One of the single most important parts of being a coach is maintaining an open line of communication with your parents. We have compiled the following best practices which we feel all coaches should follow. Feel free to use the following templates and edit as you see fit.
Best practices:
We have found it to be a best practice for new / returning coaches to write a welcome email at the beginning of each season to welcome the players to their team and introduce themselves to the parents. Feel free to use the following, and edit as you see fit.
Good Morning and welcome to the [Year] season of the West Hartford Little League [Division]. My name is coach [Your Name], and I am very excited about our upcoming season. I wanted to take a moment and welcome you all to the [Team name]. Coach [Assistant coach name(s)] and I are going to be coaching the team and we are very excited and dedicated to make sure we have a great learning experience where everyone plays every position and we have fun doing it.
Let me start with the basics about the league:
- We will have [Number of practices] practices a week on ______ at _____ PM for one hour (First practice is __________)
- We will practice at the [Field location] which is located at [Field address]
- We will have __ regular season games
- We will make sure everyone plays every position
What we are committed to do:
- Have fun, number one priority!
- Teach the fundamentals of baseball in a safe and secure environment.
- Let everyone play every position and everyone get equal playing time.
- We will remain very flexible as we understand everyone is busy and your child may be playing more than one sport.
- Get more people excited about the league and grow the league.
What we need from you:
- Make sure you child has a bat, glove, cleats or sneakers and a water bottle, and is ready to have fun.
- Make sure you register at our website www.westhartfordlittleleague.com to get full access to schedules, scores, photos and much more!
- Let us know if there are any conflicts with the schedule.
- Let us know if there are any medical issues or concerns you may have.
- Let us know what you think we can do to make things better.
- Let us know if you want to help out in anyway.
Here is the team roster:
(insert names)
I know that was a lot to absorb in one message, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions you have and look forward to hopefully seeing you all on _____. My cell phone number is ________ if you need to reach me. If you know of anyone that may be interested in coaching or volunteering, we still need help as our league continues to grow.
I look forward to meeting all of you at our first practice, and please feel free to reach out to me if you have any quesitons.
Thanks!
[Your Name]
[Best phone number to contact you]
Coaches should plan on setting aside approximately 10-15 minutes early in the season for a parent meeting. This meeting can be held before or during one of your first practices.
Coaches should plan to cover the following at a parent meeting:
- Introductions (Introduce yourself and your assistant coaches)
- Your experience (Explain how long you have coached in the league)
- Coaching philosophy (Explain your expectations regarding practice attendance, timeliness, etc.)
- Equipment (Cover the required league-provided equipment, and the equipment that each player should have)
- Safety (Discuss the importance of safety in all practices and games.)
- Contact information (Provide your contact information)
- Questions (provide time at the end of the meeting for parents to ask questions)
We have found it to be a best practice for coaches to send both practice and game reminders throughout the season to keep parents informed. Feel free to use the following and edit as you see fit.
Subject: WHLL: [Team name] Gameday (Date) - [Time of arrival] arrival - [Field location]
Good morning / evening [Team name] families:
Kids had a great week of practice and are well prepared for tomorrow's game.
Reminder: please arrive @ [Field location] no later than [Planned arrival time]. Players should wear their game jersey, game pants, red belt, and red socks.
First pitch is @ [Game time]
Thanks again for all the support this season and hope to see you all tomorrow morning.