Discussiondis Reply-Sona

The writing Promp Is Attached

I had conversation with a parent last year that was very confrontational and agressive, on his end. His daughter may be the best player on our high school softball team. He had emailed me about wanting to have a conversation, which was out of left field for me (no pun intended). He wanted to know why we had not signed up for any tournaments for the season. I tried to explain to him the skill level of our team and not feeling like we were at a place, as a whole team, to compete in any tournaments. I was also missing 3 players to the school musical, which left me with 9 players, possibly 8 with an injury. He was very persistant on catching me in a slip up and was telling me things I had said in a parent meeting 2 years prior. I felt attacked and did my best to remain calm and not get defensive. He ultimately then started questioning my competitiveness and vision for the team. I tried to talk him down and explain to him where I was coming from, but his mind was already made up. Looking back, I wish I would have stopped the conversation much earlier and brought the athletic director in on the conversation. I also wish I would have referred to the player/parent packet from the beginning of the year to the section that tells parents to not question the coaching methods of the coach. I felt very frustrated with the things he said, and I wish I would have had a better, more firm, response to his frustrations and arguments. For that being my first encounter of that nature, I feel I handled it ok. I now have a better grasp on what to do and say for any future conversations like that that may arise. I should have referred back to the packet I had spent time creating, stuck to the words I said in that packet, and kept the conversation professional and stopped him from attacking my integrity as a coach.