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Managers Manual The purpose of this manual is to provide backup documentation, resources and a step by step guide to assist new and returning managers in handling their team throughout the season. First Things First • Prepare a roster complete with parent names, contact (cell if possible) numbers and email addresses (see Forms section or download excel spreadsheet from website) • Check out available tournaments for your team – Write a list of dates, locations and costs to present as options. (see Tournaments section) • Set up TeamSnap – TeamSnap is an invaluable tool for organizing your team during the season. Once set up it will automatically notify players/parents of upcoming practices/games. Players can then instantly click a box that will notify you of their availability. This comes in very handy for games, so you know how many players you have showing up or if you need to call in more players from a lower tier. It is also a great system for communication. Any messages you want to put out to the team can be done easily. The cost of TeamSnap is minimal and should be covered by the team fund. (see TeamSnap Tips section) • Set a date for your first team parent meeting – Usually good to do this after or during one of the first few practices. Parents and coaches only. Players can work on some drills or do some team bonding while you are talking with parents. Stress the importance of being there to all parents and coaches. Call it a mandatory parent meeting. • Write an agenda – It’s very helpful to keep your meeting on track and to make sure you don’t miss anything Tournaments • A tournament schedule will be provided by BCLA (it can be found on BCLA’s website https://bcla.centraldesktop.com/bcla/doc/1935882/w-­‐Boxtournamentsbc ) • Provide a list of tournament options for the parents and coaches to decide upon. Find out the head coach’s preference (top 3) first and keep in mind that for peewee and above divisions there are provincial playoff tournaments in July that may be out of town. • Email list of potential tournaments to parents and ask them to be prepared to discuss and choose at the team meeting. • Teams are responsible for funding their own tournament entry fees, travel costs, etc. so make sure to build these into your team fee plan. • Tournaments can nook up very quickly, so be sure to apply/book online as soon as possible for all the ones you think your team may be interested in. • Once you or your tournament coordinator have booked online, those associations typically contact you with a request for entry fee payment to secure your spot. • Once you have confirmed your tournaments, contact Clare Ellison (Scheduler) ASAP with the dates, so she is aware that you may need floor time to reschedule league games that may be missed while at a tournament Team Funds • Throughout the season the team will encounter costs that parents are responsible for paying. These can either be paid by a nominal fee per player, fundraising or a combination of both. • Some of the costs you can expect for the team are: o TeamSnap monthly cost (roughly $8 USD/month, for 3-­‐4 months) o Tournament Fees o Officiating Fees for exhibition games (if applicable) o Floor time fees if additional indoor practices above and beyond your schedule if the team decides to have more. o Provincial playoff fees o Team wear (matching shirts, jackets, etc. – ALA deals directly with Able Cresting for all Warrior team wear) o Season wrap-­‐up party/coaches gifts • Your fundraising coordinator would be in charge of organizing fundraising events • Some fundraising options might include: o Bottle drives o Pub night o Goal Pig o Chocolate/Krispy Kreme sales • It is recommended to collect team fees per player up front to cover the essential costs such as tournament fees, TeamSnap, provincial playoff fees (if applicable). Then if the team chooses to fundraise, that money can go towards extras such as team wear or social events. In otherwise words don’t rely on fundraising to cover necessary costs. • Tournament fees are required very early in the season so make colleting the team fees a priority. Team Information • Once you have your updated roster list (from the Team Meeting) from your parents and your jersey numbers are assigned please send the list to the ALA Registrar (see Contacts section) • Include on the roster a list of the team officials (head coach, assistant coaches, manager) • This is very important information that will be forwarded by the registrar to the BCLA to register your team. If there are any disputes during the season or in provincials regarding which players are assigned to your team, this is the information they will have on their record. Team Meeting • Running a team parent meeting is essential for the smooth operation of your team’s season. • When you send out the time for the team meeting, declare that it is a mandatory meeting that at least one parent per player must attend. • The main purpose of this meeting is to fill all volunteer positions for the team o Treasurer ! Collects all team fees ! Keeps track of team funds (see excel spreadsheet on website) ! Recommend that this person provide a statement of money collected and fees paid mid-­‐
season and end of season. This can be emailed out through TeamSnap o Fundraising Coordinator(s) ! Organizes all fundraising opportunities o Tournament Coordinator ! Applies/books tournaments online if not already done by manager Gets cheque from treasurer and mail in with roster and t-­‐shirt sizes (if requested) to confirm booking with the tournament host ! Book a block of hotel rooms at a team rate for out of town tournaments ! Email team through TeamSnap with hotel information and deadline date for parents to book their room at the team rate o Game Day Coordinator ! Responsible for filling out score sheet with team roster and coach information ! Hands out score sheet to visiting team manager for home games and for away games be available at the arena to receive score sheet from the opposing team manager ! Ensures that the parents assigned to time and score duties are there and know how to fill out the score sheet properly ! For games that your team wins, the game day coordinator is responsible to take a photo or scan of score sheet and email it to the division commissioner within 24 hrs. They must then mail the white copy to them (manager will provide game day coordinator with the address and email required) o Social Coordinator ! Organizes year end wrap up and any other get together social events throughout the season ! Recommend a pot-­‐luck activity at the beginning of the season for families to get to know each other and for the players to meet outside of the arena. This is often coordinated with a bottle drive or other fundraiser event. o Jersey Parent ! Responsible for collecting, washing and bringing jerseys for each game o Hydration Coordinator (if the coach wants team water bottles) ! Responsible for collecting, washing and bringing team water bottles to each game o Emergency Coordinator ! Keeps a copy of medical forms and brings to each practice and game ! Has access to a cellular phone and calls 911 for an ambulance when instructed to ! Knows address of arena or box location to give to the 911 operator ! Waits for ambulance at entrance and directs the personnel to the injured player o Door Personnel ! Needed behind the bench to open an close the doors for line changes ! Novice divisions and below must complete the door personnel online course http://www.lmmlc.ca/doorperson.html ! ALL door personnel for Peewee divisions and above must be a certified coach o Score and time keepers (typically rotated through all parents) ! Works the clock and fills our score sheet during home games Remind parents that “many hands make light work” and that the kids do notice parents working together, which brings the whole team together for a more positive season Explain how TeamSnap and email will be used for communication. Stress the importance of parents checking their emails and filling out their availability for upcoming games on TeamSnap Have parents verify or add to roster that you have prepared, making sure that all the contact info is correct and they have given their preferred email and contact number. Print out copies of your agenda and hand out the parents so they can follow and makes notes as you go through the points Make sure the coach is aware that there will be a portion of the meeting where he should address the parents to discuss team goals, expectations, rules etc. !
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Make sure that you takes notes as you go, writing down who has volunteered for each position and other important info After the meeting add your notes to the agenda (maybe in red) and email out to the parents so they have a record of what was discussed TeamSnap Tips & Tricks One of the first things the Manager should do is set up the TeamSnap site for their team. TeamSnap is a very easy way to keep the team connected and up-­‐to-­‐date. •
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Sign up at www.teamsnap.com Choose a Plan – The Basic $7.99 USD/month plan is recommended. Email reminders and Availability functions are two great features that make this price very worthwhile! Enter basic the player information (name, email, phone number, jersey number) into TeamSnap, and parents can then add any extra emails, phone numbers and photo by using the player edit function. Once you have added your players into your roster make sure to invite them to the team. There is usually a prompt that comes up for this Use the Schedule feature to add all practices and games as they are booked o Schedules can be found at www.lmmlc.com under the Schedules tab (check regularly) o To use the map feature be sure to add the correct address of the arena in the location section o This is easily done by going to the LMMLC website arena links page and then copy and pasting the address into the add new location area o Always click the Notify Team box at the bottom when adding events. This will send out an email notification to your parents and then there are no excuses for not knowing about an event Let parents know how they can use TeamSnap o They need to accept the TeamSnap invitation and create an account (free for parents) o Edit their own player’s profile (add extra email, phone numbers, photo, etc) o Remind them to always mark player availability for games and practices. Warn them of imminent harassment from you if this is not done regularly Use the email feature to email the team, or individual players and let parents know they can also use the email feature to send out messages to the team or individuals, in case they need to arrange carpooling or have lost some equipment, etc. Other Manager Duties In addition to all the jobs that you can have parents help with there is always more that need to be done throughout the season. Here is a list of some typical extra duties for you to be aware of. More things may come up, but this is a good general idea •
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Make sure the duties you have delegated to other parents are getting done. This does not mean you need to “micro-­‐manage” or give constant reminders, but check in with them and have them cc you on important info emails Form 100B –either you or the head coach will need to fill out the Form 100B (see attached forms), and hand into Brenna Levings, ALA Secretary ([email protected]) by April 22, 2015 Commissioner communication – a Commissioner from the LMMLC will with in charge of your division. They will send you an email with league information and where to send game sheets. They also must be notified when games are being scheduled/rescheduled. You should also notify the Commissioner as soon as you schedule any tournaments. •
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Team “Cheer” Cards o Create wallet size cards with player info (name, number, contact info, parents names) o This is especially helpful for younger teams, so parents have a cheat card to remember each other’s names o You can ask around to see if another parent would do this job Time and Score Schedule o For all home games the team is required to supply a time and score keeper o You should assign all team families to this job on a rotating basis (except coach and manager families, they have enough responsibility already) o Remind parents that it is their responsibility to find a replacement if they cannot make their schedule game o Helpful resource for filling in a lacrosse score sheet can be found at: http://www.lmmlc.ca/boxla_scoresheet_demo/ Opposing Team Communication o At the start of the season, the League Commissioner will send you a contact list of all the teams in your division. Use this to communicate regarding TBR/conflict games. Many commissioners also ask that you confirm the games with the other team in advance, and a quick email is always good just in case TBR/Game Conflict Rescheduling (see attached checklist) o Once the game schedule comes out, you may see some “TBR” (To Be Rescheduled) games o If it is a home game, it is your responsibility to contact our Scheduler for some open floor time slots that you can offer to the visiting team (see Contacts section) o If the visiting team cannot make any of your suggested time slots and you have made a reasonable effort to accommodate (usually three different times) the commissioner may step in to facilitate a resolution o Once a new game time is agreed upon, make sure to notify the commissioner, the Scheduler and the Head Ref (see Contacts section) TeamSnap Maintenance o Adding/changing practices, games, team events o Emails to the team for various situations/events o Checking player availability for practice and games, and letting the coach know how many players are coming Communication with Coach o The ultimate responsibility for the team lies with the head coach, so it is a good idea to discuss with them everything you plan to do with the team o Have clear communication as to how much/how little info or input he/she wants into the daily running if the team o Always check TBR and conflict scheduling with the coach first to make sure they can make the proposed times Conflict Resolution o If parents have questions/issues regarding the team, the coach or other players they should typically come to you o Some coaches prefer parents to come to them directly, so discuss this with your coach ahead of time, and communicate the team’s protocol at the team meeting o Parents should be reminded of the “24 hour” rule. Before discussing or proceeding, they should wait a 24 hour “cooling off” period to think about the issue. o
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When parents come to you with an issue, relay it to the coach and they can decide how to proceed. If it is an issue about the coach and you are not comfortable discussing it with them, please contact the ALA Head Coach (see Contacts section) Player Movement • Only registered players may participate in ALA games and practices. Athletes not yet registered are not allowed on the floor or in the outdoor box until officially registered by the ALA registrar. • Please direct any interested new potential players to the ALA registrar to answer any questions • This also applies to registered players that wish to withdraw from your team. They may contact the registrar or ALA treasurer to enquire about refunds. • Sometimes throughout the season it becomes necessary to “borrow” a player from another team. There are several rules surrounding this as set out by the BCLA. Here are the basics: o With the permission of their coach, players are allowed to play up in their own division as follows ! A2 players may play for an A1 team ! B players may play for an A1 or A2 team ! C players may play for any higher caliber team o With the permission of their coach, players are allowed to play up one division as follows ! A1 players can only play for an A1 team ! A2 players may play for an A1 or A2 team ! B players may play for a B or higher caliber team ! C players may play for a C or higher caliber team o Once a player has played five games up, he/she is not eligible to return to his/her original team during that season. The player will remain with team they played their fifth game with for the balance of the season • These player movements should be coordinated by your coach. You will just need to be aware to make sure they get added to the game sheet if they are joining your team and to keep track of how many times any particular player has played up. You don’t want to lose a player from your team because it went unnoticed that another team has called them up five times. Exhibition Games • If you would like to arrange an exhibition game for your team, you should contact the ALA scheduler who will advise you of any available floor time and the ALA referee allocator. You are required to have properly carded referees. Your team will be responsible for covering the cost of the floor time and the referees (see Contacts section) 2015 ALA Contacts • President: David Goulet – [email protected] • 1st Vice President: Erik Hobbs -­‐ [email protected] • 2nd Vice President: Ken Hoogstraten-­‐ [email protected] • Treasurer: Rod McLeod – [email protected] • Secretary: Brenna Levings -­‐ [email protected] • Scheduler: Clare Ellison -­‐ [email protected] • Registrar: Kia Hamilton – [email protected] • Head Coach: Ken Nair -­‐ [email protected] • Head Referee: Manuela Barkovic -­‐ [email protected] • Equipment Manager: Joe Yakmission -­‐ [email protected] Forms and Reference Materials Please see the following attached forms, templates and reference materials for your use •
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Official Team Roster Form Player & Parent/Guardian Code of Conduct Player Medical Form Websites and Abbreviations List Important Dates for the 2015 Season Team Fund Expense Template (Working excel file available on website for download)