With winter sports in full swing, adults across the country are volunteering to coach junior sports teams or accepting volunteers from others (humorously referred to as “volunteering'').
Most coaches are passionate about working with children to develop skills, confidence and passion for sport, but one aspect of the job that coaches are nervous about is working with parents.
This can be especially difficult for many coaches who are also parents, as they have to balance dual roles and relationships.
As researchers in sports coaching and family psychology, we know that parents play a central role in supporting their children's participation, enjoyment and development in sport.
However, as coaches of junior teams ourselves, we understand that working with parents can be difficult. In fact, lack of support from parents has been identified as the main reason why coaches decide not to continue their activities.
Community sports clubs rely on volunteers to coach their teams, but coaches often receive limited or no training or guidance on how to work effectively with parents.
Our approach is to see the coach-parent relationship as a positive aspect of our work, working together as partners in developing young people through sport.
So what can coaches do to build strong partnerships with parents?
Make parents feel part of the team
Previously, most parents were interested in their children's sports at arm's length. Today, parents build social connections through their children's sports.
Parents develop an identity as “sports parents,” believing that active participation in their children's sports is an important part of their parenting role and helps develop their children's personality and development.
So parents are looking for ways to get involved, but they may not know what will be most helpful. Some parents may not have the confidence to directly help with training or games.
As a volunteer coach, you can think of practical ways parents can help and actively encourage them to reach out in ways that support rather than hinder coaching. This might include asking them to help with preparation and packing after training, taking turns to bring in fruit at half-time, or carrying out substitutions on and off the field.
For younger children, parents can help with “crowd control” during training, keeping younger children focused on the task and listening to the coach. For older children and teenagers, you can also ask parents to record team statistics and provide input for the Most Valuable Player award.
With many leagues not keeping score, this last suggestion provides an opportunity for teams to focus on things beyond wins and losses. Parents may record the number of “touches” each player gets, or record “highlights” based on each player's touches. I worked on it in training.
More adventurous teams might figure out how players can evaluate their parents' performance as spectators.
It's helpful to view the team you're coaching as an extended team of players and parents. Just as you build relationships with your children by praising and encouraging them to be valuable team players, don't forget to show appreciation for the efforts of parents and family members.
have the same understanding as parents
Parents invest significant time, money, and mental energy into their children's sports.
Our research shows that in some cases, this high personal investment can lead to unhelpful sideline behavior by parents, such as yelling, arguing with coaches, or giving unsolicited advice. It is known that there is a sex.
For coaches to share goals and expectations for the team with parents is a good way to turn personal investment into positive, constructive participation.
In our experience, openly discussing everyone's expectations at the beginning of the season helps build goal alignment between coaches, players, and parents, and establishes the parent-coach relationship. It provides a strong foundation for
The coach might say to the parent:
As coaches of junior teams, we face several trade-offs. We need to consider different objectives: winning and performance, improving sports skills, and children's personal enjoyment and development. I'd be interested in your take on this. If you were to allocate 100 points, what would you prioritize in terms of points for (1) winning matches, (2) improving sports skills, and (3) personal development of players?
Parents of under-7 teams and under-16 national teams may weight their priorities differently, but parents' responses reflect how coaches understand what values are important to them. It helps to understand what is there.
Coaches can then share their goals and encourage discussion about how they are similar to or different from priorities among parents or among parents, players, and coaches.
Keep communication channels open
These candid conversations set the stage for open, transparent, and regular communication throughout the season.
Encouraging parents to listen to team debriefs after games is a good way to continue communication. So is checking in informally with parents to share observations about their child's progress.
Many coaches use messaging apps to communicate with parents about game and training schedules, but these are also used to confirm team goals for the week and reinforce expectations and priorities. It is also a useful tool.
This effort by coaches to share goals and maintain open communication may not reduce the likelihood of having difficult conversations throughout the season. But it should help parents feel comfortable approaching coaches in a way that respects and considers the partnership that already exists.
Building a coach-parent partnership is about finding constructive ways to help parents feel involved, engaged, and valued in their child's sport.
An effective partnership between coaches and parents helps coaches stay involved in sport and supports children to have positive sporting experiences for the future.
