It’s Going to be a Great Season
Whether this is your first year or your twenty-first, we applaud and thank you for the time and effort you spend guiding the development of young players. Their spirit, enthusiasm, sportsmanship and athletic abilities are in your hands. After participating in a number of coaching education courses over the years, I’ve noticed that coaches continue to ask, “What’s the best way to communicate with parents?” Meanwhile, parents are wondering exactly how they can best relate to and support the coach! Answering these questions is the purpose of this guide. This booklet is targeted at youth sports coaches. Although written from a soccer coach’s perspective and for soccer coach Certification Seminars, this booklet is appropriate for all youth sports and activities. We will cover different options, tools and methods coaches can use when communicating with parents and players. Effective coaching means going above and beyond the basics of coaching the game and building players’ skills; it means communicating with parents, encouraging players and building a strong sense of team and family for a successful season. We have pulled together several simple things you can do to keep your group in the loop and eliminate the frustrating hassles of communications.
THE COACH’S JOB
Do What You Do Well; Delegate the Rest
Many coaches want to train the players, coach the game and leave the rest to someone else. This may be the ideal, but it is not realistic. Responsibilities for a great season include player selection, parent meetings, scheduling, finding a place to train, securing the game field, locating/scheduling officials, getting results to the proper authority, identifying how the team will play, and more. Certainly, your best bet is to delegate responsibilities whenever appropriate. Coaches must learn that they are not always the best individuals to do all of the tasks. Experienced (and happy) coaches identify what they do not want to do, or are not best at doing, and find someone who can and will perform those tasks.
About the Good Call Authors
Edited by George Perry, NSCAA Senior National Staff Coach, and Winner of Berticelli Coaching Award and Leib Lurie, former Venture Crew Leader and Pack Master, BSA
Read more by downloading the One Call Now GOOD CALL Coaches Handbook.
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