How to Lead Parents: What Youth Sports Can Learn From Schools

Lorin Thomas-Tavel has spent more than 20 years in education. She’s now CEO of BrainPOP, the animated learning brand a generation of kids grew up on. Before that, she ran a network of virtual schools serving about 125,000 kids across 41 schools in 31 states, after senior roles at Kaplan and Pearson.

She’s also a mom of three, and at NextUp 2026 she sat down with Suzy Kolber to share what she’s learned from being on the parent side of youth sports.

Two of her kids played sports. Her daughter simply loved to play and stayed active in two sports through high school. Her son wanted to play Division I baseball and needed more training, so the family searched for a club near their home in Westchester and ended up in Connecticut. That meant driving back and forth, sometimes daily, with two working parents and three kids. Lorin worked from the car with her laptop and a hotspot, fitting it into the nooks and crannies of her life.

In the end, neither child played in college, but Lorin believes the experience was still worth it. They learned how to win, how to lose, how to try harder, and how to take tough feedback from a coach. In education, those are called durable skills, like communication, creativity, curiosity, critical thinking, and adaptability. Employers and colleges look for them, and because they’re so deeply human, she doesn’t believe AI can replace them. Many of them, she says, are learned on the playing field.

1. Youth sports and schools share the same job

As a parent, an educator, and a CEO, Lorin sees a lot in common between youth sports and education. Both exist to help kids grow into better people, whether that means learning to play catcher or mastering schoolwork. Both serve the same parents, deal with the same equity and funding issues, and are seeing more private money come in, which can sometimes pull focus from what matters.

She pointed to three ideas that carry over directly:

• You’re in the development business. Growth doesn’t happen in one semester or one season. Schools plan for the long term, and clubs should too, since you want kids coming back year after year.
• Your product is the person in front of the kid. In school, that’s the teacher. In sports, it’s the coach. Investing in them is investing in the experience.
• The kid is what everyone has in common. Parents, coaches, and staff all care about the player, so center every conversation there.

What to do:

• Plan your programs across multiple seasons, not just one.
• Treat coaches as your most important product, and invest in them.
• Frame parent conversations around what’s best for the player.

2. Set expectations up front

Asked what great educators do to manage parents, Lorin started with expectation setting. Think about back-to-school night. Almost every parent has been to one. It’s the first chance for families to learn what the school is about and for teachers to explain what’s expected of parents.

Youth sports can do the same thing, and many clubs already do. Lorin’s advice is to be clear from the start and let parents opt in or opt out based on what you’ve told them. It’s far easier to set expectations at the beginning than to deal with a surprise halfway through the season.

What to do:

• Host a preseason meeting, in person or virtual, for every team.
• Explain what you expect from players and parents, and what they can expect from you.
• Put those expectations in writing, and have families agree to them at registration.

3. Build a skill pathway and make progress visible

In education, everything is built on a curriculum with a clear scope and sequence. Each year, teachers know what they’re expected to teach, and families know what their child should be learning. Lorin thinks clubs, or even whole leagues, could build something similar.

When Suzy asked if club sports could really be that structured, Lorin said she didn’t see why not. Schools have spent years refining their systems, so it takes time. But what her son learned in baseball at 10 was very different from what he learned at 16. That progression could be mapped out clearly.

A pathway also makes it easier to show parents real progress. Lorin suggests sharing more than scores and playing time. Show families how their child’s skills are growing over time.

What to do:

• Map out the key skills players should learn at each age or level.
• Share that pathway with families so they know what’s coming next.
• Give parents regular progress updates that go beyond stats and minutes.

4. Communicate early, often, and on a rhythm

Lorin loved the 24-hour rule she heard on the previous panel. Her reasoning: there’s no such thing as a communication vacuum. If you wait too long, someone else will fill the silence with their own story. In education, she always wants to be the one telling the story.

That means reaching out before there’s a problem, not just after. It also means finding a steady rhythm. Teachers do this well with regular parent emails and conferences, and Lorin says that predictable rhythm is what builds trust.

What to do:

• Respond to concerns within 24 hours, even if it’s just to say you’re looking into it.
• Set a regular communication schedule, like a weekly update, and stick to it.
• Share news, good or bad, before families hear it somewhere else.

5. Give parents a job and build community

Schools are good at getting parents involved. They have PTAs, volunteer roles, and plenty of ways for families to help out. Lorin said that as a club parent, she would have loved for someone to give her a job. She would have gladly done it, and she would have recruited other parents too.

Schools also build community. Parents get to know each other, kids form friendships, and everyone feels like they belong. Lorin believes the best clubs and teams do the same, creating a place where parents enjoy spending time together as much as the kids do.

What to do:

• Create clear volunteer roles for parents, like team manager, event lead, or fundraising lead.
• Ask parents directly to help instead of waiting for them to offer.
• Plan a few social events each season where families can get to know each other.

6. Strengthen your coaches

Lorin’s son had some great coaches. He also had some she described as tired. In her view, a great coach can change a kid’s path in life, just like a great teacher. A tired coach, like a tired teacher, can push a child somewhere unhealthy.

That’s why she’d like to see youth sports build a clear path for coaches, too. Teachers need training to get hired, then earn certifications, renew them regularly, and keep learning through professional development. Many schools also have instructional coaches who help teachers improve. Loirn sees no reason youth sports couldn’t do the same.

She also shared the club experience that stood out most for her family. Her son, Jackson, played for several clubs, but one did something the others didn’t. Coaches came over to talk with Lorin directly and told her the two or three things Jackson needed to work on. Because Jackson spent far more time with her than with his coach, she could help reinforce those lessons at home. That simple step set the club apart.

What to do:

• Create a coach development path with training, certifications, and regular refreshers.
• Pair newer coaches with experienced mentors.
• Ask coaches to share two or three focus areas for each player with their parents.

7. Keep it fun for the whole family

BrainPOP is built on animated characters, and Lorin believes deeply in fun. If kids don’t love what they’re doing, they won’t stay engaged, they won’t feel good about sports, and they won’t come back next year.

Parents need fun, too. Lorin loved seeing the other parents at games, and she admitted she teared up at the end of her kids’ sports years, knowing she might not see those families again. It wasn’t always easy, she said, but it was a real bonding experience. As Suzy put it, a great team becomes a community that feels like family.

Now back to you. Here’s what you can try this season

• Host a preseason “back-to-school night” for each team
• Write down expectations for families, and have them agree at registration
• Map the key skills players should learn at each level
• Send progress updates that go beyond stats and playing time
• Set a regular communication rhythm, and respond within 24 hours
• Create volunteer jobs for parents, and ask them directly
• Plan social events for families
• Build a development path for coaches
• Have coaches share focus areas for each player with parents