Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Educational Workshops for Parents Help Greater Philadelphia Aquatic Club Reach New Heights
Many in our sport have said watching the knowledge and expertise get passed down from generation to generation is one of its greatest rewards outside of the water. Matt Sprang, a member of the administrative staff at Greater Philadelphia Aquatic Club (GPAC) and an official in Middle Atlantic Swimming, has been doing just that for years.
Sprang grew up swimming in southern New Jersey before ultimately attending Rowan University, where he would go on to become a Division III All-American. In 1998, a coaching opportunity with GPAC came along and Sprang jumped at the opportunity.
He climbed the ranks within GPAC, ultimately becoming the club’s head age group coach in the early 2000s. After stepping away for a brief stint in college coaching, he returned to GPAC and eventually took on a role in business operations.
“I love the fact that I have the ability to run my program from the dry side,” Sprang said. “I love that I can trust my staff to make those wet side decisions while I concentrate on the business end of things and fostering community.”
During his time in administration, he started realizing there were missed opportunities to build team chemistry among the parents, coaches and athletes.
“We weren’t doing a good job of fostering a good team atmosphere,” Sprang said. “We talked a good game, but we weren’t backing it up with any action.”
Sprang began researching methods to improve the club’s chemistry and decided to create virtual workshop opportunities for athletes’ parents.
“I was initially trying to present topics that weren’t swimming related but were definitely parent and family related,” Sprang explained. “I had someone come in and talk about parenting strengths, about positivity and how positivity can be a catalyst for peak performances. We did one on nutrition, as well.”
After a few initial presentations in January 2022, Sprang wasn’t seeing his efforts translate into performance success or member retention. The feedback from parents was somewhat contrary to his original vision – the members liked the guest speakers but wanted swimming-related topics.
“The value I get out of it (the original approach to the workshops) really came from hearing them and their feedback,” he said. “I think I dismissed too much earlier … it wasn’t the right way to approach it.”
Listening to parents proved valuable. As Sprang modified the virtual workshops, he started to see attendance and retention grow.
Sprang said there are roughly 30 or 40 parents (out of the 250 families in the program) that attend each workshop, and he has seen a 100% annual athlete retention rate based on parents’ attendance at at least one of the workshops. This incremental growth has allowed GPAC to breach the 60th percentile of overall retention rate, a first for the program.
Since starting the workshops in January 2022, Sprang noted a few key takeaways:
The workshops have resulted in a higher involvement from parents with club operations. For example, Sprang has seen parents come together to build goodie bags for meets, hang posters in hallways at hotels and more. In 2023, Sprang has been able to expand these workshops to help in other areas.
“I started facilitating parent workshops for Nashville Aquatic Club that have been very successful,” Sprang said.
Additionally, Sprang is set to launch a new project called Super Sports Parenting on May 1. The goal is to post a new 10-minute video every day for 120-150 consecutive days.
Success certainly takes a village and Sprang has learned how to cultivate a strong village that can be tied to the improved dynamic amongst team parents.
“They (parents at GPAC) have definitely been getting more involved,” Sprang said. “They have a role beyond just paying the bill and dropping their kids off and picking them up, which is awesome.”
Sprang grew up swimming in southern New Jersey before ultimately attending Rowan University, where he would go on to become a Division III All-American. In 1998, a coaching opportunity with GPAC came along and Sprang jumped at the opportunity.
He climbed the ranks within GPAC, ultimately becoming the club’s head age group coach in the early 2000s. After stepping away for a brief stint in college coaching, he returned to GPAC and eventually took on a role in business operations. “I love the fact that I have the ability to run my program from the dry side,” Sprang said. “I love that I can trust my staff to make those wet side decisions while I concentrate on the business end of things and fostering community.”
During his time in administration, he started realizing there were missed opportunities to build team chemistry among the parents, coaches and athletes.
“We weren’t doing a good job of fostering a good team atmosphere,” Sprang said. “We talked a good game, but we weren’t backing it up with any action.”
Sprang began researching methods to improve the club’s chemistry and decided to create virtual workshop opportunities for athletes’ parents.
“I was initially trying to present topics that weren’t swimming related but were definitely parent and family related,” Sprang explained. “I had someone come in and talk about parenting strengths, about positivity and how positivity can be a catalyst for peak performances. We did one on nutrition, as well.”
After a few initial presentations in January 2022, Sprang wasn’t seeing his efforts translate into performance success or member retention. The feedback from parents was somewhat contrary to his original vision – the members liked the guest speakers but wanted swimming-related topics.
“The value I get out of it (the original approach to the workshops) really came from hearing them and their feedback,” he said. “I think I dismissed too much earlier … it wasn’t the right way to approach it.”
Listening to parents proved valuable. As Sprang modified the virtual workshops, he started to see attendance and retention grow.
Sprang said there are roughly 30 or 40 parents (out of the 250 families in the program) that attend each workshop, and he has seen a 100% annual athlete retention rate based on parents’ attendance at at least one of the workshops. This incremental growth has allowed GPAC to breach the 60th percentile of overall retention rate, a first for the program.
Since starting the workshops in January 2022, Sprang noted a few key takeaways:
- Host workshops once a month, preferably on weeknights
- Tailor the experts and guest speakers to the strengths of the parents
- Summer months may be more difficult due to competition and travel calendars
- A key theme within the workshops has been athletes' progression and growth – how do the athletes take this to the next level?
The workshops have resulted in a higher involvement from parents with club operations. For example, Sprang has seen parents come together to build goodie bags for meets, hang posters in hallways at hotels and more. In 2023, Sprang has been able to expand these workshops to help in other areas.
“I started facilitating parent workshops for Nashville Aquatic Club that have been very successful,” Sprang said.
Additionally, Sprang is set to launch a new project called Super Sports Parenting on May 1. The goal is to post a new 10-minute video every day for 120-150 consecutive days.
Success certainly takes a village and Sprang has learned how to cultivate a strong village that can be tied to the improved dynamic amongst team parents.
“They (parents at GPAC) have definitely been getting more involved,” Sprang said. “They have a role beyond just paying the bill and dropping their kids off and picking them up, which is awesome.”