Survey: Most schools don’t provide training on dealing with parents

In May, Coach and Athletic Director asked readers whether their schools provided training on working with parents and settling conflicts. The results showed that most schools do not provide education for coaches in handling difficult situations and best practices for developing positive relationships.

Working with parents of student-athletes has consistently ranked among the greatest concerns in Coach and Athletic Director’s annual State of the Industry survey. We’ve published special reports about working with parents and numerous features have appeared in the magazine.

Some schools to provide training for coaches, and nearly all of them have different approaches to educating their staffs.

“Our coaches committee developed our communication chain of command in cooperation with our administration,” one of the survey’s respondents said. “We have also worked on identifying areas where coaches can minimize creating their own issues by initiating communication first.”

Our survey found that just one-third of schools provide formal training for athletic department personnel.