In this episode British Gymnastics National Head Coach and sports parent Barry Collie joins Gordon MacLelland to discuss ‘Developing confidence, self-esteem and self-worth in young athletes’ along with how we can create the best environments possible for young people to thrive both in and out of their sport.
During the conversation they discuss amongst other things:
- Applying lessons from his own sporting journey to his own parenting
- Encouraging young people to find joy and bring energy to their passions and pursuits
- Nurturing passion, purpose and persistence
- Encouraging children to laugh, learn, and try again after mistakes
- Parents adapting their approach to suit each child’s personality
- The importance of positive reinforcement particularly in sports with high demands and a focus on mistakes
- Why optimism and hope is so important for all of us
- Encouraging conversations about life beyond sport for both coaches and parents
- Expressing love and pride in our children as people, not just when they achieve success
Barry Collie is a visionary leader and passionate advocate for British gymnastics, currently serving as the Head National Coach for Men’s Artistic Gymnastics. With over 20 years of elite coaching experience, Barry has consistently demonstrated a deep commitment to athlete development, team success, and the long-term growth of the sport.
Known for his optimistic and driven approach, Barry brings an innate ability to inspire those around him. His leadership style is collaborative and empowering—he listens, learns, and leads with purpose, fostering environments where gymnasts and coaches alike can thrive. Barry’s coaching philosophy centres on co-production, ensuring that individual Gymnast Performance Plans are developed in partnership with athletes and clubs to create a unified and high-performance culture.
Barry’s track record includes leading the British junior men’s team to historic success at the European Championships, where his strategic planning and emotional resilience helped secure multiple medals and build future Olympians. His coaching is grounded in strong values, meticulous preparation, and a belief in the power of confidence, routine, and reflection.
A devoted family man, Barry balances his professional intensity with personal warmth, bringing humanity and heart to every aspect of his role. His vision for British gymnastics is bold and inclusive—one that celebrates excellence, nurtures talent, and builds a legacy of pride and performance.
]]>This is one of the questions we ask all parents to ask their children in our sessions followed up with, ‘What is motivating you most at the moment?’
Two very simple questions but so very important and answers will vary depending on the age/stage and the environments the children find themselves in. We see this a lot when working with young athletes. Young people could well be consistently upgrading their answer.
What they answer today, may be very different to what they say in 3 months time, 6 months time or even 3 years time, meaning the need for regular check ins is essential.
Why do we need to know the answer as parents to these two very simple questions?
Because to collaborate with our children and to be able to help support them effectively particularly on those days when things have not gone according to plan and they are disappointed or are struggling for motivation, one of our hooks into conversation is simply being able to align our messaging with what they have already told us.
In live sessions with both parents and children we can often see misalignment in why parents think they are doing their sport and the reasons the children give.
Particularly, with younger children many will say because it is ‘fun’ and I ‘enjoy’ it, however, what does that actually mean, what is fun and enjoyable for them can be totally different for someone else.
If you look at how young people describe fun in the graphic (wonderful work by Amanda Visek) you can see the wide range of answers that are given. That is why we need to understand and work with our own children, their reasons and their motivations as opposed to trying to tell everyone how they should think and feel.
Great communication, aligned messaging and co-collaboration are just some of the essential tools that we need in our sports parenting toolkit.
Let us know how your children responded?
Was it different to what you thought?
Has it allowed you to reflect on how you are currently supporting?
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Back in the UK we have been reflecting on how we have been enriched by the experiences and the people we had the pleasure of meeting.
It was a privilege to speak at the inaugural Institute for Youth Sports Leaders (IYSL) conference in Winston-Salem, where over 100 youth sports leaders gathered to share best practices, tackle real-world challenges, and build a stronger community.
We then visited North Carolina Fusion in person for the first time, one of our long term partners who we have been working with virtually over the last few years to deliver a session for parents.
It was also great to visit the Charlotte FC Academy, meet some staff and and watch some training. With our experience of working across Premier League academies in the UK, it was a great opportunity to compare and contrast similar environments and discuss both common and individual challenges faced, as well as celebrate some of the incredible work that goes on in these environments.
We have been blown away by the response to our work in the US with a number of projects already in the pipeline and are looking forward to our next visit in early August.
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In this episode one of the UK’s leading performance psychologists Katie Mobed joins Gordon MacLelland to discuss her reflections from a lifetime in sport as an elite performer, a performance psychologist and now a novice sporting parent.
During the conversation they discuss amongst other things:
- Katie’s background in gymnastics & sports psychology
- Some of the challenges we face in gymnastics and youth sport
- The role of psychology in High Performance – success being more than just the medals
- The role of parents in helping to support a healthy identity in their young people
- The importance of joy and balance in sport including setting environments that promote personal growth and autonomy along with providing breaks away from sport
- Modern Challenges for Gen Z and both the positive and negative influence of technology
- Her own novice sports parenting journey and acknowledging the challenges that may exist when parenting styles clash
- Re-evaluating the definition of success in sport
Katie is one of the UK’s leading Performance Psychologists with over 20 years of experience working alongside individuals and teams to explore their potential and navigate the journey toward meaningful
success. Her career has taken her across a range of high stakes performance environments – from Olympic start lines to corporate boardrooms, helicopter pads to operating theatres – supporting people to grow, connect, and thrive under pressure. Katie’s clients include Olympic champions, international sports teams, CEOs, and
education leaders, and she considers it a privilege to play a small part in their wider journeys.
For the past 15 years, Katie has been embedded within Team GB, supporting athletes and coaches to deliver outstanding performances at four consecutive Olympic Games, from London 2012 to Paris 2024.
In the business world, she works closely with leaders to co-create environments where people flourish, fostering a culture of high performance grounded in trust and purpose. Her keynote talks, shaped by her experiences and lifelong curiosity about human potential, focus on resilience, the neuroscience of performance, and the art of building winning teams.As an experienced executive coach, Katie partners with leaders to develop authentic, sustainable approaches to leadership that inspire and empower others. Her work is guided by a fascination with how the brain works, a deep belief in the power of human connection, and an appreciation for the shared challenges and triumphs of life.
Commitment to young people is a vital part of her work. Through her collaboration with 21st Century Legacy, she has co-created programmes that have reached over 250,000 young people, helping them build essential life skills. She has also co-authored two best-selling children’s books with the inspirational footballer Marcus Rashford MBE.
]]>In the first episode of Season 6, former England rugby international and World Cup Winner Lewis Moody joins Gordon MacLelland to discuss high performance, sports parenting and some of the things he has learnt and reflected on through a lifetime in sport.
During the conversation they discuss amongst other things:
- Enjoying the journey as a family from development centre to young professional
- The importance of wider family structure and support on the journey
- Developing our own self-awareness and communication skills to help us navigate the journey effectively
- Exploring the information, we read and hear from different sources
- The healthy management of expectations, balance and boundaries
- The challenges of instant gratification
- Making healthy choices and recognising the potential consequences of our choices
- The importance of focussing on ‘today’ and not looking too far into the future
- The huge influence of parents and home in helping our young people fulfil their potential
Lewis Moody is a former English rugby union player and world cup winner. He played for Leicester Tigers and Bath Rugby and was part of the 2003 World Cup winning side.
In May 2014, Lewis and his wife Annie set up The Lewis Moody Foundation, inspired by Joss Rowley-Stark, to fund groundbreaking research to improve the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumours and give families a day out of the ordinary to lift spirits and create special memories.
He is also a performance coach and sporting parent to two sons both currently thriving on their own sporting journeys.
]]>In this episode the parent of young Arsenal premier league footballer Myles Lewis-Skelly, Marcia Lewis, joins Gordon MacLelland to discuss sports parenting and how we can best navigate the journey from grassroots to professional football.
During the conversation they discuss amongst other things:
- Enjoying the journey as a family from development centre to young professional
- The importance of wider family structure and support on the journey
- Developing our own self-awareness and communication skills to help us navigate the journey effectively
- Exploring the information, we read and hear from different sources
- The healthy management of expectations, balance and boundaries
- The challenges of instant gratification
- Making healthy choices and recognising the potential consequences of our choices
- The importance of focussing on ‘today’ and not looking too far into the future
- The huge influence of parents and home in helping our young people fulfil their potential
Marcia Lewis is the founder and CEO of No1Fan.club, a platform dedicated to supporting families of young footballers. Inspired by her son Myles’ journey as a professional footballer at Arsenal, Marcia recognised the unique challenges faced by families of talented youth players.
No1Fan.club was born out of her passion for creating a supportive community for these families, offering resources, advice, and a space to connect with others on similar journeys. With years of experience navigating the world of youth football, Marcia brings a wealth of knowledge on balancing family life, education, and the demands of elite sports. Her insights on supporting young footballers while maintaining a healthy family dynamic have made her a sought-after speaker and advisor in the football community.
As a devoted mother and advocate for youth footballers and their families, Marcia is committed to fostering an environment where talent can thrive with the right support system. Through No1Fan.club and her various speaking engagements, she continues to inspire and guide families on their own footballing journeys.
]]>In this episode mindset/performance coach and former professional cricketer Lewis Hatchett joins Gordon MacLelland to discuss the positives and perils of perfectionism and what we should be looking out for in helping to support our young performers.
During the conversation they discuss amongst other things:
- Lewis’ own personal battles with perfectionism throughout his career
- Why not all elements of perfectionism are bad when it comes to performance
- Spotting the signs of perfectionist tendencies in our young people
- Having the right and most realistic levels of expectation when it comes to performance
- The importance of allowing our young people to experience failure
- Helping our children focus predominantly on their regular process goals
- Working with our children to help them understand what their ‘minimum, viable performance'(MVP) looks like
- Encouraging our children to use practice and training time efficiently
- Helping our children strive for excellencism rather than perfectionism
Lewis Hatchett is a Mindset and Mental Performance Coach, Former Professional Cricketer, MSc Student of Performance Psychology at Bangor University, Host of the Raising Your Game Podcast and Creator of the MindStrong Sport App.
]]>In this episode Michelin starred chef and sports parent Tom Kitchin joins Gordon MacLelland to discuss high performance and sports parenting. Tom has lived experience as a parent going through the football academy journey and it was great to discuss how his own working life in high performance has influenced his ongoing approach with his four children.
During the conversation they discuss amongst other things:
- The realities and complexities of being a sport parent
- Keeping as balanced as possible in our approach throughout the ups and downs of the journey
- The importance of parental role modelling in shaping key character traits in our young people
- Using the big challenges and moments to help fire drive, desire and determination
- The art of picking the right time to have the best conversations with our children
- Adapting and changing our approach as our children get older
- The similarities between high performance sport and high performance restaurants
- The importance of helping to instil the right attitude and discipline and being honest with our children
- Building confidence in our young people
- The vital role of nutrition in fuelling our young people to help them achieve their best
Tom Kitchin opened his first restaurant The Kitchin, on Edinburgh’s Leith waterfront in June 2006. The Kitchin was awarded an acclaimed Michelin Star just six months after opening – an accolade that has been retained now every year since. The award-winning restaurant has been consistently voted one the UK’s best restaurants since its opening whilst Tom and his wife Michaela were also named ‘UK Restauranteurs of the Year’ in 2019 at the prestigious UK Restaurant Awards.
Tom has become a well-known face on television, having appeared on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen, UKTV Food’s Market Kitchen, in BBC2’s successful series and BBC2’s Remarkable Places to Eat.
Tom has, on many occasions, joined some of the UK’s most renowned chefs on the MasterChef Final
Chef’s Table panel as a judge.
In this episode author and sports parent Catherine Baker joins Gordon MacLelland to discuss being a sports parent and the complexities of the role based on her experiences of parenting three sporting children, one of whom is currently involved in professional rugby.
During the conversation they discuss amongst other things:
- The realities of being a sports parent
- Learning on the job and navigating the role of a sports parent
- Thinking about our communication, our language and the messages we give our children
- Reinforcing hard work and effort
- Working alongside our own children’s goals and motivations
- The importance of connection
- The challenge of navigating our children being injured or not being selected
- Passing the baton to our teenage children and giving them a greater agency over the experience
- Picking the moments to have important conversations with our teenagers
- The lessons we can apply from Catherine’s book ‘Staying the Distance’
Author, coach, and Keynote Speaker Catherine is relentless on the benefits of sport and movement. Catherine is a parent of three boys, all of whom have played sport at a high level. Through her business Sport and Beyond she has had the privilege of working with many elite athletes, elite coaches, and senior leaders across sport and business, with a focus on mindset and leadership.
She is also a non-executive Director on various Boards, including the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust. Catherine’s debut book, Staying the Distance: The Lessons From Sport That Business Leaders Have Been Missing, published by Bloomsbury Business, came out on 20th March 2023.
]]>CEO Gordon MacLelland was delighted to join Rob Salmon of ‘The My Tennis Journey Podcast’ and Alex McGregor to discuss Sports Performance Parenting.
As a tennis parent to three players, Rob knows the joy that the tennis journey can bring. He is also very aware of the challenges, the emotional rollercoaster and the tough times. This book has had a big impact on Rob and it was great to join him to share some of the things we have learnt working in this space.
