Answers to the
questions coaches
actually ask.
Every post here starts with a question a volunteer coach or a league director sent me, and answers it in a way you can use at practice this week. Written on the sideline and after it, by someone who still coaches.
Coaching your own child: how do you avoid favoritism and protect your relationship?
Be their parent first, hold every player to one standard, keep the ride home off the game, and save the skills talk for practice where it belongs.
How to run your first youth practice: a 60-minute plan
Get there early, learn names in the first eight minutes, warm up with a game instead of a lap, teach one skill through games, then play 3v3 and huddle.
How to handle youth sports playing time
No. Equal time fits a young rec team, earned time fits an older selective one, your league's floor beats both, and the policy goes on paper before game one.
Team communication for parents: how to pick a system they'll actually read
Parents do read. They just look in the wrong place. Put the schedule, every change and the parent chat in one spot, and Saturday mornings get boring.