Who should the coach tell about practices first, the players or the parents?

[Sparky Guy]

On a side note: Floating practice nights always drove me nuts ... especially if they weren’t announced until a a few days before. Sorry, I don’t see much excuse for that.

There can be several reasons for it. Sometimes it's the coaches work schedule. Have you ever tried to secure practice fields when you're competing against other teams, programs or sports? Sometimes it revolves around when the fields are used for league games. Sometimes it's player availability. The list is endless.

I know... I've had to deal with it all. As a coach I never liked floating practice days. But, you do what you have to do.

 

[riseball]

,,,I think relying on a 14 y/o to communicate with their parents is not always the best method.

The problem is not with all 14 year olds, only one. I would have a discussion with that one 14 year old and have her step up her off the field game.

 

[Long Baller]

This is as social as my media gets ... and I work in PR/communications.

I understand the modern era, but it bugs me when people just assume that EVERYBODY SHOULD be on the FaceChats/SnapSpace channels. Back when I ran our local league I had a League Secretary that only wanted to put things on Facebook. I would not allow that. We had too many people who didn’t use it ... but SHE did so everybody should. Nope.

Using a defined communication tool for your group is different. I am OK with saying “we are going to use this app to push messages out.” Just make sure you vet that app and make sure it will work for everybody and doesn’t have any hidden pitfalls (e.g., security risks).

I totally get what you are saying. The only "interactive" stuff I do are a couple of sports related forums. I joined this one less than a month ago because the other softball forum that I used for information just doesn't get much traffic. And yes, the Facebook thing annoys me too as I do not, and will not, sign up for it. Way too many stories of people getting into "Facebook Fights" with friends and family.

I'm not advocating that everyone should use Team Snap, but just used that one as an example because I am familiar with it. My DD has has at least three different teams that used it in the past, and not just for softball. At one time, the coaches for my DD's softball, her soccer, and my oldest son's baseball team were all using it at once. It was rally nice to have everything organized in one place. So my point is, there are efficient means for information to get out to ALL PARTIES INVOLVED in an immediate manner. It doesn't need to be "Players, tell your parents this...." anymore.

 

[CMMom1740]

TeamSnap is so easy and it tells everyone at once. Word of mouth communication is unreliable and if your DD missed one practice, how is she (or her parent) supposed to know when the next practice is otherwise? And the girls' group chat doesn't really count as communication. It is not a terrible burden to post an alert on TeamSnap that the calendar has been altered. If it's vital that everyone be there, then everyone needs to be told.

ETA: I do not want or need to know stuff like what uniforms to wear. That is DD's responsibility and that communication should bypass parents and go directly to the girls. I'm just talking about schedule/calendar items and communication re: whether a game is rained out.

 

[UB40]

I do not want or need to know stuff like what uniforms to wear. That is DD's responsibility and that communication should bypass parents and go directly to the girls. I'm just talking about schedule/calendar items and communication re: whether a game is rained out.

Absolutely.

 

[CoachJD]

I thought it was a given that most everyone used something like Team Snap. In todays age of technology, there really isn't any excuse to not post scheduling on some sort of social media so all relevant parties can be immediately notified.

I have a 13u girl whose parents do not even have email addresses. Not everybody is on social media.

 

[The Man In Blue]

There can be several reasons for it. Sometimes it's the coaches work schedule. Have you ever tried to secure practice fields when you're competing against other teams, programs or sports? Sometimes it revolves around when the fields are used for league games. Sometimes it's player availability. The list is endless.

I know... I've had to deal with it all. As a coach I never liked floating practice days. But, you do what you have to do.

I know there are reasons ... but they are all bad excuses. I’ve been there. One reason I walked away from coaching was my work schedule — it wasn’t fair to the team to work around me.
Either develop assistants that you trust to run the team or step down. I coached until my trusted assistants left, then I went when my new ones were not reliable.

As for girls’ schedules ... again, I get it. But again, just excuses. There are 8 million things to do these days and you need to decide what is important and what is the priority. THAT is why practices shouldn’t float. Set your team schedule, set your routine. If you can’t be relied on to be consistent and reliable, why should the kids and parents make you the priority.

Sorry, just my feelings as someone who has been there as a parent, coach, and administrator ... those are excuses and disrespectful of your team.

... but maybe that is why I umpire now.

 

[MNDad]

I think you look at the quality of coaching and ignore the petty annoyances.

 

[collinspc]

Interesting point. Could you expand upon why you feel that?



I wish our coach would make the information accessible to all, at the same time. I think relying on a 14 y/o ntto communicate with their parents is not always the best method.

When the girls get to middle school, the coaches will communicate everything through the girls. If you are lucky, you will have a team parent that is a good communicater and will be the go between with the coach. But the girls will be expected to be responsible for all things team.

 

[Comocoach]

My opinion- in TB, practice and game schedules should be sent to all parent and player emails.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk