Raising champions: Fostering perspectives, encouraging growth and maintaining relationships

Brady Ellison’s mother acted as his coach at the 2024 World Archery Field Championships.

Loving parents want the best for their children but we’re all aware of the challenges that present themselves on that journey.

When to discipline? When to support? When to step in to avoid the mistake about to be made or when to let that mistake happen, hoping that a valuable lesson is learned?

The emotional rollercoaster is as rewarding as it is draining. Adding the journey to elite archery performance to the mix rarely makes things easier!

A challenging topic to discuss but one that we embraced with rising Swiss archer Maxine Pichonnaz, Brazilian Olympian Bernardo Oliveira and chartered psychologist Dr Jon Rhodes when filming the new Taking Aim podcast episode, which launched on 31 January on archery+.

Bernardo’s parents were invested in his archery ambitions from an early age, whilst Maxine’s were more focussed on her education and life outside the sport.

Two sides of the same coin and one where judgements in support of either could be rationally made – we were in for a good episode! 

Jon began by asking us to discuss the roles and responsibilities of a good parent (outside of the sporting environment) – something that set the foundation and allowed us to appreciate both sides of the story. 

Judgement immediately gave way to understanding allowing us to explore that no one pathway was better than another. As in life outside archery, a parent’s role changes.

“You’ll escort your four-year-old to school but your 15-year-old may make their own way,” was Jon’s analogy.

As an archer’s development continues, we discussed how parents must navigate a path leading to independent decision making, facing the challenge of allowing mistakes to happen but knowing when to step in with support, encouragement and motivation.

As a former athlete and coach, I was intrigued to hear Bernardo, Maxine and Jon discuss their thoughts on parental interaction in that mix.

When a parent invests so much time and money into their archery prodigy how should they respond to dips in performance? How should parents navigate physical, emotional, social, technical and tactical development? 

At the risk of sounding like the small print at the end of a contract, “results can go down as well as up”.

Watch the latest episode of the Taking Aim podcast on archery+ to discover how parents who keep perspective and grow with their archery prodigy can positively impact on their performance.

watch Taking Aim

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