Coaches - What to do now

If you are a coach involved in team selection you should not show any favouritism or bias and consistently follow your club’s selection criteria and processes. As a selector it is your responsibility to communicate your club/association’s selection criteria and processes to all team members and to apply them appropriately.

If you are involved in team selection and a player/athlete is unhappy about a decision:

• Schedule a time to sit down with the player (and parent(s) to discuss the matter.
  • Avoid an emotional public confrontation.  This might mean saying “I can’t discuss this with you now, but let’s sit down tomorrow afternoon and discuss it then”.  This gives the athlete (and parent) time to calm down.
  • Make sure you follow up with the discussion (i.e. don’t just fob them off to get out of an awkward situation!).
• Acknowledge that the athlete is disappointed and upset and discuss a way forward.
• Refer to the selection criteria and point out where the athlete didn’t qualify.
  • Focus the discussion on areas where the athlete needs to improve and explain how they can do so. 
  • Look to the future and explain how they can improve their chances of selection next time.
  • Point out the athlete’s strengths and identify the skills/qualities selectors regard favourably.
• Provide support if the player needs to move to another club to pursue an elite pathway (or just to continue playing the sport).
• Consider asking other selectors to review your decision if you were the sole selector. This removes any personal bias involved in your decision or in the player’s perception of the decision, and deals with personality conflicts that can be at the heart of selection disputes.
• Understand that an athlete may complain to the management committee or to an external authority (e.g., if they feel the selection decision is discriminatory). If there is a review of the decision co-operate in any appeals process and do not treat the athlete unfavourably (e.g., isolate or victimise them).