The KNKV recommends a kick-off meeting per team
The KNKV advises clubs to start the season with a kick-off meeting per team. There, players, parents and coaches get to know each other and jointly set out expectations and agreements.
Automatically translated from Dutch. Read the Dutch original.
The federation lists a number of topics for such a meeting: the team's goals and what players, coaches and parents expect, and how the team handles playing time, substitution policy and the style of coaching. Also the practical tasks, such as transport, refereeing, team duties and washing the team kit, and agreements about photos and videos.
Social safety is part of it too: the club's codes of conduct, and that bullying and discrimination are not accepted. And communication: how players report their absence, through which channel information is shared and how the team deals with social media and the team app.
For questions and concerns, the KNKV recommends a fixed route: first with the person involved, then with the coach or team manager, and after that with the technical committee or the board. In cases of possible inappropriate behaviour, someone can go straight to the club's confidential contact person.
With youth teams, the KNKV wants to protect the coaches. Parents with questions about policy or playing minutes preferably go to an adult team manager, the technical committee or another agreed point of contact, and not directly to the youth coach. Adult players start the conversation with their coach or the technical committee themselves. The KNKV also recommends agreeing on when such a conversation takes place. As an example, the federation mentions that questions are not discussed directly before or after a training session or match, but at a quiet moment.