Parent Involvement

By the end of the year we hear –

• “Coaching is a full time job!”

• “I was overwhelmed by all the work a coach has to do”

• “Getting people to help me is almost more trouble than doing it myself”

The good news is that in the same breath these coaches go on to describe how outstanding the experience was for themselves and their team.

So what can you do NOW to avoid a lot of work later? Call a Team Parents meeting to talk about what parents can do to support the team.

Start by making sure all the parents understand the things that every parent needs to do:

1. Get their children to meetings, practices, and (most of all) the tournament at the end of the season.

2. Appreciate that you are not a babysitter and make sure their children are respectful and behave during team meetings.

3. Understand the concept of “outside assistance” and resist inappropriate helping and conversations with their children.

4. Pick at least one of the following roles:

   1. Agree to occasionally supervise a meeting if you are unavailable or just need a break. As long as everyone understands the limits of outside assistance, there is no reason why another parent can’t run a spontaneous practice or supervise a long term work session. You may find that parents are excited about this chance to watch their kids in action.

   2. Assume the role of part time Spontaneous Co-Coach, collecting practice problems and associated materials (for hands-on and hands-on verbal problems) and/or leading the spontaneous practice sessions.

   3. Identify a parent who agrees to recruit a volunteer to serve as a Judge on the team’s behalf. Because the team-designated judge is prohibited from watch its own team, parents generally do not want to volunteer for this role. Often, teachers are willing to serve as judges and are able to earn credit for it.

   4. Identify someone who is willing to serve as a tournament helper for a few hours on the day of the tournament, serving as hall or competition site door monitor, helping with team check-in, or controlling traffic. Each team will be assigned a specific timeslot, so it helps to have a few people available in case of scheduling issues.

   5. Snacks : Set up a rotation schedule or designate someone who will take on job for the season

If you do this at the beginning of the year you will not only be helping yourself but you will be actively engaging the parents in a program that is known for its hands-off messages to parents.