Getting the Word Out

When it comes to effectively communicating with student-athletes and parents, coaches and wrestling teams/clubs have more options than ever. Between email, texts, social media, and downloadable apps, it's easier than ever to send out schedules, messages, results, and any other information that is important to your wrestling program.

But because there is no one-size-fits-all tool or resource, at times, all these message platforms can end up confusing people. Some coaches still prefer the old-fashioned phone call and group email. But no matter what resource is used, the important thing, is to never let technology replace the broader point of your messaging, says Steve Costanzo, head coach of the reigning NCAA Division II national champion St. Cloud State University wresting team.

Set Expectations

"I am kind of old school when it comes to this technology stuff, I just communicate to my student-athletes what they can expect from me," Costanzo explains. "While I have no unique style of communication, it remains the art of all successful businesses and organizations.”

Each year before the season begins, Costanzo issues student-athletes a 12-month master calendar that outlines season’s events and training plans. From there, Costanzo and coaches use a big master dry erase board with the months, events, and times. He also sends out a weekly itinerary, and a day-to-day plan to the team.

"As coaches, our schedules are always changing, so it is very difficult to only plan on one itinerary or reach out via one communication technique," he says. "I think it is very important for our student-athletes to be ready and be adaptable for change. In the real world, schedules can change by the minute or second, therefore it is important that we train them this way."

Find the Platform that Works For Your Audience

Social media programs like Twitter and Facebook are the most popular for sharing information with a mass audience of wrestling fans. But there are more narrowly focused resources now available to communicate information to athletes and parents. The Golden Eagle Wrestling Club in Highlands Ranch, Colorado uses Sports Illustrated Play as well as Google Groups.Play offers registration, communication, and scheduling tools, as well as the ability to add teams and rosters, and even team gear and fundraising stores. Google Groups allows users to host group discussions and easily make plans across a team.

The Franklin High School wrestling team in Reisterstown, Maryland prefers Twitter and Hudl. Hudl is known for its video platform capabilities, but it can also be used as a teaching/training tool and wrestlers can communicate with coaches with it on match strategy, such as during an all-day tournament. Hudl also provides sharing features, so you can quickly push out a match video with a family member not able to attend an event.

The National Alliance of Youth Sports has a page dedicated to the latest tools and apps for youth sports coaches. They range from group texting apps (GroupMe), Clipboard Aps (Coaches Clipboard) to maps (aMap.to) and certificate making programs (Certificate Street, Creative Certificates). The Positive Coaching Alliance also has a variety of partners that provide communication resources for teams, coaches, and parents.

For Kevin Black, head coach at River Falls High School in Wisconsin, remind.com is his preferred communication tool.

"I like that it has all of the contacts in one place so I can send something quickly to everyone without having to look up a list or put in individual contacts," Black explains. "It also lets me know who reads the messages and who is and is not receiving them."

Like many of the tools and apps available, remind.com is free. Messages sent through it limit characters, though, so they need to be short and to the point because they pop up on the phone of the person or people on the receiving end. "Most of our athletes won't read a long email or message and a handful of parents don't either," Black notes.

Don’t Overlook Team Management Communications

Glen Mulcahy, CEO/Founder of PARADIGM Sports, is a proponent of Teamsnap app software, which works to take the hassle out of managing, coaching, or organizing team sports and groups. This fits with his company’s goal of helping parents, coaches, and sports administrators understand and address the issues of youth sports. He uses Teamsnapfor scheduling, contact management, roster management, stats, photo sharing and more, and he notes it can be used on PC or Mac computers as well as via mobile app.

"Coaches, players and parents can follow schedules and can be updated in real time for any practice or game rescheduling, or when in a tournament, they can use the app to find out when their game or matches are after round-robin play," Mulcahy explains.

"Sports teams have many challenges," says Srinivas Siddireddy, founder and CEO of Thapos, another sports team management tool/app. "Our product strives to organize the information and present it in an intelligent easy way to understand. Parents, athletes, coaches, and fans will be happy to have up-to-the-minute information. No more wondering when and where the event is. No more wondering how the team did.” 

Be Diligent About Upholding Codes of Conduct—For Both Players and Coaches

No matter what web sites, tools, apps or communication methods are used, it’s also crucial for coaches, parents, and team leaders to put policies in place to prevent cyber bullying. In Canadian youth hockey, smart phones are not allowed in the locker room, and two parents must be in the locker room with kids at all times. "There is always the possibility kids can use their smartphones to upload pictures or even videos to YouTube, Facebook Live, Snapchat, or via texts that may be forms of harassment," Mulcahy notes.

Also, standards of appropriate conduct via a program’s communication system apply to everyone, even coaches and administrators. They should never use public message platforms to scold or berate athletes or to vent to parents. In addition, it’s important to be respectful of others’ schedules; don't send late-night messages that may interrupt a student-athlete’s sleep or schoolwork or be missed by a busy parent. Likewise, coaches must be mindful of what they post their own personal social media pages. Several coaches have lost jobs because of posts online that were judges as inappropriate or interpreted as harassment.

"The key is for coaches to outline what is acceptable in terms of their codes of conduct and team values in parent and team meetings to ensure that any social media used for team communication is monitored, so nothing can be taken out of context," Mulcahy says. These modern communication tools can be great additions and resources and improve communication. If they are used appropriately, he adds, these communication tools can ease the administrative burdens of running a program, and leave more time for focusing on actual wrestling.