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AREAS OF COMMON AGREEMENT BETWEEN PARENT/GUARDIANS AND COACHES
The purpose of the interscholastic athletic program at Huron High School is to provide an arena in which students can learn and grow in meaningful ways that are not always possible in a classroom setting. Everyone involved in the program including coaches, athletes, parents, guardians, and administrators, is committed to doing all that s/he can to provide a positive athletic experience for each participant.
Communication plays a key role in the success of an athletic program and our ability to establish lines of communcation is an important goal. Through good communication, people feel listened to and understoond, even if complete agreement is not always reached.
Parenting and coaching, each in its own unique way, are challenging endeavors that are not always easy to do well. Coaches and parents have at least one strong common bond -- that is sharing the concern and well-being of each athlete. By establishing mutual understanding, parents and coaches are better able to accept the actions of the other in order to provide a greater benefit to each athlete.
We are all concerned about the complete education of our students. Part of the process of growing up for a student is learning to handle their own difficult situations. If a conflict between an athlete and a coach occurs, then learning to resolve it is an important educational expereience for the athlete. How parents/guardians react greatly impacts the magnitude of the crisis and significantly determines the perspective of the athlete. If parents rant and rave and further compound the problem by criticizing the coach, then the athlete may receive the wrong message and develop inadequate strategies for resolving personal conflict.
Parents should react slowly. In reality, how many athletes go home to present an even-handed description of that day's events? Taking responsibility for their part in a conflict is a skill for students to learn. It requires maturity and honest self-reflection. Athletes vent frustration at the dinner table expecting their parents to take their side of the dispute. Thoughtful parents, however, realize that they were not present to see how their student behaved, how they related to the coach, or put out an honest effort. Such parents always seek more information before drawing conclusions.
The most productive long-run help that a parent can give a student in an awkward situation with a coach is to teach and model the skills of conflict resultion by helping their student resolve their own problems. When a student successfully deals with difficult interpersonal conflicts, they can learn and grow.
Of course, a parent always retains the right to intervene on behalf of their student. To help facilitate this, the Athletic Director has established a few ground rules to help make parental intervention less contentious and more productive. Adhering to these communciation principles has proved so effective that we encourge each parent to carefully read and follow these communication guidelines that are described in this document.
Coaches and parents all want the athletic experence for the athlete to be as positive and educational as possible. This does not imply that roadblocks along the way in the form of interpersonal conflicts are necessarily always negative. Opportunities for growth can often occur when parents and coaches work together.
The purpose of the interscholastic athletic program at Huron High School is to provide an arena in which students can learn and grow in meaningful ways that are not always possible in a classroom setting. Everyone involved in the program including coaches, athletes, parents, guardians, and administrators, is committed to doing all that s/he can to provide a positive athletic experience for each participant.
Communication plays a key role in the success of an athletic program and our ability to establish lines of communcation is an important goal. Through good communication, people feel listened to and understoond, even if complete agreement is not always reached.
Parenting and coaching, each in its own unique way, are challenging endeavors that are not always easy to do well. Coaches and parents have at least one strong common bond -- that is sharing the concern and well-being of each athlete. By establishing mutual understanding, parents and coaches are better able to accept the actions of the other in order to provide a greater benefit to each athlete.
We are all concerned about the complete education of our students. Part of the process of growing up for a student is learning to handle their own difficult situations. If a conflict between an athlete and a coach occurs, then learning to resolve it is an important educational expereience for the athlete. How parents/guardians react greatly impacts the magnitude of the crisis and significantly determines the perspective of the athlete. If parents rant and rave and further compound the problem by criticizing the coach, then the athlete may receive the wrong message and develop inadequate strategies for resolving personal conflict.
Parents should react slowly. In reality, how many athletes go home to present an even-handed description of that day's events? Taking responsibility for their part in a conflict is a skill for students to learn. It requires maturity and honest self-reflection. Athletes vent frustration at the dinner table expecting their parents to take their side of the dispute. Thoughtful parents, however, realize that they were not present to see how their student behaved, how they related to the coach, or put out an honest effort. Such parents always seek more information before drawing conclusions.
The most productive long-run help that a parent can give a student in an awkward situation with a coach is to teach and model the skills of conflict resultion by helping their student resolve their own problems. When a student successfully deals with difficult interpersonal conflicts, they can learn and grow.
Of course, a parent always retains the right to intervene on behalf of their student. To help facilitate this, the Athletic Director has established a few ground rules to help make parental intervention less contentious and more productive. Adhering to these communciation principles has proved so effective that we encourge each parent to carefully read and follow these communication guidelines that are described in this document.
Coaches and parents all want the athletic experence for the athlete to be as positive and educational as possible. This does not imply that roadblocks along the way in the form of interpersonal conflicts are necessarily always negative. Opportunities for growth can often occur when parents and coaches work together.
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