Platform to help inspire and guide both athletes and parents set-up by mother and son duo Caroline and Joe Fuggle

The Athlete Place says what it does on the tin. Free to access, it’s the UK’s first platform created to optimise the experience of both athletes and parents in athletics.

Their vision:

• • To reduce the trial and error nature of athletics through the sharing of guidance and information from those who have already ‘been there’
  • To simplify the athletics journey

• To create an entertaining and valuable platform that is relatable to athletes
• To showcase and support the next generation of up-and-coming athletes

Founded in 2020 by former GB junior 400m hurdler Joe Fuggle, The Athlete Place is a culmination of different pieces of support and guidance, providing something to athletes he wished was available to him as an up-and-coming athlete.

Experiencing athlete burnout and the associated sport-related mental health difficulties that followed, he found there was nowhere to seek relatable advice and guidance. Looking back, he is sure that this athlete-specific help could have stopped him from quitting the sport.

Therefore, Fuggle wanted to create a community where athletes and parents were encouraged to speak out about their experiences, to help others. The peer-to-peer interaction is significant, especially for topics involving personal difficulties, so that individuals no longer feel alone in their struggles and know that someone else has ‘been there’, willing to share their story… to help athletes and parents.

Parents are often the athletes’ number one supporter and influence. The Parent Hub, the parent side of platform, provides information and guidance to simplify athlete support.

Athletes and parents can often face a lack of practical guidance, financial implications and lack of emotional guidance.

So the platform offers:

Content With Experts

Covering areas such as psychology, nutrition, strength and conditioning, and sleep, The Athlete Place’s extensive network of experts provide content that answers the questions keeping parents up at night.

That’s everything from dealing with the awkward car journeys following a bad competition to nutrition tips or guidance on RED-S.

Community Blog

The Athlete Place community blog allows athletes, parents, and the wider athletics community to share their own stories and experiences to benefit others.

This exciting new approach to athletics storytelling gives everyone the chance to feel heard whilst also providing relatable professional guidance on a variety of relevant topics. These include motivational blogs about the costs and benefits of training in the US and the NCAA circuit, body image in sport and the mental side of training…there’s something for everyone.

Guidance From The Professionals

With their new “Ask the Athlete” service, and for a small fee, athletes or parents can have their questions answered by one of the elite athletes that they look up to.

Questions are submitted, stating the event if relevant, The Athlete Place then allocates an elite athlete who will then provide an informed and suitably bespoke reply via video message.

Think of celebrity “Happy Birthday” messages but much more beneficial and inspiring!

Podcasts & Videos

Access to podcasts and videos featuring athletes, parents & experts covering athletics-relevant topics, The Athlete Place will use their ever-growing list of contacts to provide sit-down conversations, behind-the-scenes action, with plenty more planned for the future.

Exclusive Discounts

If kids didn’t grow, it would be easy… but they do… and it can cost parents a fortune. The Athlete Place are trying to help. By becoming a free member of The Parent Hub, parents can get instant access to exclusive discounts and rewards on world-leading athletics brands such as:

Up to 40% OFF Garmin
20% OFF Adidas
20% OFF New Balance
and so much more!

The Parent Hub 

The Athlete Place’s vision is for a new and innovative athletics-specific platform where information and guidance can be accessed in new and more ‘modern’ ways alongside the more traditional. They are therefore offering live, online ‘workshops’ and Q&A sessions that they hope will generate lively and informative discussion, with a healthy dose of entertainment added too.

Meet the Athlete – Our first being Harry Kendall, Team England Decathlete and Birmingham 2022 superstar…

Ask the Professional – The Parent Hub will play host to workshops featuring various field experts, such as:

• Nutritionists
• Psychologists
• Sleep experts
• Top Coaches
  And so much more…

So, how does The Athlete Place cater for people who are struggling with their mental health?

Caroline: One of the real difficulties, if an athlete is struggling, is that idea that ‘no one understands what it’s like to be me’.

It’s important therefore for athletes to access information from people who are the same as them. A GP could never understand where an athlete is coming from unless he/she was an athlete themselves.

Joe: You’re going to get injured, you’re going to have ups and downs all season but it’s how you can bounce back from that. These athletes are people first and foremost, and if you support them as people, then that will go so much further.

We’re there to create a community where people are encouraged to share their experiences to help themselves, and others, whilst also signposting them to the professionals who are qualified to help if required.

In offering new and innovative services and content, we are taking an approach that has not been seen before in athletics.

If you like what you’ve seen and want to learn more about what The Athlete Place have on offer, visit their website – if you are an athlete or parent – today.