I’m delighted to speak with Mia KurtzFavero this week. Mia and I discuss a research paper she co-authored which explored the parent-coach dual role.

In the paper a number of parent-coaches were interviewed to examine how they perceived their dual role to influence their coaching effectiveness and to hear what strategies they used to remain effective.

Previous research looking into youth sport coaching indicates that a majority of coaches may also be a parent to an athlete on their team. While previous studies have also sought to understand how being a parent-coach might affect parents’ relationships with their own child(ren), little work appears to explore how occupying this role might affect an individual’s ability to remain effective as a coach. Findings from the paper indicated that parent-coaches have few formalised resources to aid them in navigating the issues associated with their challenging dual-role position. Given the number of parent-coaches in youth, more research needs to be done on this topic.

Mia has just completed her Master’s degree in Sport Psychology. Her studies focused on coaching, specifically, helping coaches develop their inter and intra personal skills.

Mia is a coach of volleyball, coaching club teams and high school teams, as well as the provincial youth boy’s volleyball team.

I’m delighted to speak with Dr Jim Taylor this week. Jim is an internationally recognised authority on the psychology of performance, sport, and parenting. Jim has worked with professional, Olympic, collegiate, and junior-elite athletes in skiing, cycling, triathlon, tennis, track and field, swimming, football, golf, baseball, and many other sports.

Jim received his Bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College and earned his Master’s degree and Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Colorado. He is a former Associate professor in the School of Psychology at Nova University in Ft. Lauderdale and a former Clinical Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver.

Jim has been a consultant for the United States and Japanese Ski Teams, the United States Tennis Association, and USA Triathlon, and has worked with professional and world-class athletes in multiple sports. He has been invited to lecture by the Olympic Committees of Spain, France, Poland, and the U.S., and has consulted with the Athletic Departments at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley.

Jim has published more than 1000 articles in scholarly and popular publications, and has given more than 1000 workshops and presentations throughout North and South America, Europe, and the Middle East. He is the author of 19 books and the co-editor of five textbooks. His books have been translated into 10 languages.

A former world-ranked alpine ski racer, Jim is also a 2nd degree black belt, certified instructor, and tournament fighter in karate, marathon runner, Ironman triathlete, 2x national triathlon champion, and 3x World Championships medallist.

I’m delighted to speak with Dr Derek Panchuk this week. Derek is a skill acquisition specialist with over 15 years experience working with coaches across sport, including: the NBA, G-League, a wide-range of National Sporting Organisations, regional and community level organisations, and clubs. Derek helps coaches and leaders build bridges between the science of learning and art of coaching so they can discover new ways to grow talent and build teams.

Derek completed his MSc in Motor Control and his PhD in Neuromotor Control at The University of Calgary. After completing his studies, Derek moved to Australia and was the first ever National Lead for skill acquisition at the Australian Institute of Sport. Here he worked closely with coaches to design individualised learning environments that aligned with their coaching philosophies and goals.

Derek now consults, working closely with coaches to transform how they coach and develop players. He uses an individualised approach to coach development grounded in the science of skill learning that helps coaches discover their strengths and uncover new opportunities so they can improve buy-in and have a big impact with their players.