Currently, entering its third year the partnership has seen a number of workshops delivered to management, coaches and parents through both live and virtual events.

This year will see all parents and coaches within the pathway programme be given access to a customised WWPIS and Badminton England portal.

The portal is world leading in this space with contributions from expert practitioners, guest
bloggers, sports psychologists, well-being practitioners, coaches, sports parents, as well as
the team at WWPIS helping to provide authentic content to support the knowledge and
relationships between the organisation, coaches, parents, and young athletes.

CEO WWPIS Gordon MacLelland said, ‘We are proud of the impact this partnership has had
to date and are looking forward to moving this on further over the next 12 months. During
the workshop sessions to date there have been some fantastic and honest conversations
with the parents throughout the age groups and this has helped tailor the support that we
are able to give them. The portal will continue to strengthen the relationships between all
involved in the pathway programme.’

Programme Manager Nikki Tarrant added, ‘We are excited to continue our partnership with
WWPIS for another year and expanding on the provision of support available in this space.
Workshops have been well received across the Programme and have given the opportunity
for all groups engaged in these, to discuss, challenge and reflect on some of the key topics
that crop up when having a talented young individual competing within Performance
Pathway. We are committed to continuing to support individuals as best we can on their
journey and this is an example of that, which includes the key support network that
surrounds these young players.’

Over the last six months WWPIS have been working closely with Badminton England staff delivering a number of workshops including ‘Creating a Positive Parent Culture’ and ‘Effectively managing the deselection process.’

In August we visited the National Training Centre in Milton Keynes to deliver a workshop to Performance Pathway Parents, the first in a series of workshops planned for the next 12 months.

Badminton England Programme Manager, Nikki Tarrant said, ‘As a Team we have been working with Gordon at
WWPIS over the last few months and are really excited about the programme of workshops that are planned over the course of the next year or so. We hope it will provoke interesting discussions amongst parents/guardians who are integral to the sporting journey of an individual and who we know have a tough job managing the ups and downs and commitment required with having a talented player in the household! Gordon will be
delivering a programme of interactive and engaging Sports Performance Parenting workshops which we hope parents will find interesting as we look to develop the programme of support, we offer across the Junior Performance Pathway.

CEO WWPIS Gordon MacLelland said, ‘We are extremely excited about working in partnership with Badminton England. Everyone has a role to play in creating positive environments for young people to thrive in and Badminton England have recognised this by supporting all the key stakeholders in the process.

Staff and parents have been so receptive to the work that we have done so to date and I was blown away by the performance staff who visited every family around the country whose children were going to be deselected from the programme.  This was an incredible gesture that I know was well received by parents despite being on the receiving end of disappointing news. We are looking forward to the partnership developing and flourishing.