4 Ways Video Helps Connect Parents with Your Club

The success of a club depends on the ability of several groups coming together and meshing. The coaches must be aligned in their vision and capable of effectively communicating with their players. The athletes then play out that vision on the court, pitch or field. Behind the scenes is the club director, who ensures everything is running smoothly.

But there’s one important group that often gets overlooked—the parents. They may not be the most visible part of the club, but they're influencers who are vitally important to its prosperity.

For a club to function successfully, parents should understand how and why the director and coaches make their decisions. This is where video comes in. Video helps back up coaching moves, advance their children’s careers and celebrate their accomplishments. Here are the top four reasons video is a great way to engage parents within a club.

Justify Coaching Decisions

All parents want to see their son or daughter play a lot and have a significant role on the team. Given the limited number of minutes in a game, this obviously isn’t possible for every athlete. Some are going to see the field or court less than others, and that’s going to disappoint their guardians.

Video helps explain why certain athletes are playing more than others. Parents will always quibble about playing time, but actually seeing their child’s actions can give some credence to your reasoning on their playing time.

“It’s so easy for a coach to say to a parent that your son or daughter didn’t do well today or for them to say to the coach how come we’re not winning,” Neil Hope, a coach in the Omaha Football Club (Neb.), said. “You’ve now got a package that you can sit down with your son or daughter and talk about the game.”

Develop Players

The goal of every parent is to see their child improve and get an opportunity to play at the next level, and video plays a massive role in moving them forward. Modern athletes tend to be visual learners, and video allows them to actually watch their performances and what they need to work on instead of having someone tell them.

Instead of just mentioning that a player is out of position on a cross, video shows them where they are versus where they need to be. A post player can actually see how his positioning and effort gives him an advantage on the block.

Coaches can easily share playlists with players to watch on their own time, adding comments and drawings to make their points more clear. It puts the responsibility on the players to improve.

Celebrate Success

Who doesn’t love to see their accomplishments recognized? Creating videos that highlight your athletes will pump them up and bring more attention to your club.

Most importantly, effective highlight videos catch the eye of recruiters. College coaches are too busy to watch full games of every prospect. But if an athlete can flash their skills quickly and effectively in a highlight video, they'll get coaches’ attention.

“I want to do this to get these kids into college and get their college paid for,” Cedric Dashiell, a coach for the Basketball Factory (Calif.), said. “The only way schools are ever going to know about you is your film, period. I talk to the parents about how important it is, that if we’re not doing this, their kid may not have a shot to play. We have to get that film to the coaches all over the country. Because the parents know that, they’ll make whatever sacrifices to get that film.”

Inspire Accountability

It’s easy for athletes to reject criticism and embrace their theory about what happens during games. But when a coach has physical evidence of the action, there is no hiding behind excuses.

"The boys have an ability to do something and swear to you that they didn’t,” Dashiell said. “But with the film, I can say, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll check the tape.’ And every time, I’m right. The parents love it, because it provides accountability.”

This constructive criticism not only helps athletes see what’s going wrong and improve, but it also opens their minds and forces them to accept reality rather than search for justifications.

Video is an incredibly effective tool to have when interacting with parents. Allow Hudl to help you maximize video and connect with your athletes’ parents.