The Home Team
Private Parent Coaching with Heather Cleaves
YOUR ATHLETE HAS A TEAM.YOU NEED ONE TOO.
Private coaching for parents navigating the human side of youth sports.
There are going to be moments in this season when you don't know whether to step in, stay quiet, ask another question, call the coach, trust your gut... or simply give your kid a little room.
You don't have to figure every one of them out alone.
Once a week, you and I sit down and talk through what's happening.
I listen first.
Then we'll slow it down together. We'll look at what you know, what you don't know yet, what the situation is bringing up in you, what your athlete may still be trying to communicate, and what one small shift could help you move forward with more clarity and connection.
What Is The Home Team?
The Home Team is the part of The Heather Experience built for the people waiting at home.
Because our athletes are going to walk into rooms we can't enter with them.
Practices. Locker rooms. Huddles. Hard conversations. Pressure. Disappointment. Growth.
We won't see everything that happens in there.
But eventually, some of it comes home.
The Home Team helps parents understand the world their athlete is navigating, pay attention to what the experience is bringing up in themselves, find language that keeps the relationship open, and build everyday ways of supporting the person beyond the performance.
You don't have to know exactly what to do every time.
You just have to stay close enough to keep learning them.
The book gives you something to carry.
Coaching gives you somewhere to bring what is actually happening.
THEY'RE LEARNING THE GAME.WE'RE LEARNING THEM.
There are going to be rooms your athlete walks into that you can't enter with them.
Practices. Locker rooms. Huddles. Corrections. Pressure. Wins. Losses. Moments that ask them to become stronger, tougher, more independent and more capable.
You won't see all of it.
But eventually, pieces of those experiences come home.
And when they do, our job isn't to already know exactly what they need.
Our job is to stay curious enough to keep learning them.
Because the kid who comes home in November may need something a little different than the kid who walked into the season in August.
The love hasn't changed.
Sometimes the way we give it has to.
Because when everything they're carrying finally comes home, I want home to know how to receive it.
That is what this coaching is here to help you practice.
Bring Me The Part You Don't Know What To Do With
- Playing time.
- Confidence.
- A difficult relationship with a coach.
- A child who suddenly wants to quit.
- An injury.
- A transfer decision.
- A kid who keeps telling you, “I’m good,” when something in you says there may be more.
- The car ride home that went sideways.
- The conversation you wish you could redo.
- The text you are trying very hard not to send.
- The moment you're asking: Am I supposed to step in here?
Bring me that.
You don't have to clean it up first.
We'll sort through it together.
How We'll Work Through It
The HOME Method
Every conversation is grounded in the same four letters.
H
How the environment works
What's actually happening in the gym, the locker room, the huddle. The expectations, roles, pressures, and dynamics that can shape a season.
O
Owning what is happening within us
What this moment is bringing up in you. Fear, protectiveness, comparison, control. Not to judge it. Just to notice it before it drives the next decision.
M
Meaningful language
Finding the words that actually open a conversation with your athlete, instead of closing one.
E
Everyday tools
Small, practical moves you can actually use this week. Not homework. Not a curriculum.
Parent Experience
Sometimes the first person we need to understand is ourselves.
Sports parents feel this season deeply, more deeply than we usually say out loud.
It can feel genuinely helpless to watch your kid struggle and not be able to fix it for them.
Protecting them can start to look a lot like reacting for them.
And it can be hard to tell the difference between “This is hard” and “Something is wrong.”
Or between “My kid needs me” and “I need to do something because I'm scared.”
I've lived that seat.
I've sent the text.
I've panicked from the bleachers.
I've wanted to protect my son from things he ultimately needed the opportunity to navigate himself.
And I've spent years listening from the other seats too.
Athletes. Parents. Coaches. Baselines. Benches. Locker rooms. Car rides home.
Get close enough to understand before you try to fix.
Decision Tool
What Does This Moment Need?
Act
Something genuinely requires adult involvement.
Ask
We do not have enough information yet.
Wait
The feeling is real, but the decision does not need to happen tonight.
Stay Close
The athlete may not need the parent to solve it. They may simply need the parent to remain available.
What You Leave With
- A clearer picture of what may actually be happening.
- A better understanding of what belongs to you and what belongs to your athlete.
- Language you can use in the next conversation.
- Perspective before you make the call, send the text, or make the big decision.
- One practical next step.
You don't have to solve the whole season in one call.
We're looking for the next degree.
The Offers
Private Session
60 minutes with Heather Cleaves
$149
Bring me the part you don't know what to do with. We'll slow it down, look at what's actually happening, separate what you know from what you may be assuming, notice what this moment is bringing up in you, and figure out what comes next.
Every session is guided by HOME, so this is structured coaching and support, not simply an open-ended conversation.
- Perspective on the situation
- Language you can actually use
- One clear next move
Season Support
$397/month
Four private 45-minute coaching conversations each month. This is for parents who want someone in their corner throughout the season.
There is no curriculum to keep up with. You bring what is actually happening that week. We'll work through the season you're actually living.
- Four private calls each month
- Weekly HOME coaching
- Personalized One Degree Move after each conversation
- Practical language for difficult moments
- Ongoing perspective throughout the season
- Digital copy of The Home Team
- Month-to-month enrollment
Season Support renews automatically each month until you cancel. Each billing cycle includes four 45-minute calls, and unused calls don't roll over to the next month.
Want to continue after your Private Session? Reach out before enrolling in Season Support and I'll apply your $149 payment toward your first month.
Coaching Scope
The Home Team private coaching is educational and relational coaching for parents navigating youth sports.
It is not psychotherapy, mental health treatment, diagnosis, medical advice or crisis care.
Heather will not pretend to know exactly what an athlete is thinking or feeling without hearing it from them.
The work stays grounded in what the parent knows, what still needs to be learned, and how to open better conversations.
When something belongs with a doctor, therapist, counselor, athletic trainer or another licensed professional, Heather will say so.
If you or your athlete are in immediate danger, or facing a mental health crisis, please contact 911 or the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. This coaching is not equipped for emergencies, and messages sent through this website are not monitored in real time.
A strong Home Team knows when another person belongs on the roster.