We chose to coach lacrosse out of a love for the game, a chance to compete and an opportunity to be a mentor. It would be great to step into a situation where we could just coach and focus on what we care about, however coaching also involves an administrative and political element.
Working with parents is just part of the landscape. Even when you have a great group of parents it only takes one to ruin the experience for many.
These are the lacrosse parents who demand to know why their son isn't getting more playing time. Or the parent who is trying to coach their kid during the game, sometimes by screaming from the sideline, sometimes talking to their kid behind the bench and some go as extreme as pulling their kid to the side in a time out. How about the parent who invites you for coffee under the premise of showing appreciation and then somehow in the conversation starts to work their ideas into the conversation and take it as a personal attack when you do not apply their input on the field? Or the ones who will send you a scathing email the next morning while saying how classy they are for not letting you have it immediately after the game? The list can go on and on and all too often all the examples come from the same 2-3 parents only our team.