FIRST AND SHORT

Coach's Confidential: Best ways parent inquiries can be taken seriously

JR Radcliffe
jr.radcliffe@jrn.com

The modern state of prep athletics includes a tension between coaches and parents who have invested a great deal of time and money in their kids' sporting interests. Overzealous parent complaints can be seen as one of the biggest challenges a high-school coach faces, but the interaction doesn't have to lack civility. Here's this week's Coach's Confidential on The Push, anonymously asking area coaches their thoughts.

 If a parent has a complaint, what are one or two pieces of advice you'd give to maximize their chances of getting heard? Perhaps one or two "red flag" statements to avoid? 


Coach 1: If you ask a question, I'm going to give you a direct answer, though it may not be what you want to hear. Be prepared for that. (If I hear) "Johnny has no idea that I'm contacting you," it's a big red flag.

Coach 2: Never refer to a player that is not your son. The second they talk about another kid, the conversation is over.

Coach 3: Attempt to look at your child objectively and understand that coaches do have favorites. Their favorites are the players that do what they are asked to do to the best of their ability.

Coach 4: We are very upfront with our parents starting from day one. We are looking to build young men and we want the parents to understand that if there are issues, we want the student-athletes held accountable for approaching us with any problems.

Coach 5: I am fine if they question the process that was done to come up with the decision (What were you looking for in choosing a starting LB?) but not when they question player X versus player Y, because they don’t see everything that we see and have no basis to have that conversation.