Reflections on the League Apps Future of Soccer Town Hall
On Wednesday I attended the virtual League Apps Future of Soccer Town Hall, a 90-minute conversation with thought leaders in the game discussing problems in youth soccer in America. Moments that stood out to me were the discussion with Marley Wilson, Noah Ginns, and Andy Roderick around the fragmentation of soccer in America, the impact of the influx of private equity capital into youth sports, and the need to support our grassroots players with better soccer experiences. Julie Foudy kicked off the Town Hall will a call to action for us to provide an inspiring experience to players. Parents were brought up numerous times in the conversation: the disconnect between parents’ desires for their child and their potential, the pressure parents put on the eco-system when it comes to having to deliver increasingly more, and the parent as the ultimate customer, making decisions for their child.
At Soccer Parenting we believe parents will be difference makers when it comes to improving youth sports. The more we can educate, resource, engage and support parents – the more we will develop players who are fans for life and, importantly, players on their way to a more-healthy adulthood.
Moving from Blame to Empowerment: Supporting Soccer Parents the Right Way
While it was great to hear parents brought up in the League Apps Town Hall – I ended the call feeling a sense of urgency and frustration. Urgency because with a momentum shift towards engaging with parents, it’s essential that it’s done in the right way to maximize the effectiveness of engagement. Frustration because it still feels like parents are being blamed for a lot of the inefficiencies we are experiencing when, in fact, they are often just reacting to the pressure-filled structures children are competing in and which the leaders have created!
Coach Education is Key to Effective Parent Engagement
An important step to consider as we shift to an environment in which parents are more resourced is coach education related to how to effectively engage with parents. The most effective way to reach parents is via coaches, and so therefore coaches need to be educated in best practices for parent engagement. Coaches need to learn how to set clear boundaries, how to hold an effective team meeting, best practices for expectations related to sideline behavior, and how to support parents when they are feeling stress.
Importantly: Parent engagement not only improves the experience for parents, but it also improves the experience for coaches and players too! When parents are engaged and supported, they are more empathetic to the needs of the coach, and coaches are more satisfied with their coaching experience. Plus, the players’ connection to the sport is increased, leading to improved player development
Take the Next Step: Parent Engagement for Coaches Course
If you are a coach interested in gaining skills related to parent engagement, consider enrolling in our 90-minute course: Parent Engagement for Coaches. You’ll gain access to 11 downloads through the 10 video-based modules and walk away with confidence and a plan!
It’s been great to see club leaders engaging with this course, bulk buying it, and providing it to coaches at their club. If you are interested in bulk buying Parent Engagement for Coaches, reach out to us HERE. Check out the testimonial from Greg Andrulis, former MLS coach, now Executive Director of DC Soccer Club at the end of this article!
As for the League Apps Town Hall, conversations like this one are an essential building block to an improved youth soccer ecosystem in America. A shout out to Jeremy Goldberg, Brian Litvak and Craig McGinn from League Apps for their leadership in making this conversation a public one, access available to anyone who registered, not just a handful of people selected to be on a committee or task force. We need to have more public Town Halls, with more and different voices in the room. And importantly – we need to focus on solutions, not just the problems. Finding solutions for our issues will be challenging because many of the issues are structural in nature – so the possibility of change seems daunting.
Building Trust from the Ground Up
But change is possible, and our children deserve it. Change will come as trust is established, collaboration is improved, and therefore innovation is more likely.
My work with Soccer Parenting has always been rooted in establishing trust. While Soccer Parenting generally focus on the coach-parent-club relationship, let me be clear: the lack of trust with parents, coaches and clubs is a symptom of a larger trust problem from the top down in soccer. Bringing people together like League Apps did this week, is a step in the right direction – an important one.
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