Protecting the Sports Team Coach and Manager by Bruce Brownlee

Sports clubs and school systems nationwide are cautiously guarding their sports programs from the stigma that results from accusations of improper conduct between a sports team coaches and team managers and players.   Here’s a short list of tips you can use to guard your reputation.

On the Field or at the Gym

1. “Keep the ball in front of you” and “move your feet faster” both sound OK.
2. If you aren’t coaching another team, pack up and get going once the parents and players are gone.
3. If a parent fails to pick up a player on time after practice, have another coach, team manager, parent, or administrator stay with you until the parent arrives.
4. In case of severe weather, put players into a safe structure, or worst case, into passenger cars as a last resort.  No matter how bad the weather, do not sit in a passenger car or building alone with an individual player.  Split up the team so there are several players in each car waiting with parents and coaches.

Protecting the Travel Team Coach On the Road

1. If your club or school can provide an ATC or trainer, take them with you.
2. The parents home and cell phone numbers should be included, as well as the player’s social security number and medical insurance policy numbers and claims verification phone numbers.
3. While traveling or while at the hotel for a basketball, soccer, or softball tournament, never go into a room or other private space alone with a player for any reason.
4. It’s OK to tape an ankle, treat a wound, apply an ice bag, check a knee, or provide Pepto Bismol in this way.
5. Each player already has friends and parents, and trying to be either of these, or trying to be “one of the guys” undermines your effectiveness as a coach.

Safe Communications Before Practices and Games

1. If you get such a contact, just follow up with the parents, not the player, in person or by phone.
2. Well-intentioned attempts at humor are misunderstood, and emails are often seen in a different light when forwarded to persons outside the team who are not familiar with the context.
3. If you must send emails, never send emails to players unless you copy their parents on each and every email.
4. Archive the emails to a file archive later to retain them forever without clogging up your mail client.
5. Messages are forwarded, especially those with unflattering comments, criticism, and inappropriate attempts at humor.
6. Mail server administrators can reconstruct a complete second-by-second record of every conversation you have, by IM, by Twitter, or by email.
7. This ensures that every family gets the same, correct message, and this avoids the chance that you’d be talking to a young child and hoping that the correct message later reaches the parents.

Using an Automated Sports Team Calling Service

Sports team calling services let you set up a team call tree list on a one-time basis, and then use the list to send out a recorded phone message every time you need to call the team. 

One Call Now’s automated phone messaging service for teams is a great tool that lets your reach out to all your parents and players to keep them informed and participating, without the risk of getting the message wrong.  With One Call Now, you can include both home and cell phone telephone numbers for your team.

You can use the affordable and reliable One Call Now automated phone-messaging service to reach your individual team, or use One Call Nowcalling service for travel teams.   One Call Now also has an excellent One Call Now phone message plan for sports clubs and leagues.

About the Author

Bruce Brownlee is an experienced soccer coach who publishes Soccer Coaching Notes and who guest blogs for One Call Now™, a market leading automated phone and text messaging service serving business, government, schools, religious, and sports organizations.  Learn more at One Call Now.