Family Members, Your Biggest Critic:

As a coach of a sports team, there are many challenges you will face with your players. Teaching the athletes fundamentals, preparing for a big game, and effective practices are the major obstacles but one of the toughest challenges can be communicating with family members of your players if it is not approached the correct way.

Some things to consider when first communicating with family is that they will always see their family member with a little bit of an opinion on how good of an athlete they are, and they will be very protective of that person. Because of this view, things can get a little tricky, especially in a sport that is more focused on the team as a whole. Proper communication is necessary to keep the peace so to say; minor issues can become a huge problem if they are not effectively approached.

Communication between family members should begin at the beginning of the season, there should be meetings that include family members just so they are not left out of the picture, after all they do have a big part in your athletes life. In these meetings, you should always go over team rules, your coaching philosophy, team goals, and outline the practice and game schedule. It is very important to get this out on the table in the beginning of the season to prevent any misunderstanding of what will be expected of your players. Also at the ending of this meeting you should always open up to questions that family members may have, because any issues should be resolved immediately!

During the season there will always be common issues with play time, publicity, and injuries so be prepared, and give a rational answer as to why something is occurring never leave people out in the dark about these things, there is a need for a common understanding among everyone. My suggestion is not to discuss any of these topics immediately after a game because emotions will always be at their height, especially after a loss, before or after practice is ideal.

In the end just remember that YOU ARE IN CHARGE, and you don’t have to change anything to accommodate to others demands, however you should listen to what family members have to say and always know what you stand for, communication is key!