Parents Zone

What Is A Responsible Coach?

Perhaps no aspect of youth sports is more perplexing to parents than how to deal with their children's coaches. As a Responsible Sports Parent, how can you tell if your child has a Responsible Coach? And how can parents talk with coaches to make sure children have the best possible sports experience?

Here is the definition of a Responsible Coach from the companion to this site, Liberty Mutual's Responsible Coaching powered by Positive Coaching Alliance

Let's begin by explaining what a Responsible Coach is not. A Responsible Coach is not:

• Soft
• A source of empty, unearned praise
• Satisfied with everyone just having fun.

Responsible Coaching actually is more difficult, challenging and rewarding than coaching with a win-at-all-cost approach. In addition to learning all they can about their sport, honing their "x's and o's," and competing fiercely for wins, Responsible Coaches are also committed to:

• Ensuring player safety
• Placing education and character development before wins
• Coaching beyond the "x's and o's"
• Coaching athletes to master their sports
• Filling "Emotional Tanks" to improve performance and instill love of sport
• Living and coaching by a code of Honoring the Game.

Even if you are the first sports parent in the world to have a Responsible Coach in every sport, at every level, for all your children, you still will have potentially uncomfortable conversations with those coaches. As a Responsible Sports Parent you should be prepared to address all types of coaches.

It is the responsibility of players and coaches to try to win. You have a much more important responsibility: making sure your children draw from sports the lessons that will help them become successful, contributing adults.