January Newsletter
Gordon MacLelland
CEO at Working with Parents in Sport (WWPIS) - 'Supporting organisations, coaches, parents and children to work effectively together to help young people fulfil their potential both in and out of their sport.'
Dear Subscriber,
Happy New Year to all of our subscribers and members, we hope that you all had a safe, relaxing and enjoyable festive period.
We are extremely excited about the coming year and all that it may bring. Our wish for 2024 is for everyone to have an incredible sporting year, being part of amazing environments that allow everyone involved to thrive and participants to gain the very most from their sporting experience.
2024 promises to be the biggest year to date here at WWPIS and we have a whole host of different projects and partnerships in the pipeline. We are looking forward to sharing these with you in due course.
New projects and partnerships are always exciting, however our biggest impact to date has been working with organisations on an annual basis where consistency in approach from all stakeholders within organisations is reaping the greatest rewards for all of those involved.
Season 5 of The Parents in Sport Podcast launched at the beginning of this month and we were back with a bang with with Orla Adams, motivational interviewing expert and sports parent on ‘Using motivational interviewing to enhance the conversations with our sporting children.’
Our ‘Meet the Parent’ series is back later this month where we speak with the parents of sportspeople across a range of sports and age groups. These are real and honest conversations with sports parents sharing the good and the bad of their sports parenting journeys and sharing what they have learnt to date. Later this month we are joined by former Scotland Rugby International Duncan Hodge.
Content in the WWPIS membership platform continues to grow and we have a whole host of experts across the sporting landscape contributing content via blogs, videos, Q and A’s and downloadable resources to ensure that we are all in the best position to help our young people fulfil their potential both in and out of their sport.
You can find out more about all of these items in this month’s newsletter.
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS
We are delighted to announce our 'Annual Memberships for 2024.'
This model has proved hugely successful across the world in 2023 for National Governing Bodies, Sporting Organisations, Clubs and Schools.
The benefits of an Annual Membership include ongoing consultancy and an opportunity to really embed continued support within existing programmes.
Annual Membership also includes discounted rates for access to the WWPIS platform and all of our resources which can also act as a revenue stream for organisations.
The most important benefit of an Annual Membership is that it will give you priority on securing dates for live workshops and webinars. WWPIS has become a world leading brand in this space and securing dates and times to suit is becoming more of a challenge and we never want to let people down.
The diagram above gives an overview of the memberships that are available but if you would like to discuss finer details then please email [email protected] .
SOUTH ESSEX GYMNASTICS CLUB VISIT
We had a brilliant day at South Essex Gymnastics Club over the festive period.
We ran a session for coaches around High Performance, Fun and Enjoyment and how we give children a voice(crucially trying to make sense of all the above in different contexts) and how we can help young people develop key character traits to support themselves both in and out of their sport.
Then we had an incredible two sessions with the gymnasts, one for junior gymnasts and one for the teenagers.
We tried to help them to make sense of their sporting journey, raising their own self awareness and understanding some of the key building blocks they may need to fulfil their potential.
We are really grateful for the help of Georgia-Mae Fenton and Reiss Beckford who assisted with the gymnasts sessions by sharing their experiences before all the gymnasts were let loose to discuss topics in their small groups.
These were really impactful sessions and we were thrilled with the outcomes by trying something a little bit different.
We are looking forward to pushing boundaries together once again in 2024.
SPOTLIGHT ON ACADEMY FOOTBALL
During the course of 2023 we have had the incredible privilege of working across a large number of football academies across the Premier League and Football League.
Some of them are pictured above but we did not have room for all of them.
We have a number of new clubs who have signed up for sessions in the early part of 2024 which is exciting and a reflection of the high quality work that we have done in many of these environments.
We have run sessions for academy management, coaches and parents of children at different stages of the academy journey and having some lived experience of being an academy parent it is certainly an area of passion for us here at WWPIS.
Academy Football can sometimes get bad press but there is so much good work going on in these environments by a large number of people and we need to celebrate all of the good as well as look at trying to make sure that we are constantly evolving and making these environments the best that they possibly can be for all stakeholders.
MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS AND CUSTOMISED PLATFORMS
Alongside our live and virtual sessions we are seeing an increased demand for customised WWPIS platforms.
This month saw us add more exclusive content for our membership including ‘Getting from the driver's seat to the Pit Lane’ and James Wilson (AKA The Sleep Geek) our resident sleep expert providing some tips for us all.
These platforms give organisations the opportunity to resource entire communities in a cost effective, sustainable way. Many organisations use the content within their own social media channels, team and parent meetings and regular newsletters to help support those within their communities.
The added bonus is that organisations are also able to add some of their own content to the platform, which certainly helps in bringing it all to life.?
If you would like to find out more about customised platforms then email us at [email protected] .
领英推荐
LAURUS TRUST VISIT
During December we made our first visit to work with the Laurus Trust Group.
The Laurus Trust does a wonderful job in providing support to young high performers and helping them pursue their sporting dreams whilst not compromising their academic studies.
It was a wonderful session due to the large number of parents who attended and contributed so positively to the discussions.? It was incredible to have such a wide variety of sports represented including Dancing, Lacrosse and BMX amongst many of the more common sports.
It once again highlighted more than anything else the importance of being able to work in context to bring content to life for the audiences that we work with ensuring that they gain the most from the sessions.
PARENTS IN SPORT PODCAST - ORLA ADAMS
Season 5 of the 'Parents in Sport Podcast' kicks off with Motivational Interviewing expert and trainer and sports parent Orla Adams joining Gordon MacLelland to discuss 'Motivational Interviewing' and how it can help us as sports parents enhance the quality of conversations and navigate some of the difficult moments we face with our young people around their sporting experience.
During the conversation they discuss amongst other things:
To listen to the episode click here.
MARKETING VIDEO AND BROCHURE
We have recently added some new products and services to both our General Brochure and National Governing Body Brochure.
Be sure to check out our video and brochure highlighting the many services that we offer.? We have worked really hard to ensure that there is so much flexibility in the product that we can really customise it for every individual need whether you are a sporting organisation, coach or parent.
A large part of the success of WWPIS has been to relay information specific to the environments and contexts that people find themselves in and that is something that we will continue to work hard to achieve through as many different mediums as possible.
To watch the video and read the interactive brochure please click here.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you would like us to design something specifically for you and your requirements.
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR 2024
We are seeing increasing interest from Sponsors wishing to work alongside the amazing projects that we have created here at WWPIS and are looking forward to making some exciting announcements very soon.
“Aligning with WWPIS has been a real success story for Spond, underscoring our commitment to fostering positive relationships among sporting organisations, coaches, and parents. Through our combined efforts, we aim to create a safe and fun environment for everyone involved in grassroots sport at the junior level.
“This partnership is not just about improving safeguarding and best practice, but also about strengthening the community around grassroots sport, and we’re excited for further initiatives we will roll out together in the coming year.” (Spond CEO Trine Falnes)
If you are interested in the following then we may be the partnership opportunity for you:
You can request our latest Sponsorship pack by emailing [email protected]
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
We are now taking face to face bookings and virtual bookings for 2024.
January, February and March are filling up fast, so please get in touch as soon as possible if you are thinking of running something in these months.
Virtual and face to face engagements are already in the diary including dates with British Gymnastics, Charlton Athletic, Athletics Northern Ireland, PADSIS, IAPS, Bristol Rovers, Bristol City, Cardiff City, Accrington Stanley, Morecambe, Grimsby Town, Northampton Town, Dublin GAA, The Academy Gymnastics, Welsh Gymnastics, Bath Rugby, Badminton England, North Carolina Fusion, Marlow Hockey Club, NCU Cricket and Cheshire Cricket.
Please contact [email protected] or call us directly on (+44) 7897517671 if you would like to discuss specific requirements or make a booking.
We hope that you have enjoyed this mini-edition of the newsletter.
If you would like to leave us any feedback, a review either on the website or on facebook, or even contact me directly on [email protected] about any aspect of our work then we would love to hear from you.
Wishing you all the very best for 2024!
Gordon MacLelland CEO