Missouri recently passed a law prohibiting teachers from friending their students or communicating with them in a private manner: text, email or social media platforms. While the teachers union is appealing the law, it brought to light a question for soccer coaches, “What is an appropriate relationship to have with your players?” and “How do you avoid the appearance of impropriety?”
From Forbes:
Under the new law, teacher-student contact is allowed on sites visible to parents, administrators or the public, such as open Facebook fan pages. Teachers and students can also e-mail and text, just as long as they copy another person on the message, said Missouri State Sen. Jane Cunningham, one of the bill’s co-sponsors.
Unfortunately, in the world we live in today because of coaches having improper relationships, coaches must be uber-aware of their actions and how it may be perceived. Even the most innocent actions – like picking up a player for practice – can raise an eyebrow these days. And, parents and club administrators must properly vet prospective coaches to ensure players are in safe environments. The US Youth Soccer Association has a nice page of resources for Risk Management.
What do you think, has Missouri gone too far or is this an excellent protection of students from a potentially negative situation?
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2 Comments of “Are you Facebook Friends with Your Players?”
Comment by Jodi Murphy
September 14, 2011
It’s hard because you don’t just have to worry about what your parents think, but what parents on the other teams might think. A coach might have a Facebook account so he can get in touch will all the players quickly and easily, no harm intended. But if one parent anywhere raises a red flag the coach can get in a lot of trouble.
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Comment by STSYA Referee
September 16, 2011
Here in TX, as I am sure that many other states do, all coaches and referees are given a background check. If anything pops up that is related to pedofilia or abuse the coach or referee is disqualified and they do no receive thier KidSafe Pass or their referee card from USSF/STYSA. I don’t see the problem in keeping them on Facebook or anything else. In this day in age texting and social sites are the best and almost only way to contact people. My nephew attends a high school, Denton Guyer High School, where the coaches have all athletes and parents in a computer database to where they can send out a mass text or a single text to anyone for information of any sorts. The students are allowed to carry their phones in school. I think maybe MO has gone a bit too far. They are just too paranoid. I have to wonder though, is this just male coach to female players as the article leads or all players and coaches relationships? And honestly, there are generally team moms (dads, parents) that handle the player interaction. The coaches pass the duties to them. As a referee I am 9 times out of 10 referred to team mom to sign the game card. The coaches know the players names and that is it. The trainers usually handle more than one team so they really have many players to keep up with; again having a team mom. Just a thought. Have a good day.
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