Thread: Parent meeting
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Old Tue Oct 05, 2004, 11:40am
PGCougar PGCougar is offline
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I've been coaching for almost 20 years now - mostly HS and HS AAU. About 8 or 9 years ago, I started bringing out officials to give a brief talk after one of our early season practices. It was such a hit, that I decided to expand on the idea and make it a regular early season thing.

We now have a D1 women's basketball official who comes out every year at about our third or fourth team practice to talk and field questions for about an hour and a half. Attendance by parents at this practice is mandatory. I can't think of anything better than to quell parental misconceptions about the game and how it's called. So now none of my parents yell out "over the back" - of course they still yell out "hey, that was a push!" Oh well, it's a start...

More importantly, it is incredibly valuable and insightful to the players and to me as a coach to hear an official explain what they are focusing on. We even run a few drills and when the whistle blows, we'll get a very detailed explanation by an official in a non-threatening environment. It allows for an even handed exhange of ideas without the pressure to resume play and it builds excellent relations and respect among all the parties involved.

Anyhow, I really believe you would do well to schedule this kind of a meeting involving parents, but I'd suggest you let respected officials field the questions and the answers instead of yourself. See if you can contact the local association for availability. Or maybe the league can point you in the right direction.
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