As an off-campus jumps coach I have little to no interaction with athletes who aren't jumping. But i have rules that I put into place early on with well established consequences (late to jumps practice means you are not jumping that day, absences that aren't communicated means you miss the next meet etc). The school's head coach was recently placed on leave because of an in-classroom incident leaving us, the assistants, to figure things out. We agreed that the only other on-campus coach should take the lead (approved by the AD), but we all agreed to shoulder the responsibilities. In the two weeks since our head coach was removed, the kids have become flakey about their attendance and at our last meet several HS kids did not show. When I inquired about consequences it turns out there weren't any rules / consequences that were being enforced.
So what can we do? Can I just expand my expectations for my jumps practices to the entire team? Are my consequences (late to practice, you don't practice, not communicating about a missed practice, you don't compete at the next meet) too harsh? What about missed meets, would a "any unexcused absence from a meet could result in removal from the team" be also too harsh? I am an older coach, so I tend to lean towards heavier consequences. Any thoughts would be appreciated.