“I hate dealing with parents.” “I don’t deal with my parents.” Ever heard a coach say that before? Maybe you have even been one! Maybe you are one. Most coaches say they get into coaching to impact young people’s lives with life lessons. To promote character, integrity and honor. Of course, they say they want to win too. But in order to accomplish this, coaches often find themselves fighting an uphill battle in regards to player discipline. Sound familiar? Your best player misses practice. Or is late for morning workouts. Then there is the issue of parent’s being “too involved” for some coaches. My kid isn’t playing enough. Why didn’t you start Jimmy tonight? Again, sound familiar? Bad memories are potentially flooding in for some of you. Enter Coach Reed. A thought leader in the high school football coaching world. Our time, and hopefully yours if you choose to invest in it, was TRANSFORMATIVE. Coach Reed has done something most HS football coaches would only dream of: eliminated player issues regarding tardiness and unexcused practice absences. How? It’s simple. Honest and regular parent communication. How does a man who receives 500-600 DM’s per week do this? He makes himself regularly available to his parents. He sets 4 parent team meetings per year. He tells them the truth. And he finds out the truth regarding his players. As he confesses, “kids between 14-25 are just going to lie sometimes, it’s what they do.” Coach Reed also says he wasn’t a very good communicator himself at age 16, a reminder to us all of our awkward high school selves. The key is to be one step ahead of the players by having consistent communication with the parents. This way you know if they actually have work during practice like they might say to you. You’ll know if someone recently passed away in their family. You’ll know if they might be going through something else that they haven’t told you about. You’ll know if they have a dentist or doctor appointment. Coach Reed dropped my jaw to the floor when he told me he has a blissful relationship with his parents. No drama. No pettiness. Just truth telling, honesty and a desire for all to help these student athletes get better in every area of life. His message couldn’t be more needed for so many programs out there. The moral of the story is this: parents do not have to be the enemy. Make them an ally by bringing them into your football family. It will make an incredible difference for your program. Fresh of a Class 2 MO state championship, and multiple players signing to play at the next level, if you want to grow in a major way as a coach, listen to this! For more info for the parents of your program, make sure to refer your parents to Coach Reed’s twitter profile, which features resources for them: https://twitter.com/CoachReed314.
For more athletic-related content, visit: https://www.eteamsponsor.com/playbook/
If you'd like to find the easiest way to fundraise, contact an eTeamSponsor Rep: https://www.eteamsponsor.com/contact-us/
Follow us on Social:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/eTeamSponsor Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eteamsponsor/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eteamsponsor/