As many of you know, a big part of my passion for sports and education is helping parents to support their children in the most positive way. Also, as both a sport psychologist and a parent of two young ski racers, I empathize with the challenges of being a sport parent. Particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, the burden of parenting has been even heavier. Uncertainty, worry, stress, fear, doubt, helplessness, and hopelessness are just a few of the emotional reactions that we as parents face as we try to navigate our children’s education and sports participation in a Covid-dominated world.

Perhaps the most common refrain I hear from parents since the pandemic began is: “I feel so isolated and disconnected from our school and sports communities.” These feelings are natural and to be expected given that pretty much the only thing we parents can do during this difficult period is to drop our kids off and pick them up from school or practice. We can’t readily talk to other parents directly. We can’t socialize at training or competitions. And school events are rare. Everything we learn about how our kids are doing is by either text, email, or, if we’re lucky, phone.

Over the years, I have always given many workshops to parents as a way of both engaging them in their program’s community and educating them to be the best parents they can be. Interestingly, this parent engagement has increased dramatically during the Covid-19 outbreak. I’ve been getting calls from sport programs and schools all over North America asking to give zoom workshops to their parents. One of the main reasons I’m given for this interest is the program director’s or parent association president’s desire to help parents to stay connected and to feel supported by the programs in which their children participate.

With all that said, I would like to take this interest in parent education zoom workshops and offer it to other programs who see the need and value in keeping parents inspired, connected, and involved with their children’s sport efforts.

If you would like to learn more about what kinds of zoom workshops I can offer your program (for parents, coaches, and athletes), feel free to contact me at jim@drjimtaylor.com or 415.322.8425.

As we dive head long into another winter, and the hope and uncertainty it brings, I wish you all well during these decidedly strange times. Let’s keep the faith…