supported).
That athletic development and performances will never be at the expense of a healthy development and personal well-being.
That athletes are in the end responsible for their own development (the program is to support them with this).
How do you involve parents?
Make them aware of the DONA project by sending an email or a letter to all parents or devote some attention to it on the club’s website.
Organise Dual Career awareness sessions for parents (exchange between parents, information evenings, workshops). It is important that parents are aware or the the goal, benefits, impact and requirements of Dual Careers (see implementation).
Parents are formally responsible and therefore should be well informed and involved in the long-term development of athletes, especially amongst younger athletes.
Let parents encourage athletes to take ownership of their own development and utilise the support that is available to them. Explain to parents how they can provide athletes with the necessary emotional, tangible and informational support to achieve in Dual Career.
Parental contact is often problem-driven and situation-dependent. As a sports club, it is essential to focus on structural evaluation moments between coaches, athletes and their parents. This might lead to an emphatic orientation towards each other and better mutual understanding of certain choices.
Inform athletes and parents thoroughly about what it means to enter a talent development program and involve parents structurally in evaluation moments and decision-making during the process.
Explain the sport club’s vision on Dual Career to parents and make them part of the process. Involving parents in talent development at sports clubs can sometimes be complicated. As a sports club, supervise the contact between coaches and parents and making clear what the coaches and parents are responsible for regarding dual careers.
Ask parents to participate in evaluations or reflection sessions about the programme (or choose 1 or 2 parents who represent the others).
Be visible and let them know when and how they can reach you.
Make it clear to parents that athletic development and performances must never be at the expense of healthy, general (psychosocial) development and the well-being of young athletes. Involve parents in their child’s elite sports training / education. Take, for example, a parents’ meetings or invite parents to workshops on themes such as nutrition, doping or recovery.
Guidelines for parents to participate. As a parent/caregiver ..
You have to be willing to take part in evaluations about the programme and about the development of your child.
You have to be aware of the importance of a dual career and the possible benefits and impact it might have on your child’s life.
You have to be aware of the club’s vision regarding dual career.
You have to encourage your child to take ownership of their own development and utilise the support that is available to them.
You have to be aware of the goals of your child to be able to remind her what her drive is and what she is working for.
findings and best practices (as described in erasmus+ project ICDC)
From KADA - Sport with prospects
Parents often have many questions about their child’s dual career. How can I best support my child in his or her talent development? How can sport and school unite? What is the best nutrition? What psychological or other support does my child need and is available? How can I protect my child from the danger of doping? These are very logical questions for parents of sports talents. That’s what Verein KADA considered and that’s why it and (former) top athletes and scientists have written a very practical book in which parents can find answers to these questions and thus be better able to offer support in their child’s dual career. The purpose of this book is to give parents a practiceoriented view of the world of elite sports and to give them more insight into what is involved in a dual career. For example, there is content on subjects such as the course of a dual career, principles of responsible talent development, a responsible development climate, Dual Career support from specialists (such as mental training), sports nutrition and doping. In shirt, there are themes that are important for training to become a top athlete and in which parents can play an important and decisive role. KADA wants to inform parents about this, so that with the right knowledge they can also have a signalling function in a proactive guidance of dual careers. That is why KADA, in collaboration with elite sports organisations, organizes parent meetings in which career counsellors explain the above mentioned aspects. Sports clubs can also work towards a kind of book or manual for parents of sports talents.