How To Manage Football Parents

In a recent survey, the number one challenge grassroots coaches face is with parents! 

And as a coach new to running a team, managing the parents of your players can be a tricky job. But it doesn't have to be that way.

There are many different types of parents who take an interest in their children's development in different ways, so learning to deal with all of these will help you in your role as a team manager.

Here are our top three tips for working with the parents to support the development of the players and the team:

1: Communication!
This is the number one tip for a reason! If you set clear boundaries from the start, outline your philosophy, your plans for the team and your expectations of the players and parents, they will know where they stand and the values and beliefs by which you want to develop their children.

2: Be Open And Approachable
Allow parents to have a voice. You are much more likely to get their support if you listen to their concerns or ideas.

3: Assign A Parent Representative
Having someone collect thoughts from the parents and share them with you is a great way of showing them they are part of the process.

As part of our CPD course 'The New Coach: Managing Your Very First Team', we go into much greater depth around the subject of managing parents.

We have created a helpful free guide for coaches to download and share with parents to help them understand how to better support their children's learning: Developing A Growth Mindset.

It's free to download here.

If you are a coach new to running your own team and would like to learn more about developing young players, creating a philosophy, match day management and dealing with parents, check out our course 'The New Coach: Managing Your Very First Team'...