Free checklist for directors of coaching

The coach retention checklist for directors of coaching

By Scott Mackley, founder of playerborn · Updated Oct 13, 2026

Nine things clubs do to keep good coaches season after season, each with the actions to run it. Read it here or download the PDF.

Download the PDFPDF, free, no email needed

The nine areas

1Back them when parents turn hostile

Enforce your code of conduct on the coach's behalf, so handling hostile parents is your job as director, not theirs.
Give coaches a clear escalation path: when a parent crosses the line, they hand it to you, and you handle it the same way every time.
Back the coach in public when they are in the right, even when it is uncomfortable. Coaches who feel unsupported leave.
Tell parents up front that the coach coaches and the club handles complaints through one defined channel.

Make it easy and fast for coaches to tell families how their kid is doing, so the relationship is built on development, not just game-day results.
Encourage a short, real touchpoint with each family across a season. A quick note on progress beats silence that parents fill with worry.
Give coaches a simple way to share wins and next steps, so building the relationship does not become another late-night chore.

Audit everything you ask coaches to do off the field, registration, scheduling, collecting money, and pull what you can back to the club.
Choose tools that are simple and save them time. A tool a coach does not understand, or that adds steps, will not get used and will breed resentment.
Do not pile on apps. One or two that work beats five that each do a little.

Benchmark your pay for the level and pay competitively.
Create paid opportunities inside the club so a coach can earn more without leaving: privates, small-group sessions, clinics, camps, and lead-coach roles.
Be clear about how a coach can take on more responsibility, and more pay, over time.

Pay on a set schedule and hit it, so a coach never has to chase what they are owed. Chasing a paycheck is one of the fastest ways to lose one.
Give as much notice as you can on schedule changes, and when something moves at the last minute, tell every coach affected right away, not whenever someone gets to it.
Keep communication clear and real-time: schedules, field and time changes, cancellations, and rosters live in one place coaches trust, not scattered across texts and email.
Treat the coach as someone your operations exist to serve, the same way they serve your families and players.

Thank coaches by name and in public, at events, in newsletters, and to the families, for what they did.
Collect the good feedback and pass it along. Coaches rarely hear what went right, so make sure they do.
Mark milestones and close each season with real appreciation, not just a logistics email.

Pay for and protect time for coach development (Positive Coaching Alliance and TrueSport both offer short online courses), and treat it as investment, not overhead.
Pair newer coaches with a mentor on staff so they are not figuring it out alone.
Map what advancement looks like inside your club, assistant to head, age-group lead, director of coaching, so coaches see a future with you.

Define each coach's role and hours in writing, and resist letting the job creep wider.
Give coaches real breaks between seasons, and cover for them when life happens.
Watch your best coaches for overload. The ones who say yes to everything are the ones you lose to burnout.

Bring coaches together off the field: a preseason staff meal, a group chat, standards they helped shape.
Involve coaches in decisions that affect them rather than handing down rules.
Build a staff identity coaches are proud to represent, so the club is bigger than any one season.

Download the PDFPDF, free, no email needed