This resource is an excerpt from PCA Founder Jim Thompson’s (@JimThompson18) book, The High School Sports Parent.

The transition to high school can be jarring for teenagers. After having figured out a place for themselves in elementary and middle school, they now have to do it all over again, at what seems like much higher stakes.

The transition also often challenges high school parents. Teenagers are changing rapidly and trying out new ways to relate to their parents as they move steadily and/or tentatively toward independence. And if your child is or aspires to be a high school athlete, there is a whole other set of challenges to negotiate.

PCA tapped its network of coaches, athletic directors, and parents to identify how high school sports parents can help their athletes thrive in high school sports. Here are four big ideas to help you understand your athlete’s challenges and what you can do to help your teen thrive:

1.) High school sports involves a lot of time and effort
2.) High school athletes are smack in the middle of a transition to adulthood
3.) High school programs have a chain of authority
4.) High school sports is a very public stage.

For expanded detail on these four ideas, download the PDF below.

This PDF was excerpted from Jim Thompson’s book The High School Sports Parent. To purchase the entire book, and to learn more about other PCA books, click here.

These books are used in PCA’s live workshops. To learn more about our interactive parent workshops, click here.