Exploring parents’ perspectives of the transition from children-to-youth sport in Norway

This study aimed to explore the children-to-youth sport transition (CYT) from parents’ perspectives, exploring how parents perceive and navigate the CYT. In Norway, athletes transition to youth sport at age 13, when the Children's Rights in Sports are replaced by the Youth Sport Recommendations. This brings changes to the goals, priorities, and operations of sport organisations, reshaping the youth sport environment. We interviewed six parents from Norwegian handball and cross-country ski sports and analysed the data using reflexive thematic analysis. We identified three main themes: parents’ understanding of the CYT, parents’ perceived support for CYT athletes, and parents’ own challenges and meaning-making of sport parenting. Parents perceive the CYT as a period of holistic changes in their children's lives, as athletes must cope with increased workloads in sport and at school, higher expectations, and changes in their peer relationships due to their sport commitment. Parents facilitate their children's sport involvement and coping during the CYT by providing practical and emotional support. At the same time, parents themselves experience challenges as their children transition to youth sport, like increased time commitment, learning new regulations, and the emotional strain of seeing their children face adversity. Their children's sports involvement affects family time and limits parents’ opportunities for other interests. Still, parents value the time spent in sport with their children and find their sport parenting journey rewarding and meaningful. The findings highlight the importance of providing resources and support to parents, enabling them to efficiently navigate the CYT experiences of their children and themselves.