Team Manager Handbook
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Each team affiliated with Eagan Travel Soccer (ETS) must designate a Team Manager responsible for administration and communication of the team’s off the field activities between the families and the team Coach(es).

While the coach plays a major role in most decisions related to team activities and events, his or her ultimate responsibility is to provide direction of on-field activities related to player development and game strategies. The Team Manager is responsible for removing as many of the “off-field” administrative duties from the coach as possible. In short, the major function of the Team Manager is to allow the ETS coaches to concentrate on developing our players.

ETS Coaches and their Team Manager must maintain an open dialogue regarding their roles and expectations for the team in the upcoming year. The Handbook provided here is a reference guide outlining some of the responsibilities involved in performing the duties of Team Manager.

Introduction

Congratulations on volunteering for what we hope turns out to be a very rewarding activity for you. Eagan Travel Soccer (ETS) feels the role of Team Manager is critical to the overall goal of providing a positive experience for coaches, parents and above all, the players on your team.

While each team is free to operate independently, this document outlines several of the typical administrative responsibilities involved in preparation and execution of a successful season. Additional resources for information may be found at the following:

Ø      Eagan Travel Soccer website http://www.eagansoccer.org/

Check out the Manager’s page on the ETS website for updates. If you have useful information you would like to share with other Team Managers, contact the Director of Managers and your suggestions will be considered for posting on the website.

Ø      By contacting the appropriate Director from the Eagan Travel Soccer Board - http://www.eagansoccer.org/soccer_board_&_coaches.htm

Ø      Minnesota Youth Soccer Association (MYSA) website http://www.mnyouthsoccer.org/

Ø      MYSA Calendar of events - http://www.mnyouthsoccer.org/calendar.cfm

It is a good idea to check the websites often throughout the season for updates or changes that may occur.

The Director of Managers on the ETS Board will update this Handbook from time to time. If you feel additional content would be helpful, your input is welcome.

Eagan Travel Soccer thanks you for volunteering your time and wishes your team the best in the upcoming season.

Pre-Season Duties

Most teams will kick-off their season with a Team Meeting organized by the coaching staff. If a Team Manager has not been identified prior to the meeting, an individual must be decided upon at the meeting.

Ø      Upon appointment, the Team Manager assumes responsibility for communication between coaches and parents.

Ø      While it is mandatory to appoint a Team Manager as a single point person for overall communication, duties may be shared. Feel free to separate the duties and enlist help from other parents.

Ø      Create and manage your team’s budget. While it is impossible to avoid schedule conflicts with tournaments and /or paid training sessions sometimes months in advance, it is customary for these extra costs to be divided evenly among each family. Each team is independent and free to create their own rules, but this policy should be made clear early to avoid disputes later during the season.

Ø      It is important that the Team Manager registers with the Club as well as MYSA. Start by providing your contact information via e-mail to the ETS registrar (See ETS website for Board Member Listing.) Please provide Name, Address, Phone Numbers (Home, Work, Cell) and an e-mail address.

Additionally, you will need to provide a notarized MYSA Disclosure and Consent Form. The form is available on the MYSA website. http://www.mnyouthsoccer.org/forms/disclosureandconsent.pdf

Every adult registered with an MYSA affiliated team must provide this notarized form annually to the ETS Club registrar.

Note that the MYSA calendar begins in August. If you registered for a summer team and wish to Coach or Manage in fall, you will need to re-register. Conversely, if you registered on a fall team you will not need to do so until the next fall season.

Ø      If you plan to hire professional trainers for your team, you must have them also fill out the Disclosure and Consent Form or get written assurance that they and/or their employees are screened and cleared to work with youth.

Ø      Register for the ETS electronic mailing list. There’s a link on the Home Page of the ETS Website.

Ø      As many tournaments (and hotel rooms) fill up fast, the Team Meeting agenda should include discussion of how many and which tournaments to apply for in the upcoming season. An outline of specific duties is provided under the heading Tournaments below.

Ø      It is a good idea for the Team Manager to attend the mandatory Coaches Meeting (Usually in late April or early May. The actual date is posted on the MYSA Calendar.)

Much of the information in the coach’s packet pertains to administrative duties targeted for the Team Manager. It is important the Team Manager is afforded an opportunity to review the information if he or she is to make an impact on the team.

o        In the coach’s packet you will receive a “MYSA Official Match Line-up/Referee Report”. Your players name, ID number and Jersey number need to be recorded on this form. A copy of the completed form must be provided to the referee at the start of each league game.

o        Instructions for calling in the game scores are included in the packet. Each team is responsible to report the score of their game. Failing to do so could result in a forfeit for both teams.

o        Another important form is the “Game Rescheduling Form”. It takes a good deal of coordination with the opposing team as well as the home team field director to reschedule.

These are just a couple examples of the important documents distributed at the Coach’s Meeting. You may also acquire any necessary forms by following this link -http://www.mnyouthsoccer.org/admin/forms.cfm - to forms on the MYSA website.

Ø      Create and distribute a team roster to each family. Include names, phone numbers, addresses & e-mails addresses.

Ø      Collect pictures for player passes. (Include Coaches and Team Manager)

Ø      Get the player passes laminated. This must be done prior to the first game. The passes are normally available in late April, approximately 2 weeks before play begins. You can get this done for about $10 at any Kinko’s or similar retail print shop. The back of the finished pass should look like the diagram below when finished. Remind your kids to use their normal signature as they could be asked for verification later during the year.

o         A copy of each player’s birth certificate. This typically only needs to be collected once in each child’s lifetime, normally the first time he or she signs up for Travel Soccer. The club Registrar keeps these on file.

o        An MYSA Emergency Information Consent Form. This document is required each time a player signs up for an MYSA sanctioned soccer season.

In the event these documents are not presented at sign-ups, it is still the parent’s responsibility to provide the document to ETS. The ETS Registrar WILL NOT distribute a player pass to a child who has not provided copies of these documents.

Ø      In case of roster additions or drops, contact the corresponding Girls/Boys Director as soon as possible. The Director will coordinate the changes through the Registrar and Equipment Director. MYSA has strict rules freezing team rosters approximately the first week in May. The exact freeze date is posted on the MYSA Calendar.

Ø      Contact MYSA for out of state passes. Wisconsin tournaments sanctioned by MYSA are exempt from this requirement. You can find the traveling forms online at http://www.mnyouthsoccer.org/admin/forms.cfm. PLAN AHEAD - allow at least a month to process the traveling documents.

In-Season Duties

It is crucial to the success and enjoyment of the team that scheduled events are communicated in an efficient manner. E-mail is the most popular and efficient means. When handouts are necessary, it is a good idea to date each piece of communication and write each player’s name on handouts. By doing this, you’ll know who has or has not received the handout.

Remember, there are many parents on the team. All of them are expected to contribute.

Ø      Assist in the receipt and distribution of Uniforms.

Ø      It is a good idea to make duplicate copies of documents.

o        A copy of your Match Line-up/Referee Report must be turned in to the referee for every game.

o        MYSA Emergency Information Consent Forms for each player must be available if a game official requests it.

Ø      Some tournaments require a copy of a birth certificate for each player. Copies may be obtained from the ETS registrar.

Ø      Coordinate a schedule, if necessary, to insure there will be at least two adults in attendance at all training sessions. If a coach or assistant is unavailable leaving only one adult to supervise, arrangements must be made to have a parent fill in, if only to observe the session. This is part of ETS’ Risk Management policy and is MANDATORY for all teams.

Ø      Establish a Calling Tree.

Ø      Create Pop/Juice/Fruit schedules.

Ø      Coordinate reimbursement for extra costs: Tournaments, additional shirts, socks, paid trainers, etc.

Ø      Publish and distribute practice and game schedules and keep the team updated with changes to the schedule.

Ø      Provide maps and/or directions for out of town games. MYSA Website contains all field locations. The directions can be easily cut and pasted from the MYSA site into your correspondence.

Ø      Work with the coach to schedule fields, or re-schedule them in case of cancellations or weather postponements. This may be done by contacting the Fields Director on the ETS Board.

Ø      Provide information from outside of club such as camps or promotional events.

Ø      Certain game-day activities are required of each team. Some of the following duties may be performed by the Team Manager to help alleviate pre and post- game stress from the coaching staff.

o        Check the weather on game day. While the policy tells you to report to the field and let the referee make any final decision, it is important that each team be aware of the weather policy of MYSA and help maintain compliance. Review the MYSA policy by visiting the following link: http://www.mnyouthsoccer.org/weather.cfm

o        Set-up and retrieval of corner flags and providing an adequate game ball to the referee. (Home games)

o        Delivery and retrieval of player passes and team roster to the center referee.

o        Signing of the referee game card.

o        Complete and mail the MYSA Game Card.

o       Call in the game score

Tournaments

Ø      All MYSA Sanctioned tournaments may be found on the MYSA website http://mnyouthsoccer.org/ along with several Wisconsin Tournaments in bordering towns.

Ø      Out of state tournaments in Region 2 may be found at http://www.region2.com/ then follow “Soccer Links” to connect with all the state affiliated websites.

Ø      Apply to tournaments early. Many of the tournaments for the upcoming summer season are posted by January or before.

Ø      Check to see if the tournament requires a copy of a birth certificate. If so, copies may be obtained from the ETS registrar or from the team parents.

Ø      If you plan an out of town tournament, make motel reservations extra early. A common practice is for the Team Manager to book a “block” of rooms under his or her name. Remind your parents early and often to contact the hotel to confirm their own room(s).

Ø      Most tournament officials will make an attempt to accommodate schedule conflicts, (i.e. You may wish to request no Friday games.) but none will make a guarantee. It’s best not to schedule a tournament unless you know you can field a team throughout the weekend.

Ø      Be patient. Most tournaments will only send confirmation if you ARE NOT accepted. Some tournaments will cash your check within a few weeks, which is the same as receiving confirmation.

Ø      Financing is available from Eagan Travel Soccer Club for tournament fees.

o        The Team Manager is responsible for sending payment along with the tournament application.

o       Contact the Eagan Travel Soccer Treasurer, and a check will be cut to the Team Manager to cover expenses until money can be collected from the rest of the team parents.

o       Payment must be reimbursed to ETS by late April. This is when player passes are available from MYSA. YOUR TEAM WILL NOT RECEIVE THEIR PASSES UNTIL THE CLUB HAS BEEN REIMBURSED.

Upon receipt of the tournament package

Ø      You likely won’t get your information packet until a week or two before the tournament.

Ø      Present the tournament packets to your parents ASAP.

ABOVE ALL, GET THE GAME TIMES COMMUNICATED TO THE TEAM AS SOON AS YOU HAVE THEM.

Ø      Include maps to tournament fields.

Ø      Review tournament schedule for conflicts with league play.

Day / Weekend of the tournament

Ø      Find out the deadline for having your team registered for the tournament and get it done on time! Your games may be on a weekday evening. Most tournaments require registration at least an hour before your first game.

Ø      You must have Player Passes, a copy of your team roster and MYSA Emergency Information Consent Forms with you for registration. Some tournaments require birth certificates.

Ø      If your team chooses to add to it’s roster, the additional players must be registered on an MYSA guest registration form. They must also provide a copy of their Emergency Information Consent form and their player pass.

Ø      Most tournaments provide a packet with additional information regarding schedules, fields and any changes made to the original information packets. There will usually be a packet for everyone on the roster, and should be distributed to the parents at the first tournament game.

Ø      Take time and read through the packet and highlight any noteworthy items. Most of the parents on your team will not read the information in the packets, so take a little time and make any necessary announcements to the team. For example, at the state tournament in Blaine every year it clearly states that the teams are responsible for cleaning up after themselves. Fines can and will be levied for non-conformance.

Postseason

Ø      All teams interested in participation in postseason (Districts / State) are eligible. However, you must submit an application to play. The deadline (usually early to mid June) for sign-up will be posted on the MYSA Calendar of Events. This is a very important date if you wish to participate. IF YOU MISS THIS DEADLINE, YOUR TEAM WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE. NO EXCEPTIONS!

Ø      Refer to sections above, as most of the activities for postseason play are similar to that of the regular season tournaments.

Ø      It is important to note that even if your team receives an automatic berth to district play (League champions) you must still register for districts.

Ø      MYSA has strict rules regulating players being added to rosters for postseason. Check the MYSA website for these regulations to insure conformance.

Ø      Payment and Reimbursement

o        Individual teams are responsible to pay a fee for each postseason game played until elimination. In addition, a referee fee must be paid at the game site. These fees will be posted on the MYSA website. ETS will reimburse each club the full amount of all postseason fees. Reimbursement is available through the ETS Treasurer after the team has completed postseason play.

Other Optional Activities

Remember the goal of your team should be to provide a positive experience for all involved. Having fun and making new friends should be a goal of everyone. Here are a few activities you may want to consider.

Ø      Organize a team party to kick off the year.

Ø      Start a team Website. Remember, it’s your primary job to provide communications.

Ø      Collect from willing parents to provide a gift for the team’s volunteer coaching staff.

Ø      Organize a team fundraiser. This could be a good way to offset the cost of tournaments or other operational costs.

Ø      Have your kids, as a group, volunteer some time in the community or participate in a fun run for charity. It could be a fun way for them to learn valuable lessons about teamwork and community service.

Ø      Organize a team party to close out your successful season.