It's the "gray area" that always causes the problems and while I like to follow the rules I believe there needs to be a way to handle gray area situations as long as both parties are willing to work together. I see it so often, especially in the select sports (fastpitch is one). Families have both parents working, split parents, grandparents raising kids, foster children, single parents, and the poor kid that practically is raising herself and possibly her siblings. I'm sure I missed a few. I feel for these kids. They want to be accepted and be a productive part of the team yet nobody has time to get them to/from their practices and games.
As coaches, we cannot raise the kids or tell parents how to do it. How we feel really doesn't matter unless we have proof of physical abuse. Many schools have rules against coaches transporting the kids for any reason. This takes away an option that some summer coaches would have. Parents may have rules stating their children are not to ride with anyone else. Might sound stupid to us but again, it's not our place to tell them how to raise their kids. Some kids still are not allowed to use or have phones. Some kids are instructed not to call their parents at work unless it's an emergency. To them, after school practice is not an emergency. All of these scenerios and many more create the gray area that really needs to be considered.
If a coach is on their game and hears of a player is late because of ride issues, waste no time getting a contingency plan together with the player so everyone can work thru the situation gracefully. I never want a kid to miss out because the parents don't have the same priorities. Let's find a way to communicate and start by getting the AD on board ASAP so if outsiders without all the information start to complain about what they deem special treatment somebody can handle things in a timely manner.
Every handbook should have a special circumstances clause to allow some common sense decisions on matters like this.
Start with the player, relay info to the AD, plan a course of action, then proceed with caution. Many parents may not be aware there's an issue because the player isn't telling them everything. Many coaches may find out the player is suddenly late because of house rules broken and parents rules overpower any team or school rules. Contacting the parents directly may be an enlightening experience. Again, tread lightly till you have all the info.
