About ParentCoachGuide
Practical guides on how youth sports programs actually work, written from the sideline and the board table.
What this is
ParentCoachGuide is a resource for parents of young athletes, covering the parts of youth sports that nobody explains: how meets and tournaments actually run, what eligibility rules mean, how programs are governed, what fees cover, what coaches are looking for, and what a parent's role is in a child's development.
Most youth sports content is written for coaches. This is written for the person in the stands who has a registration form in front of them, a coach who said to work on fundamentals at home, and no idea what either one actually requires.
Who writes it
Two decades in youth sports, on the sideline and on the board.
Coaching. Track and field, basketball, lacrosse, and flag football. Five sports counting swimming, where the work has been administrative rather than on the deck.
Program administration. Director and board member of a swim club. Meet director for a multi-team city championship meet. Former president of a youth lacrosse club.
Playing background. College football.
That combination is the reason this site covers what it covers. Coaching tells you what a practice should look like and what evaluators are actually scoring. Running a club and directing a meet tells you what a registration fee pays for, why a sanctioning question matters, how eligibility disputes actually get resolved, and what happens on the other side of a complaint. Most parents never see the second half, and most of the confusion in youth sports lives there.
What this site will not do
Diagnose or treat injuries. Injury, concussion, and return-to-play questions belong with a qualified medical professional. Articles here do not address them, and where a topic edges toward a medical claim, it says so and stops.
Give nutrition, weight, or supplement guidance. Same reason.
Prescribe strength programs for children. Same reason.
Replace your coach. The guidance here is consistently to reinforce what your child's coach is teaching rather than to compete with it. Where this site and your coach disagree, your coach knows your child.
Pretend rules are universal when they are not. Youth sports rules vary by league, region, and governing body, and a great deal of what is online states local practice as if it were national. Where a rule genuinely varies, articles here say so and tell you who to ask rather than guessing on your behalf.
On sourcing
Where an article states a rule, standard, or requirement, it comes from the governing body that publishes it, and the article says which one. Where a fact could not be confirmed, the article says that too, rather than filling the gap with something plausible.
Governing body rules change. Several of the standards cited across this site have been revised in the last few years, and some sources still circulating online are out of date. Verify anything you are relying on for a real decision.
Affiliate disclosure
Some articles contain affiliate links, and ParentCoachGuide may earn a commission on purchases made through them at no additional cost to you. Articles carrying affiliate links say so at the top.
Recommendations are not sold. No manufacturer, club, league, or training company pays for placement or coverage here, and the equipment guidance is consistently to buy less than you are being sold.
A note on conflicts
Youth sports is a small world and the author holds volunteer positions in it. Where an article touches on a program, league, or organization the author is involved with, that involvement is disclosed in the article. Nothing here is written to advantage a program the author is part of.
Bylines
Guides on this site carry one of two kinds of byline. Guides signed Coach Martin are written from direct experience coaching, running a club or directing a meet. Guides signed by a desk, such as the PCG Swim Desk or the PCG Basketball Desk, are written by the ParentCoachGuide editorial team for that sport. Every guide, whatever the byline, is reviewed by Coach Martin before it is published.
Contact
Questions, corrections and suggestions are welcome. See the contact page.