Parent Resources

Parents play an important role in a child's athletic development. As parents, you go to great length to both protect your children and give them the best opportunities for success in sports. The USSA has assembled range of resources to help you learn how to help your son or daughter get the most out of their experience in USSA athletic programs.


Parent Tips and Tools

Guidelines and Tips
Sport Parent Survival Guide
Guidelines for Supportive Parents
Five First Day Tips for Coaches
Five First Day Tips for Parents

Parent Webinars
Each year USSA Sport Education hosts a web presentation for USSA parents covering topics such as long-term athlete development and parenting for success in skiing and snowboarding. As parents, you are welcome to participate. Recorded versions of past webinars are available here for viewing or download.
USSA Parent Webinars

Education Management
Schools and teachers will be advocates for your young athlete. This sample letter is an example of how to "pave the way" for a great student - teacher partnership.
Letter to Teachers (Microsoft Word)

Athlete Funding
Funding is a common question for parents, especially as athletes begin tracking through the USSA pipeline and into national development projects and national teams. This USSA blog post from Executive Vice President, Athletics Luke Bodensteiner provides an overview of funding philosophies and opportunities for elite athletes.
Sport-by-Sport Funding: How it Works

TrueSport
Tens of millions of American youth are involved in sport today, with different sports sharing the same challenges and providing similar opportunities. TrueSport is an amazing website resource powered by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. It offers a wealth of information that is valuable to parents of USSA athletes.
TrueSport.com

 

Successful Sport Parenting

Help your child succeed in skiing or snowboarding by becoming a better sports parent using the USSA's Successful Sports Parenting CD-ROM. This resource includes many helpful documents, athlete, coach and parent interviews, and presentations to maximize your relationship with your child, their coach and their club for sporting enjoyment and performance. 

This CD-ROM was developed in collaboration with USA Swimming and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association with contributions made by United States Tennis Association and Dan Gould, PhD, Director of the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports, Michigan State University. The information contained in this CD will help parents, clubs and coaches develop a better working relationship enhancing the parent-coach-club sports triangle.


 
The Benefits
  • Learn from interviews conducted with coaches, athletes, parents, and club directors about what constitutes successful sport parent interactions
  • Parents: learn the dos and don'ts of sports parenting. Athletes at all levels tell you what makes sports fun for them and how to help them enjoy and succeed in sports
  • Coaches: learn how to develop a healthy and productive coach/parent relationship.  Get tips on how to handle a difficult parent from national level coaches
  • Clubs: learn how to effectively engage parents in all aspects of club organization from meetings, to volunteering, to positive supporters
This CD and many other resources for athletes and their families are available at the USSA Education Shop.

Successful Sports Parenting CD-ROM

 

Sports Parenting CD