Sport Parent Project | Greenepsych

Your role as a sports parent is exciting, rewarding, nerve-wracking and often times, very stressful. Why? Because you are involved in practically every aspect of your child’s sports journey. They need you to pay the fees, buy the equipment, make the food, do their laundry, drive them to the games, and wait for them to finish practice. That’s just when they are young. When they reach late-high school and college, many sports parents find themselves still wondering and worrying about how to best help them be the best they can be.

The goal of our sports parent project is to provide parents of athletes with the best tools possible to help their child on their sports journey. Our team of experts includes life-long coaches, former Division I, II and III athletes, educators, clinicians and sport psychologists who have spent their careers supporting parents, athletes, and their families on and off-the-field.

At Greenepsych, we offer a number of options for sports parents to work with us. From school-based workshops to small and large group presentations to club team workshops to individual sport parent coaching sessions, we are here for you. We aim to be a resource for you so any and all questions you have about how best to make your experience and your child’s experience positive and successful can be answered.

A parent is struggling to manage their own stress around their child’s sports participation
A parent wants advice on how to navigate the recruiting process. How much should they push their child, and when is it really up to their child to do what needs to be done for recruiting?
A parent’s anger is creating issues between them, their child and/or their partner
A parent needs help knowing if the behaviors they see in their child are “normal”
A parent knows their child will be involved in sports for a long time, but are confused what path (competitive, non-competitive, travel, camps) is best for their child’s athletic development
A parent worries about the financial investment of club sports? Should they continue, slow down, re-evaluate?
A parent wants to know when it’s appropriate (if it is at all) to talk with your child’s coach?

Under the direction of educator and coach Marty Kupprion and coach and counselor Sam Murphy, Greenepsych is excited to support and empower parents of athletes by providing a variety of services to meet your needs.

SERVICES OFFERED:

School Presentations:

We work with school administrators, athletic departments, coaches, and booster clubs to provide workshops for sport parents. We can tailor our talks to your needs. If you work at a school, are a parent or are in charge of your team’s parent booster group, please reach out for more information by emailing Marty ([email protected]) or Sam ([email protected]) directly.

Greenepsych has successfully developed presentations for various high schools and colleges, including Middlebury College, Yale University, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, Episcopal Academy, Germantown Academy, Conestoga High School, and LaSalle College High School among others.

Recent Presentations and Workshops:

How to Support Your Athlete From the Sidelines
Becoming an Even Better Sports Parent: Tips on What to Say and Not to Say to Your Kids Before and After Sports Performances 
The Stress of Raising a Competitive Athlete
Parent Mind Chatter: How Parents Can practice Mindfulness when Raising an Athlete
The Tough Conversations Kids and Parents Need to Have about Sports

Presentation to Clubs, Camps, and Other Organizations:

We collaborate with a huge variety of sports clubs and programs, such NXT Lacrosse Club, Philly Blast Lacrosse club, US Squash, as well as gymnastics, soccer and rowing teams among other sports. If you run a sports club or camp, and want to discuss options for your group, please email Marty ([email protected]) or Sam ([email protected]) and we will gladly get back to you to discuss what plan is best for your group.

Our team has experience speaking on a range of topics that parents have found beneficial including:

What You Need to Know about raising Anxious Student-Athletes
How Sports Parents Can Best Manage their Own Mind Chatter
Common Problems for Sport Parents and Athletes: Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and Fear of Other People’s Opinions (FOPO)
The Rollercoaster of Emotions Facing Athletes Who are Recovering from Injury

Individual Sport Parent Coaching:

Both of our Co-Directors, Marty Kupprion and Sam Murphy are available to meet with sport parents, coaches and athletic administrators to discuss the best strategies to support young athletes.

Marty and Sam can help parents, coaches, and school administrators in a number of ways.

Parents may need support with how best to approach parenting their athlete-child.
Parents may need support about the fact that their kids’ coaches and school administrators aren’t on the same page.
Schools may need help in developing and implementing policies that address parent involvement and behavior in sports, ensuring consistency and fairness.
Coaches and Athletic Directors may need help with how best to effectively engage with parents who want to be involved with their team but need guidelines and boundaries to be set by the school.
Coaches may need help with how to manage parents who ask tough questions of them, or demand answers to why their kids aren’t playing enough.
Athletic Directors need sound advice on how to respond to parent email requests about why their kids aren’t playing, or the problems associated with how their child is being coached.