Recently, the newest manager in our club (U7's) approached me on the school run and asked if I had one killer tip for him in his inaugural season as soccer coach!

I pondered for a minute and then told him that many coaches often get into difficult situations because they don't communicate enough with parents and guardians of their soccer players. And visa versa, coaches don't encourage parents to communicate with them.

If left unaddressed, any parental involvement or enquiry is often misinterpretted as a disguised complaint or attempt to undermine the coaches credibility and authority over the team.

This kind of attitude and behaviour where the coach and parents have a stand off relationship is negative and will hurt the team.

As coaches, we have many reasons for being straight forward and frank with parents. Just as players have a right to know what their standing is in the team, so do parents.

So my advice to our manager was simple, always keep your parents informed about what you are doing and why you are doing it.

Simple.

They might not agree with you, but as manager you set the ground rules for the team.

As the season is about to start I recommended that he have a contracting session with the parents and players and outlined his objectives for the season ahead.

I hold contracting sessions with my parents every season, most of what I have to say the parents have heard before, but it does no harm.

With careful communication, parents can become an integral part of your team set up. Win them over and you will develop a sound and strong social structure for you, your team, the club and supporters.

So, if you haven't already held a contracting session with players and parents, the start of the season is an ideal opporunity to do this.

If you don't know what to cover during this session or would like some guidelines, well we have this information in the pages of JSC.

That's it for this week, have a great time on the training field and good luck in any matches your team are playing.