SWS Regional Youth Hockey Program Team Manager’s Handbook “Committed to Athletic Excellence” 2009 – 2010 http://www.eteamz.com/swshockey/
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Table of Contents Director’s Welcome......................................................................................................................................4 Overview........................................................................................................................................................5 Chain of Command......................................................................................................................................5 Co-Team Manager....................................................................................................................................... 5 Checklist of Tasks and Responsibilities................................................................................................. 6 Communications Checklist........................................................................................................................ 6 Administrative Checklist........................................................................................................................... 6 Communications.......................................................................................................................................... 6 Item 1 – Dissemination of Information..................................................................................................... 6 Item 2 – Resolve Problems.......................................................................................................................... 7 Item 3 – Encourage Email and SWS Web Site Use...................................................................................7 Item 4 – Find Answers..................................................................................................................................8 Item 5 – Distribute Contact Information....................................................................................................8 Item 6 – Establish a Phone Call Process.....................................................................................................9 Item 7 – Provide Directions........................................................................................................................ 9 Item 8 – Publish Game Articles..................................................................................................................11 Administration............................................................................................................................................11 Item 1 – Collect Forms.................................................................................................................................11 Item 2 – Help with Fundraising.................................................................................................................12 Item 3 – Coordinate Hockey Tournament Participation.......................................................................12 Item 4 – Coordinate Scrimmages and Makeup Games..........................................................................13 Item 5 – Inform Parents About the Web Site...........................................................................................14 Item 6 – Use the Web Site Features for Team Managers.......................................................................14 Item 7 – Submit Game Sheets....................................................................................................................15 Item 8 – Print Roster Labels.......................................................................................................................15 Item 9 – Assist with Player Recognition Awards...................................................................................15 Item 10 – Help With the Team Party........................................................................................................16
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Notes This document is maintained by the SWS Board of Directors. Please submit questions, corrections, and requests for changes to benchboss19@cox.net. This document was created in May, 2009 by Steve Ouellette and is based on the content of the ABYHA Team Manager’s Handbook. Modified 5/2/2009.
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Dear Team Manager, On behalf of the SWS program, we would like to thank you for volunteering for this important role and committing your time to make the 2009-2010 season a great success for your team. We believe that often the difference between a good and great season for our players is determined by the effectiveness of the Team Manager. You are the “off ice” communications contact between the coaching staff, the parents as well as the Board of Directors. Your willingness to assist in organizing events such as fundraising and tournaments allows our coaches to dedicate their time to developing hockey skills for the players. We hope you will find this year’s Team Manager’s Handbook a helpful resource. We would like to thank you for contributing to the success of our program and for creating a great experience for our players. Sincerely, Steve Ouellette Coaching Director/ACE SWS Regional Hockey Program
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Overview This handbook has been created to be your resource and explain your roles and responsibilities as team manager in a concise, task-oriented manner. Your two major objectives the team manager are: 9 To provide timely, clear, and concise communications among the team parents, players, coaches, and members of the Board of Directors 9 To perform the required administrative tasks in order to allow the coaching staff to focus on coaching and on-ice activities. The less administrative tasks they do, the more time they will have time to plan practices and games and develop the hockey skills of our players. Chain of Command Your title of Team Manager is somewhat of a misnomer because the person who has the ultimate responsibility for managing the affairs of your team is the head coach. You will work closely with him or her in order perform the tasks needed to have a successful hockey season. The head coach shall divide up all of the tasks needed to run the team between himself or herself, you, the co-team manager if any, the assistant coaches, and team parents. For example, some coaches might want to research and arrange tournaments themselves, others will assign this task to the team manager. It is important that you and the head coach agree on what your tasks and responsibilities are. Co-Team Manager Your coach may elect to have two team managers in order to split up the workload. This is fine as long as it is very clear what your responsibilities are, and what those of your co-team manager are. You don’t want to have important things that needed to get done “fall through the cracks.” It is suggested that one team manager have several large, but well-defined tasks (e.g., update the SWS web site, send email to team parents, arrange tournaments), and the other team manager handle everything else. Clear communication between you, your co-team manager, and the head coach is essential. Checklist of Tasks and Responsibilities The following is a checklist of the tasks and duties that team managers often perform. Please realize that you will have a lot of help and not all of these tasks will be assigned to you, but also to co-team manager (if any), the head coach, assistant coaches, and team parents. In any case, don’t be afraid to ask for help! You will be pleasantly surprised how many people will want to help out. Unless otherwise noted, a task or duty is performed throughout the entire season. Other tasks are done at specific times during the season.
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Communications Checklist 1. Disseminate timely and accurate information to parents, coaches, and SWS staff. 2. Act as an agent in resolving problems and concerns. 3. Encourage parents to read their email and visit the SWS web site daily. 4. Find the answers to questions that coaches and parents have. 5. Collect and distribute parent contact information including phone numbers and email addresses. (start of season) 6. Establish a phone call process to contact parents with late-breaking, critical news. (start of season) 7. Provide directions to rinks and other locations. 8. Arrange to have game articles posted on the SWS web site and submitted to the Beacon. Administrative Checklist 1. Collect and submit required forms from parents and players. (start of season) 2. Help with fundraising activities as directed by the SWS Director of Business Activities. 3. Help coordinate hockey tournament participation for your team. (start and middle of season) 4. Help coordinate scrimmages and makeup games. 5. Inform the parents of the SWS web site features that are useful to them. 6. Use the services for team managers provided by the SWS web site. 7. Submit a copy of all game sheets to the SWS Director of Leagues and retain the originals in a file. 8. Print the roster labels that are affixed to game sheets. (occasionally) 9. Help with the selection of the player recognition awards. 10. Help plan and organize the end-of-season team party and other social events. (toward end of season) Communications This section describes the aspects of your job related to team communications. Each subsection describes in detail a numbered item the “Checklist of Tasks and Responsibilities” section. Item 1 – Disseminate Information Providing timely, clear, and concise communications is one of the two the major focus areas of your job. This consists of passing along information from the coaching staff and other SWS staff members to team parents and players. It also consists of providing information to the coaches and SWS staff. Methods of communications include: 9 Email messages (best)
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9 9 9 9
SWS web site announcements Direct conversation Telephone Printed text, e.g., hand-outs, flyers
The method used depends on the circumstances and the urgency of the message. Be aware that some parents don’t read their emails too often. The type of information includes, but not limited to, the following: 9 9 9 9 9
Schedules and schedule changes Announcements from coaches and SWS staff to parents Reminders Rink directions Questions and other inquires
Be sure the lines of communication are open and that you have established yourself as the focal point for communications between the parents and coaches. This will centralize questions and the answers for the entire team. Item 2 – Resolve Problems Your job as team manager requires that you help resolve problems or issues that occur either on or off the ice. It is important to understand that it is not your role to mediate in these matters but to encourage resolution within the established SWS guidelines. However, if an issue occurs between a coach and only one family, then the two parties should address the issue directly. Your involvement is not necessary. The protocol is to first attempt to resolve the problem with the head coach, and only elevate the problem to a higher level if absolutely necessary. he levels are: 1. The head coach 2. The SWS Director of Hockey 3. The SWS Program Director The means of communication you chose to use depends upon the circumstances, and the nature and sensitivity of the problem. Avoid using email except for simple matters because it does not convey tone and inhibits a two-way, interactive conversation. Also, try not to speak to the head coach immediately after a game or practice. They have enough on their minds and probably aren’t too receptive about handling a problem at that time. Item 3 – Encourage Email and SWS Web Site Use We are now in the age of the Internet and naturally SWS takes full advantage of its capabilities. You will rely heavily on email to communicate with team parents, coaches, SWS staff. Our state-of-the art web site, http://www.eteamz.com/swshockey/ is the communications “nerve center” of our organization. All critical information is posted there. (More about the web site later.)
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Your job of providing timely information to team parents and players is facilitated greatly by the use of email and the SWS web site. You can expect that most, if not all, families have Internet access. You and your coaches will send them messages frequently, so you should insist they follow this simple rule: Check email and the SWS web site at least once a day. Your responsibility is to provide information at least 24 hours in advance through email or an SWS web site announcement. It is the responsibility of the team parents to read this information within 24 hours. For late-breaking, critical information (e.g., game cancellation), you’ll have to use the telephone. For those families without Internet access, you’ll have to rely on more traditional methods to inform them, phone calls and printed pages. Item 4 – Find Answers Coaches and team parents seeking information should use you as a resource. A parent might have a simple question such as, “When’s the next practice?” Or, “What weekend is the big tournament?” As we all know, there is no such thing as a bad question, and if someone is asking, you can bet that others would like to know the same information. Check with the coaching staff first. If information you seek is not immediately at hand, you can contact someone else within the program who might know. A good source of information is the SWS board members whose contact information is listed on the SWS web site. For more general question not related to SWS, the rest of the World Wide Web is a very useful resource. For complex issues, you may meet directly with the SWS Board of Directors at their monthly meeting. They generally meet on the last Monday of the month at White’s Family Restaurant in Wesport, MA. To get your topic on the meeting agenda, you must submit your request in writing or via e-mail to the SWS President one week prior to the board meeting. In other instances, the head coach might want information from the parents, such as if they want the team to participate in a local tournament or a faraway tournament. You would then poll the team parents for the answer. Item 5 – Distribute Contact Information At the beginning of the season, you should collect contact information and distribute it to coaches and team parents as early in the season as possible. This enables you and the coaches to contact the parents, as well as the parents to contact each other (e.g., for ride sharing, etc.). This information provides a good way for parents learn each other’s names and get introduced. Request the following information from each parent. The more points of contact you have, the more likely you will be able to contact someone at the last minute. Also, when
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sending email messages to team parents, address the message to both home and work email address. First and last name of parents 9 9 9 9 9 9
Home address Home phone number Home email address Work phone number Work email address Cell phone number
Please note that some might not want all of this contact information distributed to others (e.g., a work phone number or email address), so please use discretion. Item 6 – Establish a Phone Call Process During the course of the season, you or the coaches will need to contact team parents at the last minute. Typically, this is necessary as a result of a game cancellation or snow emergency. You or the coach may elect to call each person directly. This however places a lot of burden on one individual. Instead, you can establish a phone call chain for your team. Here’s how it works: 1. Distribute a list of all phone numbers (home, work, and cell numbers) of each parent or family. Each parent should keep this list handy. This can be the same list as your team’s contact information. 2. When the last minute news breaks, you (or a coach) call the first family on the list. 3. If you make contact, give them the news and now they take over and call the next family on the list. If you don’t make contact, you leave a message and call the next family. You continue calling families until you reach someone or you reach the end of the list. 4. When a parent takes over, they perform Step 3. Item 7 – Provide Directions You should provide directions to rinks and other locations (e.g., hotels for away tournaments). Directions for most rinks at which your team plays can be found on the SWS web site. If not, you can consult the following web site, which is also listed on the SWS web site. www.arenamaps.com Arenamaps.com provides detailed directions and maps to rinks nationwide (good for tournaments). However, try to check the directions for accuracy as there have been errors reported recently.
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Directions to hotels can normally be found on the hotel’s web site. Otherwise, call the hotel directly. Item 8 – Publish Game Articles It is highly recommended that game articles are written and published in town newspapers which include. However, publish in the Bolton and Harvard newspapers only if there is a player on the team from the respective towns. These articles are one of the best methods we have for player recognition as every player wants to see his or her name in print! Have a team of a few (three or less) parent volunteers to write the articles. Teams that have rotated this task to all the parents on a team have found that this does not work very well. See the document SWS Journalist’s Handbook for more information. Administration This section describes the administrative tasks required of your job. Each subsection describes in detail a numbered item the “Checklist of Tasks and Responsibilities” section. In addition, you will be asked to do miscellaneous administrative tasks (not listed here) by the head coach or SWS staff from time to time. An example would distributing the team photos or helping out at SWS Registration Night. Item 9 – Collect Forms A major activity in the fall is the completion of USA Hockey and Mass Hockey forms. These forms are mandatory for your team’s participation, and, in some cases, SWS risks potential liability if they are not completed. These forms are due at the beginning of the season or just afterward. Some forms are submitted when the parent registers their child. Otherwise, the SWS Registrar will notify your head coach with information about which forms need to be collected. In all cases, consult the Registrar or your head coach to make sure that all forms have been collected for all players. The required forms are as follows. All of these are available on the SWS web site. Consent to Treat – This form for each player needs to be readily available at all on-ice events in the case that a player is injured. Make multiple sets of these for the coaches in case the head coach cannot attend a practice or game. (USA Hockey) Waiver of Liability – This form is normally completed at registration and is mandatory. (USA Hockey) Parents Code of Conduct Agreement – This form certifies that a parent has read, understands, and agrees to abide by the Parents Code of Conduct document. Unfortunately, the conduct of parents at hockey games and other youth sporting events in recent years has made this form necessary. (Mass. Hockey)
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Participant Code of Conduct – This form certifies that a player understands proper behavior while attending games, practices, and other team functions. (USA Hockey). Signed Team Rosters – Our participation in USA Hockey leagues, tournaments, and playoffs depends on accurate, complete, and signed team rosters. The SWS Registrar will coordinate the completion of these rosters and will notify you of the deadline in advance. There is a maximum of 20 players on a team. Each player and at least two patched coaches must sign the roster. (A patch is the certification that a coach attended USA Hockey and Mass Hockey coaching clinics. Guidelines exist for each level and coaching position.) If a team adds players or changes the roster in the early part of the season, the USA Hockey roster can be changed without penalty until December 31. Teams must fill out the Mass. Hockey application for a roster change and this should be submitted to the SWS Registrar who will handle the submission to Mass. Hockey on behalf of the program. Item 10 – Help with Fundraising You might be asked to help with SWS fundraising activities. Every year, fees for practice ice and league participation increase. The hallmarks of our quality program – the skills sessions, goalie clinics, coach’s clinics, and goalie equipment – all require funds. To maintain these features and help keep the costs of program participation down, we must be successful at fundraising. The Director of Business Development will organize these events and their success depends largely on your efforts within your SWS team. An example of a past fundraising activity was the sales of subscriptions to The Hockey Magazine. The team manager was responsible for collecting subscription envelops from team families. Item 11 – Coordinate Hockey Tournament Participation This is an activity that your head coach may handle completely or assign some or all of the tasks to you. Another task related to tournaments is to submit an application for participating in the Mass. Hockey District Playdowns. Each Mass. Hockey district holds a tournament called a Playdown to determine which team will represent the district in the Mass. Hockey State Tournament. For more information about Playdowns, visit the SWS web site. Tips and guidelines for coordinating the participation in hockey tournaments: Contact the SWS Tournament Director for help and questions regarding tournaments. Register for a tournament as early as possible (i.e., September). Popular tournaments fill up very quickly.
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A list of sanctioned tournaments is available on the SWS web site. You may also do your own research to find additional tournaments that aren’t listed. Consult your head coach on which tournaments you would like to attend and then work closely with the SWS Director of Tournaments to enter your team. If deposits are required, and they usually are, be sure they get sent in on time. For Middlesex teams, contact the SWS Director of Finance to arrange payment. For tournaments outside of Massachusetts, it is necessary to obtain a Travel Permit from Mass Hockey and submit it our Mass. Hockey District Registrar. The permit costs $5 per team and must be submitted at least three weeks prior to travel. To avoid the $50 late fee, plan on submitting your application one month before the tournament or as soon as possible. Tournaments generally require a copy of the signed USA Hockey team roster. Some will require proof of age with either a birth certificate or USA Hockey Member Card. Make sure you understand the requirements of the tournaments that you have entered, because nothing could be worse for a player than to sit out a tournament, especially if he or she traveled a long distance. Notify the SWS Director of Leagues with the dates of your tournament. The Director can work the league to not schedule a league game during your tournament. For travel tournaments, arrange hotel reservations for the team families as far in advance as possible. This is especially important for hotels located in ski country. Also, consider having a team social function such as a team pizza party during the team’s stay away from home. If so, reserve a function room well in advance. Don’t enter a tournament that takes place during Mass. Hockey Playdown tournaments or during the Mass Hockey State Tournament if your team participates in these events. Heavy fines are levied against teams that don’t show up. The week of Martin Luther King Day is typically when Playdown tournament games are played. Item 12 – Coordinate Scrimmages and Makeup Games You might be asked by your head coach to assist in arranging scrimmage games and makeup games. Home and Away Series – Typically, these are two scrimmage games between two teams. One team hosts the first game and the other reciprocates by hosting the second game. Game sheets may or may not be used. A timekeeper is needed to run the clock and one or two referees are needed to officiate.
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The host team is responsible for providing the ice time, and hiring the officials and timekeeper. These types of games are funded by the families of the participating teams. SWS does not contribute funds. Makeup Games – Sometimes teams will miss league games usually because of a tournament or snowstorm. The process is the same as above except a game sheet will always be required. The team that cancels a league game is responsible for purchasing the ice time, and hiring the officials and timekeeper. The host team is responsible to submit the results and game sheet to the league. In most cases, SWS will provide the ice, usually by sacrificing a team practice, but will not pay for the officials. Contributions from team families will be necessary. Contact the SWS Director of Ice Activities for help in securing ice time and the SWS Program Director for help in hiring officials and timekeeper. Item 13 – Inform Parents About the Web Site As stated before, the SWS web site, along with email, are the main means of communication for SWS. Parents, coaches, team managers, and directors all make extensive use of these tools. You should inform the parents of the web site features that they will find useful and help educate them on how to use them. Online instructions can be accessed by selecting the “Using this Site” tab on the home page. Encourage parents to surf around through the site and get familiar with all of its features. Parents will mainly use the web site to: Check team schedules for practices, games, and other events (e.g., team photos, tryouts). Parents with more than one child in the program will enjoy the Multi-Schedule feature. Displaying schedule information is by far the popular and most important feature of the web site. 9 Read team and SWS news bulletins and articles. 9 Get rink directions. 9 Receive email messages automatically when the web site content (e.g., schedule information and news bulletins) changes. 9 Get contact information for coaches, team managers, and SWS directors. 9 Get general information about the program and teams. Item 14 – Use the Web Site Features for Team Managers There are several web site features designed exclusively for coaches and team managers. These features are fully explained in the document, Coach’s and Team Manager’s Web Site Handbook, available on the web site. As the team manager, you are expected to use most if not all of these features. They make it very easy for you to provide the timely, complete, and accurate information that team parents need and expect. Be sure to thoroughly read, understand, and use the web site features and policies explained inthis document.
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The web site capabilities for coaches and team managers include: Automatic email notification. Maintaining your team’s schedule: Adding or canceling a game or practice. Postponing a game. Changing the date, time, or location of a game or practice. Adding or editing a team news bulletin. A team bulletin appears on your team’s web page. 9 Adding or removing a team document. 9 9 9 9 9 9
Item 15 – Submit Game Sheets During each league game, the scorekeeper records player participation, goals, assists, and penalties on a document called a game sheet. Before the game, the coach or team manager writes in the team’s roster information on the game sheet, and then the coaches sign it. At the end of the game, the coach receives a copy of the game sheet that has been signed by the scorekeeper and referee. The game sheet is the document of record containing the official results of the game. It is very important to save these game sheets. A photocopy should be made of each game sheet and sent to the SWS Coaching Director/ACE Coordinator. The original should be kept on file by the team. Item 16 – Print Roster Labels To save time before a game, a team will affix a roster label to each game sheet rather than writing in the information by hand. You can help your team by printing these roster labels in advance. A roster label should contain the following information: Team name (e.g., SWS Bantam C) 9 The list of players on the roster. List each player on a separate line, jersey number first, followed by the player’s full name. 9 The name and CEP card number of the head coach. 9 The name and CEP card number of each assistant coach The Coaching Education Program (CEP) is Mass. Hockey’s traning and certification program for coaches. Roster labels are printed by ink jet or laser printers on sticky-backed mailing labels. Microsoft Word has features that make printing labels easy. ach type of label stock has a product number in which Word uses to determine the size and layout of the label sheet. Be sure to keep enough roster labels printed in advance. Three labels per game are required. Item 17 – Assist with Player Recognition Awards
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Game sheets are used to determine which players on the team receive USA Hockey awards. The awards are: Hat Trick – Awarded to the player who scores three or more goals in one game. Playmaker – Awarded to the player who records three or more assists in one game. Zero Goals – Awarded to the goalie who records a shutout. Each player is eligible to win each of these awards once per season. The actual award is a patch that can be sewn onto a team jersey for all to see. The process of providing these awards are as follows. 1. Examine the season’s game sheets to determine the players that are eligible to receive one or more awards. 2. For each a award, submit an Award form along with a copy of the game sheet that certifies the award to Mass. Hockey. The award form and related information can be found on the Mass. Hockey web site at www.masshockey.com. Most teams hand out these awards, along with the Caldwell and Melanson awards, at the end-of-season team party. However, the applying for the awards can be done much earlier Item 18 – Help With the Team Party Though not required by SWS, most teams hold a team party at the end of the season to have fun, celebrate the team’s success, and acknowledge all of the hard work and dedication on the part of the coaches, players, parents, and team managers. Team participation trophies, award patches are handed out. And as always, the head coach does a great job of making each player feel special. Occasionally a coach or team parent will volunteer to hold the party at their house. Your job as team manager is to help with the preparations, food, beverages, and invitations. Also, the team parents will give the head coach and each assistant coach a gift thanking them for their hard work and dedication. You should make sure someone has the task of collecting the money from the parents and purchasing the coaches’ gifts. Some teams may hold other social functions during the season and you should make yourself available to help out with these activities. These events are great for building team spirit and it allows the parents to get to know each other as well.
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