One of THE best things the current HC did at “my” school when he took over was to set up “home visits.” He would contact the parents of the players and set up a time to come by their house. They would meet and get a chance to know each other. I think it really paid dividends for him in developing relationships with parents and fostering good will on his team.
For some reason, he stopped doing it. My guess would be that it was very time-consuming. You’re going to spend a lot of nights away from home meeting with your players and their parents at their home. The pay back, though, is tremendous.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I’ve committed to be a “Consultant” for this head coach. One of the first things I asked about was: “Are you still doing the home visits?” He said, “no. I’ve gotten away from that.” I told him that he needed to start doing it again. And he did! Some of the stories he’s shared with me have been gut-wrenching and heart-overflowing!!! It has really helped him see our players from a different perspective. It’s established a bond between him (the HC), his players and the parents that anyone would want when dealing with a team of high school kids.
So, how do you accomplish this without “burning yourself out” or never seeing your family for 3 months? I’d start with meeting with the parents of your rising seniors. If you don’t meet with anyone else the first time you enact this policy, meet with them first. If a family transfers in, go meet with them. They will have questions and you want to get off on the right foot with any new family.
From that point on, you can make that your policy; i.e., meet with each of the seniors before their senior season.
If you can meet with all of your veterans in one off-season, then set a policy to meet with those families who are “new” to your program. That would be players moving up from JV or transfer families. Take the time to meet these people. It is one of the most positive things you can do as a head coach.
