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Traveling Soccer Managers

Team documents

Thank you for managing your child’s soccer team for Minneapolis United! This club wouldn’t exist without the many excellent, committed volunteers just like you. In 5 years we’ve grown from just 7 traveling teams (fall of 2002) to 48 teams this summer. Because of this outstanding growth the board of MU and the Traveling Coordinators rely on team managers to smooth the process for the teams and individual families.

As a manager you are the ‘face’ of MU, and of MYSA for parents on your team. You serve as a crucial link between families and coaches. When a child first starts playing traveling soccer, the parents often have no idea of all that’s involved (our game is where? At what time? How do we get there?). You can do a lot at the beginning of the season to make it easier for them, and thus, easier for you in the long run. Here are some guidelines.

FIRST OF ALL:

MANAGER and COACH JOINTLY HOST A TEAM MEETING:

Do this as early in the year as possible. Bring a calculator and a calendar to the meeting and ask everyone to bring their family calendar. At this meeting you will:

  • Gather every adults e-mail and phone number. Get cell phones too. Be sure to get all parent contact info if the child spends time at more than one home.
  • Determine your team philosophy: If your team already has a coach, this is where he/she can state their expectations (attendance at practice, when to arrive before games, behavior codes, etc). Decide where to practice, and how often.
  • Use a calendar to tally who’s going to be out of town, and when.
  • Choose which Tournaments to attend: Circulate the tournament list and decide how many tournaments, where and when. This is where the calendar comes in handy! Once you’ve decided on tourneys you can calculate the amount due by each family and collect money right away.
  • Distribute the Emergency Consent Form: Required for all team members. These should be completed before their first game of the season, so have the parent complete at the meeting if possible. Parents need to understand that their child cannot play in a tournament game without having the ECF on file with the team manager.
  • Request a small photo of each child to be turned in at the first practice. An alternative is to use a digital camera and take a picture of everyone at the first practice. Manager and coach need a picture too.
  • Distribute an initial team roster. After you’ve created your finalized roster with contact info, everyone should have a copy of that.
  • Find a volunteer to organize snacks and/or drinks for each game. Some families like to bring orange slices for half time. This is up to the team: some do, some don’t do treats.

Helpful tips for after the meeting:

Put all the contact info into one group on your e-mail program. It’ll save a lot of time over the summer. Register for tournaments. Tourneys that are early in the year or very popular fill up quickly. You’ll need to pay for each tournament as you sign up for it.

Immediately send out a reminder to parents that you need the consent forms, pictures and money for tournaments at the first practice. Some parents will need multiple reminders.

BEFORE THE FIRST GAME:

Kipp Barksdale (MU Registrar) will notify you if any team members have a balance due on their fees. The player pass will not be issued to them until they’re paid in full-and you’ll need to make sure they understand that.

Player Passes:

Kipp will notify you when they’re available. Team members must sign their own pass. Affix the photo you gathered earlier and laminate both sides of the passes. You and the coach will need a pass with photo too. Passes cannot be photocopied. We recommend that all cards be punched and put on a key ring or lanyard.

It is a good idea to included on the key ring with the passes a laminated card with MYSA designated team code, name of coach or manager, and contact, address info: MU passes cover.pdf

District team meeting

Spring West District team meeting on April 28th. You’ll be notified of time and where. A representative of each team must be there at the appropriate time. Game schedules and field directions are distributed at this meeting.

Make plenty of copies of the game schedule and field directions. Every adult should get one of each-and have several left over (because people do lose them).

Match Line-up/Referee Report

Print one copy of the Match Line-up/Referee Report from the MYSA website: matchlineup.pdf.

Fill it out with the info that doesn’t change from game to game (your team code, age group, players name, registration number and jersey number). Photocopy enough to have for the entire season. Then at each game you only need to fill in that one match’s information.

Attach a stamped, addressed envelope to each home game match report. At the district meeting you’ll be given the address stickers for each home game, but you’ll supply the stamp.

Uniforms

Distribute uniforms to your team. You’ll be told when and where to get them. Some managers choose to keep the alternate jerseys in their car. It’s up to you and your team.

AT EACH GAME:

Have a first aid kit (sanitizing wash, ace wraps, adhesive bandages and ice packs).

Each home team must supply the game ball of the appropriate size. You also need to supply corner flags. Younger teams will need to have nets too.

At least 15 minutes before each game give the referee the player passes and Match Lineup report. Make sure you get the player passes back at the end of the game!

Remind parents that it’s the coaches job to coach, and the parents job to enjoy the game. (Bring suckers for parents who have a hard time with that idea.)

AFTER EACH GAME:

Have the players thank the referees at the end of the game.

Have your players and families pick up after themselves. Empty bottles, candy wrappers, soccer balls!

Call in your score to MYSA.

WEATHER POLICY:

The center referee has the final say when a game should be postponed, stopped or canceled due to weather. Typically, games are played even in a hard rain as long as there’s no lightening. On very hot days they may choose to shorten each half and/or force a water break during the half. A game is considered official if the 1st half and some portion of the 2nd half have been played.

IMPORTANT DATES

Updated: February 25, 2008

  • LEAGUE PLAY MUST END JULY 14TH.
  • MYSA DISTRICT TOURNAMENTS JULY 17 TO JULY 21
  • MYSA STATE TOURNAMENT BEGINS JULY 25 to AUGUST 1st

DISTRICT and STATE TOURNAMENTS:

At the end of the regular season MYSA holds a district and a state tournament. Each team can decide whether or not to participate, however, you must agree to participate in both tournaments, or neither. The district tourney schedule is typically listed online 3-4 days before the start.

The District tournament is single-elimination. The State tournament is a round robin format-you will play 3 or 4 games. There are extra fees to be in the district and state tournaments.

The #1 team in each division will skip districts and go directly to the state tournament.