Commitment, What Do Coaches Want From an Athlete and Their Family?

 Over my years of coaching thousands of athletes there the one thing that constantly holds teams back is  attendance.  Coaches can't teach absent players so inevitably there will be a lack of progress on and off the court.  Most coaches especially at the youth level measure their success in team and individual progress and attendance affect the outcomes of a season directly.  
I do realize that a student/athlete can have a tonne of stuff on their plate and this is a good thing as long as it is managed well.  Parents play a vital roll in establishing management strategies for the student athletes time and should help them follow through on all their commitments.  Management means not over committing. 
  Parents play a huge part in how much activities the athlete is enrolled in and if their is a primary activity they are usually good to let the coach know well in advance of other commitments.  It is usually the parent holding the power(and the keys to the car) that decide to skip practice because they are tired or don't feel like driving or there is a family function.  Imagine if your coach took this approach?
 Teams need to be together to get better together and it crazy to expect improvement when attendance is an issue.  Get to your practices people!  Your team needs you!