Coaching Softball - How to Build Relationships With Parents

Do you know the two mains reason why coaches quit coaching softball? Parents.

Most coaches love to coach. Coaching softball can actually be addicting.

However, coaching softball can also come with some painful experiences for many like dealing with parents. Sometimes it is the parents' fault, sometimes it is the coach's fault and often, it's a mix of both.

Here are a few strategies on how you can build relationships with the parents (and  athletes) to minimize the painful experiences and actually have fun coaching softball.

By this, I don't mean that you need to open your home to the parents and cook them a wonderful four-course dinner.

But, if that works, then why not try it?

Instead, take the time to get to know the parents better than  you do. Many coaches try to keep the parents at arm's length  in order to prevent anyone from feeling left out or that there's favoritism on the team because of more positive relationships with parents.

It is a good idea to find out what is going on in their lives,  get to know a little bit about them, and find out what makes them tick. Everyone likes it when people show an interest in them, and the parents of your athletes are no different. Even if you don't like it, to do a good job coaching softball, you should definitely do it.

Here are a few ideas on how you can build positive relationships with the people on your team:

• Do team building exercises like: go bowling, go to the wave pool, have a wiener roast, go on a camp out - etc. These situations put parents in a place where they may feel more  relaxed, and seeing them in these situations might help you  to understand them better.
   
• Hold meetings with the parents on a regular basis to discuss  things like practices, games, schedules, transportation,  tournaments, etc. When parents feel like they have a say in  things, they tend to respond better. A bi-weekly or even  monthly meeting during the season should suffice.
   
• If parents want to have a conversation, take the time to have  a coffee with them at the concession stand, or between games at  a tournament. They are relaxed, they are themselves, and unless  they need to address a certain issue with you, they are in a  good mood.
   
• If you can get the parents involved (which is one of the other strategies), then you will naturally begin to build  relationships with the parents. Once they are involved, the  need to interact is evident and parents and coaches get to know one another much better.

These simple strategies is not meant for you to become best  friends with all of the parents. But, it is meant to help  you build bridges between the parents and the coaching staff  so you can both work together to bring the best to the children  involved in the team. Plus, you will have a much greater coaching softball.

You can more tips on how to deal with parents in my book "Ultimate Coaches' Guide to Dealing with Parents" which is part of my Super Coaching Bundle.

Train hard. Play hard.

Who loves ya?

Marc
"Your Softball Peak performance Coach"
 

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