Riley Nichelle

Bring your sons and daughters around the team frequently. Expose them to practices, team activities, bus rides, locker room celebrations and heartbreaks. Your children’s relationship with the players and exposure to the team culture is valuable to their development. Additionally, the student-athletes in your program get to see you as a parent. You set an example for them on how to prioritize and balance both family and work, something they’ll need to do in the future. *Bring one child at a time when they are younger. *Know what age appropriate activities your kids should be exposed to. *Balance is key; your practices/office shouldn’t look, feel, or sound like a daycare center. *Talk about good parenting with the players and be an example to it. *Leave practice early on occasion and let your assistants take over to attend your kid’s games/activities. Verbalize to your team why you’re doing it. Show and explain to them what active parenting is and how delegating trust and responsibility to staff is beneficial for all. *Make it easy for assistant coaches to be active parents and attend their kid’s activities. Former NFL head coach Bruce Arians told his staff during their first meeting, “If you miss a ballgame, a recital, anything to do with your children, I'll fire you.” They won a Super Bowl with this team policy.