Coaches and parents may disagree on many levels. However, there must be good communication and cooperation between the two. You must understand your role as a parent, and the same goes for the coach. The lack of communication and collaboration will affect and hamper your child’s sports experience, development, and learning. The finger-pointing and bickering may provoke your child to walk away and lose interest. Do these 5 things to have a good, positive, open, and constructive relationship with the coach. In doing so, it will create the ability to work together.

5 Effective Ways for Coach and Parents to Work Together

Communication

Communication is the key to any good relationship and is the best quality between a parent and coach. Once communication is down, then disappointment, frustration, and disrespect follow. The exact things you are not trying to teach your kids, especially through sport. Sport is about having fun and developing good qualities that can mold your child’s behavior and personality. Therefore, a successful relationship is mandatory because it is all about the kids.

A successful relationship with the coach demonstrates the respect that the kids will see. They see and hear everything and mimic it as well. Coaches and parents need to work together to send the correct message to a child. Most importantly, to provide a great experience for your child that they can identify with and develop. So, teamwork and sportsmanship are not just between the coach and the kids. It is between the parents too.

Don’t’ Assume

You need to understand the expectations of the coach for your child. Understand how the coach runs the team, his policies for practice and playing time, and his personality. Just as the coach commits to the team. You and your child commit to the coach. Understand his or her function, structure, and style of coaching. It makes it easier right upfront, and you know what you and your child are entering into when it comes to a sports relationship. Also, not assuming keeps any hostility and tension low.

Show Your Support, Be Involved

Show up at your child’s games. Show your support and let the coach know you are available to assist and help. Make it easy for the coach to make coaching, teaching, and developing your kids fun. Coaching is a challenging and complex job, all at the same time. It has a lot of multitasking in education, developing and nurturing skills, planning the schedule for games and practices, and preparing strategy. It requires a spectrum of structure. Supporting them by lending a helping hand will make a big difference. And, it is always nice, and feels good to know you have support.

Understand the Coaches Boundaries

Boundaries between the coach and parent are very important. You often see parents go against the grain and cross over the boundaries. Before the season begins, the coach needs to discuss the boundaries with the parents by having a meeting. And as a parent, you need to attend the meetings set by the coach. This is the perfect time to set ground rules like no shouting at the ref or your child, no finger-pointing, don’t tell your child what to do during the game, etc. If the coach does not have a meeting, ask for one personally.

Make Sure You and the Coach Address Concerns

As a parent, you may have concerns. When addressing those concerns, be respectful and polite. And, when the coach is speaking, listen. Understand what the coach is telling you from a dualistic point of view, not just your own. Let him or her do the coaching, and you do the parenting. Just be open-minded and constructive because you don’t see what a coach sees, and he or she is the expert of the sport.

There are many middle-ground subjects like mental, emotional, and physical well-being, improving your child’s skills, and managing their behavior off the field to improve it on the field. What happens at home happens in the game, at practice, and on the team. And, what happens on the team practice and in games, can affect the home. Remember, sports develop qualities, good and bad, at a much more significant influence, quantity and speed. One of the reasons you want your child playing sport is to develop good qualities.

By working together, parents and coaches can set an excellent example for their kids. The coach is probably a parent. The parent is usually not a coach, so understand what is happening before you cast stones at the coach. The coach is a guide. He is the mediator of sport and competition and helps kids to be better. The relationship between the parent and coach exudes the same qualities as sportsmanship for kids on the field.

When your child sees you helping, involved with the team, and supporting the coach, they can better understand teamwork and respect. This will unconsciously mold your child’s identity and integrate with the structure and formation of their life and relationships.

Here are a few more examples of how parents and the coach can work better together.

  • Coaches need to be flexible with situations about school and life.
  • Parents need to create the responsibility of the child. For example, be at practice on time and with scheduled traveling games.
  • A coach needs to be understanding and patient when developing skills.
  • A parent needs to help their child develop skills as well, according to the coach’s advice.
  • A coach needs to be fair with playing time.
  • A parent needs to understand the skill and behavior of their child to acquire playing time.

Original article posted on stack.com