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The Value Of Protocol And Planning For Leaders Dealing With Upset Parents

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Paul Snow is one of the Athletic Directors at Menlo-Atherton High School (@bearsathletics_) in Atherton, CA. Prior to arriving at Menlo-Atherton in 2005, Snow coached both the varsity boys and girls soccer squads, and served as the Athletic Director at Thurgood Marshall Academic High School in San Francisco. Snow also teaches history at M-A and served as the head girls' varsity soccer coach. In 2017, Snow and Co-AD Steve Kryger were named the Northern California Girls and Boys Athletic Directors of the Year by the California Coaches Association (CCA).

Snow emphasizes that a parent approaching an Athletic Director about an issue should be one of the last steps taken. First, a player should approach the coach about any problem that has come up. He says that it is rare that any more steps are needed. If that is unsuccessful, then a parent may set up a meeting with a coach to discuss the issue at hand. If there is still no solution, that is when an Athletic Director may have to step in and mediate between the players, coaches, and parents.