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Playing time is still the fight
Three out of four high school coaches say they worry about problem parents, and playing time has topped the list of reasons for years. Most playing-time fights are really information fights. Here is how to have fewer of them.
By ProgramSlate3 min read
In Coach & Athletic Director's 2026 coaches survey, 75% of coaches said they were at least moderately concerned about problematic parents. It moved up a spot from the year before.
The cause has not changed in a long time. In the magazine's 2018 report, nearly 63% of coaches said playing time is the greatest cause of parents' anger. The 2019 report said the same thing in different words: playing time is the top reason parents confront coaches.
You will not make playing time stop mattering. Your athlete's minutes matter to you too. But most playing-time fights are not about the decision. They are about not knowing how it was made.
Say how decisions are made, before the first game
Write down your approach and share it at the start of the season. It does not need to be long.
- How the depth chart is set, and how often it changes.
- What practice attendance means for game time.
- Whether younger levels get equal time, and when that stops.
- How a family should raise a concern, and when not to (right after a game is the usual answer).
The 24-hour rule exists for a reason. A conversation the next day goes better than one in the parking lot.
Write the decision down
The single best thing a coach can do is make sure the decision exists somewhere other than their head.
In ProgramSlate, the depth chart and the varsity and JV lineups live on the roster. Your assistants see the same version you do. When someone asks why an athlete is where they are, the answer starts from a written decision your whole staff already agreed on, not from memory.
Depth charts are for your staff and your athletic director, not for families. That is on purpose. A depth chart is a working decision, and publishing it to every family turns every move into a public event.
Share the right numbers with families
What families do see in ProgramSlate is whole-team information: the schedule, results and team stats. They never see another family's athlete details, and the roster they see is first name and last initial only.
That sounds like a small thing. It is not. A lot of sideline arguments start with one parent comparing their athlete to another family's, by name, with numbers. Not handing out that comparison is part of keeping the temperature down.
When the conversation happens anyway
Have it in person, with another coach present for anything serious. Talk about what the athlete can do to earn more time, not about other athletes. Then write down what you agreed.
The goal is not to win the conversation. It is to have it once.
See how rosters, depth charts and families work in ProgramSlate.
