A coach may represent their club in many forums such as media interviews, presenting at coaching clinics and during games, and the coach’s contract (or code of conduct when a volunteer) will often require that the coach does not bring the club (or the sport) into “disrepute”.

As a representative of the club, that coach should not contradict decisions that the club has made and if the coach disagrees with any decisions they should raise that within the appropriate channels in the club. However, any public comments should support the decision that has been made. Particularly if a decision is seen to be contentious, media will often ask questions designed to have the coach disagree and therefore create a controversy. Such questions can be answered by reiterating that the club has made the decision.

Coaches need to understand that even if they purport to give a personal view, people will often still link it to the club. This is particularly relevant on social media platforms (such as Twitter or Facebook) and coaches should recognize that whatever they post will be read as being by them as a representative of the club.