Coaching kids is difficult. Coaching your own child is even harder. Here are some tips learned first-hand during my 30 years of coaching my own kids.

1. Go over expectations

At the beginning of each season, I remind my kids that I’ll always be their dad. But when I am coaching, they need to treat me just like they would any other coach. This includes not begging me to play a certain position, run a certain drill, or asking, “When are we going to scrimmage?” This is what I tell them: If you wouldn’t bug the other coaches who aren’t your dad about something, don’t bother me about it.

2.  Treat your child the same

It all starts with the name tag on the first day of practice. Even though you obviously know your child’s name, give him a name tag just like everyone else. Your child should get to lead stretches or serve as a captain just like everyone else. But not all the time. One of the greatest compliments I got from a parent is that it took them three practices to figure out which player was my child.

3.  Reinforce decisions

When you do make a decision that affects your child – not playing quarterback in a game or pulling them out of the game in a blowout – don’t assume they should understand just because they’re the coach’s kid. Explain the decision just like you would to any other player. They still might not like it, but at least they’ll know the reason.

4.  You are a parent first

There will be times when your parent instincts kick in … and they should. The most common instance is when your child gets injured. They will expect you to react as a parent first, and a coach second. And that’s the way it should be.  

5.  How to handle the car ride home

I go out of my way to not talk about practices or games on the car ride home. After all, it’s over. Even if I have things I want to reinforce, I try my best to let it go. The other players probably aren’t getting lectures in their cars, and my child shouldn’t, either.

Being a parent-coach can be one of the most rewarding, frustrating and enjoyable experiences all wrapped into one package. Hopefully these hints can help make it one of the best experiences you have in youth sports.

Jon Buzby has been involved in and writing about youth sports for the past 30 years, originally as a coach and board member with his now-adult son and most recently "just as a dad" with his 8- and 10-year-old sons. Jon is an award-winning writer and his latest book, “Coaching Kids Made Easier,” is available on Amazon. Send comments or future blog topics you'd like to see to JonBuzby@hotmail.com and follow him @YouthSportsBuzz on Twitter.