‘The key thing is to reward the effort rather than the success’

Q&A Jessica Pinchbeck, senior lecturer in sport and fitness at the Open University, is writing a PHD on the role of family in women’s sport

Are you more likely to excel in a sport if you start it young?

No. My philosophy is that children should play a number of sports from a young age. Yes, Sky Brown has been skateboarding since she was three, but she also surfs and does other sports. So, I would see that as quite a positive relationship. For a child that only does one sport – say somebody that has only played golf from three, and does nothing else – I would argue that person is at risk of burning out.

Are children more likely to be successful in sport if they have tried a variety of sports?

Different sports develop different skills and there’s lots of transfers between sports. So, playing football can benefit rugby, or hockey can benefit netball.

Are there sports where it is more beneficial to start early?

There’s early-specialisation sport and late-specialisation sport. In gymnastics or figure skating, due to the way the body matures, you’re more likely to reach peak performance as a teenager, so they have to engage early to be able to develop. But in sports like football, rugby and netball, late-maturation sports, you don’t know how their body is going to mature; sampling is the way to go.

How important is the role of the parent?

Parents are key to work-life balance. Making sure that at home they’re not the athlete, they are the child – having an outlet with friends away from sport for escape and normality. There’s an optimal level of parent involvement. If you’re not interested at all in your child’s activities, obviously that has negative connotations. But if you’re over-involved, pushing or pampering, coaches perceive that as being very negative on the child.

What if the parent is the coach?

It’s essential to have very, very distinct roles and very, very clear boundaries as to when you are the parent and when you are the coach. Away from sport that person becomes the parent again, a sport-free zone. It’s very difficult.

What advice would you give to parents?

Most research shows children want their parents to be supportive, they don’t want coaching advice. The key thing is to reward the effort rather than the success. So, not the focus on did they win the race, but asking did they have fun, did they enjoy it. You also have to consider siblings, making sure the sibling relationship doesn’t suffer because all your attention and resources are placed on one child. Siblings can be great for grounding the child prodigy when they’re home.