Four Key Steps to Ensuring Success

The past several posts have focused on how to develop an effective youth sports program structured around all participants. There are myriad studies about how participating in youth sports activities provides tremendous benefits to kids, assuming that the programs are structured to convey those benefits. Information is available from a number of sources on how to structure an effective program, develop a set of guidelines and processes, educate coaches and administrators, create a supportive and constructive environment, and manage the activities.

A chief complaint among parents whose children participate in youth sports is the lack of communication between the "management" (administrators, league officials, and coaches) and the participants (parents and players). This extends beyond just schedules and directions, but includes rules, expectations, contact information, grievance procedures, and coaches' training. In fact, we started Wagdogs primarily to help overcome the communication issues we encountered in our roles as administrators as well as parents/participants.

Among the core elements of the model youth sports charter developed by Rutgers university is "[r]egular, two way communication between the organization's leadership and constituents." But the essential task of informing and educating all of the participants about a program's mission, goals, objectives, and expectations is often overlooked. It's not always an easy task, but with digital tools available today, it's easier than ever to make sure that everyone knows exactly what's expected of them. Time invested in communicating with constituents will pay big dividends.

In our experience, there are four key elements that can help ensure an effective communication plan: Formulate, Communicate, Educate, and Escalate.

Formulate The key to an effective youth sports organization is the formulation of goals and processes consistent with the organization's mission. Organizations should document their approaches to everything from how to recruit volunteers to how to develop a budget. Specific to that process, it is essential that the goals of the organization are tied to expectations for each participant role (e.g., coach, player, parent) and that they are clear and unambiguous, with an associated disciplinary/grievance process.

Communicate Now that you've documented your organization's mission and processes, the hard part is over, right? No! The hard part comes next. It's essential that you communicate the information that you've developed to everyone in your program, and that you encourage them to share their knowledge with others in the organization. Many of the problems that arise in the course of running a youth sports organization can be avoided if the rules and procedures are well-defined, well-documented, and publicized. If parents, coaches, and players know what to expect beforehand, misunderstandings are kept to a minimum. If your organization is an ultra-competitive one, make sure parents and players know going in that there will be cuts, limited playing time, and demanding schedules. If it's recreational and instructional, make sure that all of the coaches know and adhere to the charter and do not introduce competitive aspects that are at odds with your goals.

Educate Now that you've gotten your processes and polices defined and everyone knows what they are, it's time to devise tools and mechanisms to educate your organization about how and why they should support the organization's goals. It's much easier to elicit acceptable participation when people see a direct benefit to the requested action. You may, for example, require every coach to have a preseason "parents meeting" at which they lay out their goals for the team, their coaching philosophy, attendance expectations, and other pertinent information. Some coaches might see that as an unnecessary waste of time.

Escalate One of the key processes that you should define and publicize is a clear escalation policy for any complaints for infractions that arise. If a parent has an issue with a coach, your policy should state how that is handled. Maybe you'll require that s/he first talk to the coach face to face or in a mediated session. The next step in the process may be to make a formal, written complaint to a speficied person who will review the complaint in accordance with the grievance procedure and determine next steps. Whatever policies or processes you define and implement, make sure everyone is aware that there is a formal process by which issues are resolved. Do not accept or tolerate anyone's circumventing that process.

In many respects, it's both easier and harder to administer a youth sports organization. Social and cultural changes have made conspired to change the perception and goals of many of the parents whose children play sports. The amount of time and money invested in a child's youth sports experience can be, and often is, substantial. The financial investment too often leads to an emotional investment that is at odds with the benefits of participation, and sometimes with the child's abilities.

On the other hand, there are more tools and information available today than ever before. Organizations have arisen to combat the negative influences within youth sports. In addition to the Youth Sports Research Council at Rutgers University, there are organizations like the Positive Coaching Alliance, PositiveSports.net, and National Alliance for Youth Sports, just to name a few. Many of these organizations offer tools, documents, guidelines, and training to help with the sometimes daunting task of managing youth sports. In addition to tools like Wagdogs, many organizations are effectively supplementing automated league management and youth sports administration tools with their own web sites, Facebook and Twitter pages, blogs, and other digital communication outlets.

Tying the key elements above into a "social marketing plan" can be an effective way to eliminate many of the headaches. Social marketing is a term used to describe the implementation of marketing and other concepts and techniques to achieve specific behavioral goals for a social good. In an upcoming post, we'll talk about ways you can develop a social marketing approach, using the available tools and techniques at your disposal to make your to help ensure positive participation.

NEXT: Social Marketing and Affecting Positive Behavioral Changes

Posted By: Jim Roynan

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