A slide from the "From Tension to Teamwork" workshop delivered by Raising Happy Champs.
On the 25th March 2026, Wesport hosted its latest Sport Welfare talk: “Promoting Positive Parent Behaviour in Sport”. Read about some of our key takeaways in the article below.
The Issue
Parents are one of the most powerful influences on a child or young person's experiences in sport and physical activity. We all might have seen the “pushy parent” archetype on the side of a football pitch. A negative sporting parent may damage their child’s perspective on physical activity for the rest of their life. A positive sporting parent will get the best outcomes for their child.
The Event
To explore this common issue further, our SWO, Matt, was joined by Dr Jennifer Harris from Raising Happy Champs for Wesport’s latest Sport Welfare event.
Jennifer is a leading expert and researcher on sport parents. The mission of Raising Happy Champs is “to strengthen the coach–athlete–parent triangle by giving parents the tools they need — not just to survive the sport journey, but to support their child with confidence, clarity, and care.”
From Tension to Teamwork
Dr Harris provided coaches, club welfare officers, and volunteers with useful insight and tips about how they can better strengthen their relationship with sporting parents.
These were:
🤝 Acknowledgement and respect
🔊 Communication Clarity
📋 Aligning goals
📖 Sport Parent Education
Dr Jennifer Harris added that “clarity reduces friction” and that “respect builds respect.” She shared useful resources like a parent information sheet template and information on her world-first sport parent education session.
A big thank you to Dr Harris for her time and effort in delivering this session to our network. Promoting positive parent behaviour in sport is an important step in improving safe sport culture for all.
Access the event recording for free
Wesport aims to provide a recording of our online Sport Welfare events, so if you were unable to attend, you can catch up for free. If you would like to catch up on this event and more, please complete the short form below.
Further Sport Welfare Support
If you would like to get in touch with Dr Jennifer Harris, please contact her via the Raising Happy Champs website.
Wesport’s Sport Welfare Officers can provide your club with free 1-2-1 advice and guidance that will help you improve your safeguarding and welfare provision. If you would like to arrange a call at a time and place that suits you, please contact matt.walker@wesport.org.uk
Unsure about what you’d like their help with? Don’t worry. Wesport’s Sport Welfare Officers can guide you through your options.