Two questions for experienced youth groups

[Ricardo]

I'm in a USAS Certified Training Center that is experiencing rapid growth, and I'd like some advice from those of you who have more experience with large groups of young shooters. First, how do you deal with parents who don't completely give over authority to the coaches? What I mean is parents who may sit by and perhaps just say "Jonathan!" when Johnathan is getting in someone's way or mishandling an air rifle, but neither follow through with a consequence nor make it clear that the coach is in charge. I hope this is somewhat clear. Do you recruit parents into actively assisting the coach? Do you have a code of conduct for parents, or how do you make expectations clear to them? Second, can you share what kind of document you use to release club guns to young shooters who are traveling to matches? We have two or three beginning or returning shooters who are going to Nationals (Yay!) and want to take club guns. These are airguns, so liability and legality are less of an issue, but can anyone share some boilerplate document addressing the questions of returning the gun in the same condition as they took it, etc.? Thanks!

[shawn706]

First you cannot be afraid to offend when it comes to addressing safety concerns especially when working with children. We often say in todays political climate we're one accident away from being shut down.
Safety expectations should be clear and often announced. If you feel like a broken record then you're doing it right. Another thing that should be clear is the consequences for failing to comply. I have zeroed targets and made kids leave the line. You and your coaches and those in charge of you're program should all be on the same page if a parent complains that "You're being too hard". You also have to be willing to suspend people or even kick them out of the program if necessary.
Have a meeting with your people, come up with a code of conduct that includes disciplinary action. Have everyone on the team sign it, then enforce it. Parents will either step up or move on. If the latter then you're probably better off anyway.

[ChipEck]

First you cannot be afraid to offend when it comes to addressing safety concerns especially when working with children. We often say in todays political climate we're one accident away from being shut down.
Safety expectations should be clear and often announced. If you feel like a broken record then you're doing it right. Another thing that should be clear is the consequences for failing to comply. I have zeroed targets and made kids leave the line. You and your coaches and those in charge of you're program should all be on the same page if a parent complains that "You're being too hard". You also have to be willing to suspend people or even kick them out of the program if necessary.
Have a meeting with your people, come up with a code of conduct that includes disciplinary action. Have everyone on the team sign it, then enforce it. Parents will either step up or move on. If the latter then you're probably better off anyway.

+1

Chip

[JDMANN]

When I run the line, EVERYONE is expected to be a Safety Officer. Any safety infractions need to be addressed immediately! Stop it now, but use the incident as a teachable moment for everyone. The tone of my feedback is set by the severity of the offense and, mostly, the attitude of the offender.

Parental assistance is always welcome, as this builds their knowledge and understanding so they can coach and reinforce our fundamentals. They're with their parents much more than with me, so having a well versed Assistant Coach/Parent is an asset. Of course, we can't have parents countermanding our instruction or creating an unhealthy/unsportsmanlike environment. Set the tone for expected behavior for everyone. Tell everyone the consequences for unacceptable behavior. Be firm but fair in enforcement.

Create a checklist of the firearm characteristics that you expect returned in the same condition (bore clean, sights functioning, no rust, sling stop attached, etc). Take a picture of the firearm/equipment so they know what it is supposed to look like. Have the parents sign the release that they will be held responsible for any damage, repairs or replacement.

[Ricardo]

Thanks, folks, for the suggestions. I'm personally new at the coaching business and having an only child I was rarely in a situation of needing to manage several kids at once. I guess I'll just have to learn, and your advice is a good starting point.

[Soupy44]

I coach tennis full time and used to be very heavily involved in running and coaching junior rifle programs. The comments about being very forward with safety concerns are right on point. Setting expectations up front with defined consequences removes any question of your authority. Additionally, it gets you and the parents on the same page when an undesirable situation arises.

I would also suggest educating your parents and getting them involved. Here is a link to a document used by one of our local clubs that details the responsibilities of the shooters with a separate list of parent responsibilities:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mag ... 03D1A/edit

Regular (monthly to quarterly) parent meetings to discuss scheduling, training, other opportunities for the shooters, etc, will keep your parents informed. Most problem parents are simply out of the loop, some by their own negligence or lack of caring for anyone beyond their own child or children. This group is the most frustrating, but is best killed with kindness (you'll feel this effort takes years off your life). If a family from this group stays within your advertised expectations and rules you'll have little recourse for the headache. But if they venture outside of those expectations you need to be the authority figure (don't be too eager to find fault in this group). In addition, make sure to be the authority figure even for your top shooter, favorite shooter, or best parent volunteer's shooter. That consistency will sting short term, but is important long term.

I hope you continue coaching this team. I wonder if you started like many of us enjoying the coaching on the line and seeing the shooters progress and have now graduated to "Management". We're here to help! Good luck!

[Ricardo]

Wow, thanks! The document on parent responsibilities is especially helpful.

[dronning]

Not airgun, but High School Trap teams. Quite the success story, MN has grown the HS trap program from 3 teams and 30 kids in 2007 to 615 teams and over 20,000 kids now expanded to 11 other States.

http://mnclaytarget.com/

Check out their RULES section. Probably more than you are looking for but they cover everything.
- Dave

[rfwhatley]

I would also suggest educating your parents and getting them involved. Here is a link to a document used by one of our local clubs that details the responsibilities of the shooters with a separate list of parent responsibilities:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mag ... 03D1A/edit

► I was just going to say write up your rules and expectations ! Otherwise you'll spend all your time repeating yourself over and over, rather than coaching. Post those docs on your web site or FB account and DON'T be afraid to edit them often (weekly if needed). (Each document should have a Rev date in the footer to make it clear it's been changed.)

► If you charge a fee for joining the team or the kids conduct fund raisers, then you MUST spell out that shooters that leave the team FOR ANY REASON do not receive a refund. This becasue the reasons for departure usually involve non-compliant parents, rather than kids that don't like shooting !

► It is also important to have a contact form the parents fill out and return to you with ALL of BOTH their contact information. And you should collect new ones every 12 months, becasue parents are the worst about telling you they got a new cell number. So many parents are divorced these days too, and they never coordinate well, often leaving leaders "holding the bag"... and the kid.

► If you travel anywhere, then you obviously need a medical permission form so that you can get little Johnny treated at the ER for that bee sting. But you also need a place on that form to list all oral medications, allergies, EpiPen (who has it & what they expect YOU to do), and especially dietary requirements. These days there's always 3 or 4 Vegans in any group of kids, and stopping at McDonalds is simply not going to satisfy the kids or make their parents very happy.


Hope this helps.

[Ricardo]

Thanks for all your input, folks. Good material for us to work with.
Ricardo
Team Shooting Stars
Dallas TX