Are Your Soccer Coaches Behaving Properly?

Trust your soccer coach?

Soccer has always been a microcosm of life, so I guess this story shouldn’t come as a surprise. Nonetheless, I was shocked. As if it isn’t disheartening enough to see coaches ranting and raving on the sidelines, we now have lunatics approved as coaches that are having improper sexual relationships with underage players. A recent story in the Arizona Daily Star:

The state youth soccer authority has banned two former Tucson soccer coaches after investigating allegations of sexual impropriety with underage female players.

A third coach also was accused and suspended, but the Arizona Youth Soccer Association hearing panel found insufficient evidence and allowed him to return to coaching.

No criminal charges have been filed against the banned coaches, Chris Fernandez and Chris Hospedales, though a police report was made. Fernandez, who now lives in California, denied the accusations and his lawyer said he will appeal the ban.

While this is certainly a maddening anomaly, we, as coaches and administrators, have to be aware of risk management issues to ensure we aren’t ever put in awkward positions. I began coaching competitive youth soccer directly out of college and I was acutely aware of my actions as a coach were under a microscope. I was more high strung that I am now as I’ve learned along the way to channel my efforts towards player development – and away from wins and losses. Despite some admitted yelling from the sidelines in my younger days (that I’ve since ceased), one area I made sure that never occurred was fraternizing with the players. I was the coach and they were the players. Period. Sure, we had fun and laughed and joked, but – whether it was my boys teams or my girls teams – I went out of my way to ensure nothing could ever be perceived as improper. This was especially true when we traveled to tournaments. This included:

• Asking other parents to stay with me when pickups were late
• Even in joy was there never a hug or an innocent “atta boy” pat on the rear. Keep it to high fives
• Multiple coaches at practice – or at least practice with multiple teams on the same field

As a coaching lesson, you should never be on the fields with players by yourself. Not only is this good coaching, it is good risk management. This is why it is important to recruit multiple assistant coaches, so you are never out there by yourself. Here is the USYS section on soccer coaching risk management practices.

• What do you do to minimize risk management with your players?

Concerned about a Coach in Your Club?

You can verify if a coach or administrator has been suspended from USYS. I was surprised that the list is fifty-four pages long.

Coaching Takeaways

An aspect of the article intrigued me. Obviously, people in the community and the parents are going to gossip and spread half-truths. The club is in the precarious position of having to investigate an accusation without creating a defamation of character lawsuit and balancing this situation against protecting the players and notifying the parents.

• What are the responsibilities of the club to inform parents?

• What are the right ways to go about it?