Communication has been stressed by most of the posters here ... I just want to expand on that a little. While good communication with your players is obviously critical, I think it's equally important to be able to effectively communicate with the parents. The one thing I found most challenging when I coached was communication with the parents of females. And depending on what level your team is, that communication can be different. As we all know, many parents have their eyes on the almighty college scholarship and you have more challenges with that on the upper level teams. The one advantage (lever?) those coaches have though is that the parents sometimes realize that playing on that team for that coach are key to that goal, whether they like or agree with the coach. On other teams, the parents believe the grass is always greener somewhere else. And of course, most of us parents want to "protect" our kids (especially daughters I think) and believe they are more talented then they really are.
I think of myself as a very good communicator, but I'll be honest ... I never really figured out how to deal with that, and it's the only reason that I eventually stepped away from coaching. I'd really like to hear from some of you coaches out there who have figured it out, or at least have advice for new coaches.
I have found that parent communication starts with consistency and good planning. Good planning helps establish regular routines for the parents as well as players and being consistent in how you address situations helps stop the parent biases.
There is a slight difference in communication between travel softball and High School softball. In HS ball there will be times where you will need to relate information through a third party and CC additional people within the school that can get tricky.
In Travel ball regardless of team age the coach has to use good written and electronic communication for reoccurring events like practice days, time and locations, game schedules and locations as well as, other important team information like fees, fundraisers etc.
The coach also needs to give good verbal direction to parents throughout season activities and reinforce/remind parents to regularly check electronic communication and make sure they know and understand what you need them to do .
As a travel ball coach I would make sure all coaches gave direction to parents so they were aware of team activities and were given plenty of time to schedule and prepare for them that includes fees, fundraisers etc.. Having good electronic resources like file share, twitter,remind and stat software allows for fast communication and updates.
One BIG thing to keep in mind...Never communicate to just the player and or, expect the player to relay information to the parent. Even at the older ages juniors and seniors in high school they can and do misinterpret direction etc.
Remember; that the player is the center of the universe to the parent so sometimes mom and dad may be unable to recognize where their DD falls in talent or contributions to the team. Naturally there are those parents you will never be able to reach or be able to communicate enough with.
Overall, the coach selected all players and they must keep that in mind as they try to grow and develop the players.