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Post by oriolepower on Nov 5, 2012 8:53:32 GMT -6
Another coach in our school that I respect said he plans on having individual preseason parent meetings with every parent before the season. He asked if I had a sample agenda or topic list he could steal.
My only suggestion was to ask the parent to honestly layout their team and child expectations for the year.
What other ideas do you have?
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Post by chi5hi on Nov 5, 2012 9:29:59 GMT -6
I wouldn't do that. Not individually.
I have ONE pre-season meeting with all parents for coach introductions, outlining team rules and what is expected from each player regarding; the school's academic demands, team deportment, and personal punctuality.
Since the player receives academic credit for participation, (P.E.) he is required to perform at specific standards or leave the team. I treat it like a classroom.
I brief them on possible scholarship offers and matters thereunto belonging.
Then I toss a bone with some X's and O's. Sometimes.
I NEVER give them a carte blanch invitation to discuss ANYTHING with me. Been there, done that. Any possible communication, first goes through the A.D. then I decide to meet or not to meet with a parent, most often with the with the school vice principal.
There is a weekly booster meeting and film review/assessment of the upcoming opponent. There, I entertain questions from parents and fans.
Result: Blissful peace!
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Post by newhope on Nov 5, 2012 11:29:13 GMT -6
I can't imagine. No way. I'm largely with chi5hi on this.
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Post by John Knight on Nov 5, 2012 11:36:10 GMT -6
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Post by blocker74 on Nov 5, 2012 16:23:52 GMT -6
I was just having the exact same idea...
A big part of me wants to be able to find out a couple of things very early in a players career:
1) Nature of player's home life... will the parent's be supportive? Single parent? Food in the house? Safe, quiet, place to do homework? That kind of stuff...
2) Also, I want to make sure that EVERY parent understands the player expectations/commitment/program demands. After a general meeting, I could review their material, get the "contract" signature, etc.
I think this is hard to do in a large, general meeting.
Obviously, though, I'm worried about giving the parent a forum to be confrontational, etc.
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Post by chi5hi on Nov 5, 2012 16:43:34 GMT -6
I was just having the exact same idea... A big part of me wants to be able to find out a couple of things very early in a players career: 1) Nature of player's home life... will the parent's be supportive? Single parent? Food in the house? Safe, quiet, place to do homework? That kind of stuff... 2) Also, I want to make sure that EVERY parent understands the player expectations/commitment/program demands. After a general meeting, I could review their material, get the "contract" signature, etc. I think this is hard to do in a large, general meeting. Obviously, though, I'm worried about giving the parent a forum to be confrontational, etc. OK. So you find out that the kid doesn't have a place to do his homework, there's not enough food in the house, and daddy (or mommy) is out of the picture, his sister is on crack and his brother wears a dress. Now, what can you do about it? |
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Post by blocker74 on Nov 5, 2012 23:01:06 GMT -6
I'm not sure if there is much I can do about it. Not necessarily trying to fix it.
It feels like it would be better to be able to ANTICIPATE issues that may come up down the road. I think every solid program provides some kind of academic support (study table, peer tutoring, athletic academic advisor, etc.) it would be nice to anticipate who might need early intervention. When I kid isn't progressing in terms of size and strength during your off season strength program, nutrition could be a factor. Has the family applied for the Free & Reduced lunch program? Would it be helpful to get them that application form? Is there enough kids with this issue to use program funds to put together backpacks of food for the weekend? If the kid has other issues, it would seem good to know that rides home from practice might be an issue.
Impossible to FIX all the issues facing adolescents today, but ignoring that those issues exist by not asking the right questions doesn't seem like the best way to establish the kind of relationship a coach needs with his players if he hopes to get the most out of them on the field.
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Post by chi5hi on Nov 6, 2012 1:04:56 GMT -6
OK, now what do you do when there are 17 similar kids on the team with like and similar problems?
It was rhetorical...you'll burn yourself out! This is football, not the peace corps.
Perhaps you should consider a different career? Crisis intervention counselor, or some such...
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Post by newhope on Nov 6, 2012 8:52:04 GMT -6
I don't need individual parent meetings to find out those things, and am not sure you'll find those out from meeting with the parents.
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Post by coachd5085 on Nov 6, 2012 8:58:30 GMT -6
Another coach in our school that I respect said he plans on having individual preseason parent meetings with every parent before the season. He asked if I had a sample agenda or topic list he could steal. My only suggestion was to ask the parent to honestly layout their team and child expectations for the year. What other ideas do you have? So I take this to read a NON FOOTBALL coach correct. I can see the benefits there, if we are talking a squad of 6 or 7 kids (golf, tennis etc.) But for a football meeting---just can't the juice being worth the squeeze. |
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Post by oriolepower on Nov 7, 2012 7:44:38 GMT -6
Coach5085 you are correct. It is a basketball coach. He just survived an attempt to run him out and has a lot of talent coming back. One of the complaints to him by the school board was how he communicated with parents. That's why he wants to do the individual meetings.
I don't think I could ever personally go down that road.
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Post by mitch on Nov 7, 2012 10:01:29 GMT -6
Don't create headaches.
You have enough as a HC as it is.
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Post by mariettablue on Nov 7, 2012 10:14:45 GMT -6
I would lay out the rules and expectations to the group. Concerns will always come out (usually with bad timing) and you might have to do individual meetings but don't set yourself up because if a parent only needs 5 minutes of your time and you have 20 parents needing that twice a week...........that's almost half of your weekly practice. gone! Be careful of what you ask for cause you just might get it.
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Post by spos21ram on Nov 7, 2012 12:20:07 GMT -6
This would be just an added hassle that you don't need. Basketball, golf, tennis, etc only have about 12 players on the team. It would be much easier to have individual meetings, although I don't recommend them for those sports either. One parent/player/staff meeting at the beginning of the season to layout all rules, guidelines, expectations, etc is all you need.
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Post by CoachFetty on Nov 10, 2012 6:52:13 GMT -6
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