I grew up in the 1980s and I would say the role my father had in my upbringing bears little or no resemblance to the role I play in my three children’s lives

A post can be pollinated to thousands in seconds, often without any thought for the person at the centre of the footage

There will always be those who believe sport has ‘gone soft’ and those who believe children’s sport is ‘too serious’

Disruption of normal developmental opportunities like hanging out in an adult-free space and making friends in secondary school was compromised by having to negotiate social distancing and wear facemasks 

While we need to understand teenagers’ struggles and the stress they are under, that does not mean that all acting-out behaviours must be tolerated

Sporting bodies need to focus on providing enough opportunities for girls to take part and have carefree fun with friends

The biggest barrier that prevents inactive girls from taking part in sports and physical activity is not feeling good enough

The role of the adult supporter is to help the teenager put the challenge in perspective and remind them of their competence

The child who gets a reputation for being ‘good’ may interpret pressure to live up to this role all the time

It’s questionable that any coach who replaces a child with a player from a younger age-group team, knowing that it’s damaging to the older child, should be coaching children in the first place