July/August 2022 - 9

" With all parents - supportive or misguided - clear,
effective communication is essential in an effort
to inform, educate, and be proactive in heading
off misunderstandings or potential problems. "
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Take full advantage of as many social media platforms
as you can in order to reach your parents. Since your
parents and community members will not necessarily use
only one or the same vehicle, the more different ones that
you use will ensure that a greater number will ultimately
receive your message or the information.
Continue to use newsletters to address important
details or developments involving your program.
Beyond the long-standing, traditional hard copy
medium, also consider putting a copy together
and sharing it digitally. But newsletters still serve
the purpose!
Accept as many speaking engagements as you can.
These options should include presentations at booster
club and parent-teacher association meetings, civic
organizations, youth leagues, and anywhere that you can
explain the concept of education-based athletics and how
your program operates.
Create hard copy documents for all of the lists of
expectations you have for your program such as
dealing with sportsmanship. You can put a few key points
on the back of a business card, while others might use
a 3x5 card or a tri-folder leaflet. But by having printed
copies, you can quickly and easily hand one to anyone
who might not be complying with your standards. As
a matter of fact, it is also a good practical idea to keep
several copies in your ticket booth so that they are
readily available.
For the misguided, challenging group, it is also vital
that you communicate effectively. If there has been a
problem, a conversation behind closed doors would be
the most appropriate forum.
In many school settings, this would occur the following
day after an incident, but definitely as soon as possible.
The following suggestions should help with these
difficult sessions.
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Write down what happened with respect to the
incident and record your first-hand observations.
You should also get anyone else - security personnel,
teachers, coaches, or other administrators - to also job
down what they saw and any actions that were taken.
Always include the time and date of when the
problem occurred
COACHAD.COM 9
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Arrange to have a security person, an assistant
principal, or some other third party join the meeting
if there is any reason that it could be contentious.
Explain the parameters that will govern the meeting
when the parent arrives. This would typically mean that
if any inappropriate or threatening language would be
used, the session would end.
Prepare an outline or script for the meeting to avoid
going off-topic, and so that you cover everything that
needs to be included. Also, have copies of any policies,
procedures, or lists of expectations that pertain to the
incident ready to be shared with the parent. Highlight any
specific items that support and illustrate the nature of
the incident.
Always try to end the conversation by thanking the
parent for a meeting, also with the hope that the
session was helpful, and that there would be no further
problems in the future.
Always file the initial set of observations, notes made
during the meeting, and what actions were taken as a
result of the meeting. These documents are important in
the event that there is ever another problem.
With all parents - supportive or misguided --
clear, effective communication is essential in an effort
to inform, educate, and be proactive in heading off
misunderstandings or potential problems. This makes
communication an essential and extremely important
aspect for every athletic administrator.
http://www.COACHAD.COM
July/August 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July/August 2022
