115. Dance Parents are Terrible! But here's how you can cultivate a positive relationship with your dance parents

Summary: Do you have dance moms and dance dads at your studio or school that drive you completely crazy? I know crazy sport parents can be super challenging, and I’ve heard coaches say things like, “I love everything about teaching dance except the parents.”

In today’s episode, we’ll be talking all about dance parents with my guest, Dr. Megan Babkes-Stellino. Megan is actually my academic mentor. She was my advisor when I was getting my PhD, and she was the one who encouraged me to research with dancers, which was still relatively new at the time. So much of my love and knowledge for sport psychology came from Megan, and I’m really excited to share her with you. Megan is an expert on sport parents. She has this incredible way of helping us understand where parents are coming from, but also give the coaches and the teachers some practical advice on how to develop positive relationships where those dance parents respect you as the coach but can stay firmly in their lane as the parent.

In the episode, Dr. Megan and I talk about how you can change your parent handbooks for the better, how parents often believe that winning and fun are the same thing, and they also believe that effort can only be seen through trophies and public recognition. Of course, we know better. As you’ll hear, we had so much to share that this will actually be part one, and we’ll come back with part two soon.

Episode Resources: https://chelseapierotti.com/115