How to Handle Sideline Parents | TEAM COACHING
Before baseball season starts, setting ground rules with the parents and expectations on behavior help to create a better environment. This is done through a parent and player meeting with the coaches.
It tends to happen where a couple of parents do not abide by the rules during games such as "no parents in the dugout." In this instance it is necessary to be respectful, but talking to them between games or later in the week can help to remind them about the rules in place that were discussed in the beginning of the season. As a coach, it can be difficult to communicate with a child who is also being coached by a parent because they may give conflicting advice or it is just too much information for the child to understand.
Being a coach means doing what is best for and caring about the entire team. However, as a parent, the focus tends to be only on their child. For example, during one game, each child sat the bench for one inning. Still, a parent came up and said that her child sat the bench more than everyone else.
Another thing we do as coaches is implement the 24 hour rule. A parent is not allowed to discuss the game with the coach or ask questions until 24 hours after the game. This prevents emotional conversations that could happen when a parent or even the coach is frustrated about something that happened during the game. Sometimes, this is really hard to stick to as a coach, but you need to assure the parent you are happy to make time to discuss or schedule a meeting for tomorrow, but right after the game is not the appropriate time. The 24 hour rule helps to create more meaningful conversations with less possible emotional mistakes.
Additionally, keep track of all line up cards and where players were placed during the innings in order to go back and make sure that there is a real account of who played when and where instead of a parent or coach recount.
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