Team managers...

[Anonymous]

Another vote for clubs with no parent managers. My sons play for a club where an administrator handles all of the registration, team snap, etc. None of the teams have parent volunteers. It is so much nicer and less politics and BS.

[Anonymous]

I’ve done it for many years. Most of the work is front-loaded, and is all about getting set up on VYSA, GotSoccer, etc.

Once I get the binder set up with roster, player cards, and medical waivers, it’s pretty easy. I check in the team to tournaments, get guest players as needed, and reschedule games as needed.

I don’t think there is much politics. It’s not like I am making roster decisions. I suppose you could make the argument that my kid might get a small amount of extra playing time to keep me happy (and volunteering), but I have managed a kid’s team where my kid never came out (best on the team), and managed a team where my kid got the least playing time of any player.

I do get more information than the other parents, which is helpful.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you for your replies! Very helpful information. I’ve decided I will step up and try it. This is for a club travel team (NCSL).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the team manager is usually just someone helpful but it isn't as much work as it seems. Op, you should try it for a year, its not that big of a deal like class parent or anything.
I disagree with some pps here. The team manager personality to me is different than the soccer dad who is always in the coach's ear. That guy is the worst.

FWIW, I’ve done both team manager and class parent, and the team was definitely more work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the team manager is usually just someone helpful but it isn't as much work as it seems. Op, you should try it for a year, its not that big of a deal like class parent or anything.
I disagree with some pps here. The team manager personality to me is different than the soccer dad who is always in the coach's ear. That guy is the worst.

FWIW, I’ve done both team manager and class parent, and the team was definitely more work.

I am the first PP to the thread and 100% agree, team manager was more work. And to answer a PP’s question this is for club.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is PP and I did not stay for practice, I wasn’t hovering on the player side during games and wasn’t involved at all (nor would I want to be) in game decisions.

This sounds very much like my role with my son's team. I'm happy to manage TeamSnap with schedules, kits, set up VeoCamera, provide families reminders and help with logistics. I know very little about soccer so I'm grateful four our terrific coaches. I'm also appreciative that I can help support my son and his team in this admin role.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of dads use it to get in with the coach and club (at least on the boys’ side). I have a 15 and 18 year old so spent/spend years in club soccer. Some try to act like an assistant coach, in constant contact about what “they” think should be happening on the field and often will put down other players—Edie silly if the kid plays sane position as theirs. Done get off on having “knowledge” ahead of everyone and use it as a power trip.

That said it’s a pretty thankless job. I did it one year when begged by coach since we were a new family and nobody else would do it.

I love the Clubs that don’t use parent volunteers, don’t have team managers, etc. Their admin staff handles it all. This is usually higher level teams. The less interaction parents have with the coaches is the best. When you have teens you really should have no contact.

OMG, came here to say that. DD played in one club with a strict "no more than two years" tenure as a team manager. Can be tough when that parent is super organized and the next one isn't but the policy makes sense. DD moved to another club where the coaches move up with the teams and there are no rules on the length of service for a manager. DD played in the club for 5 years - on 1 team for one year, then moved up to a new team when the age change went into effect for the last four years. On the first team, a dad served in that role for ten years, preceding our arrival and continuing through his DD's HS graduation. On the second team, the new coach selected a hyper-organized mom with a FT job. The next year, a new coach was appointed, the manager's DD was cut from the team, and two men vied for the admin spots. I asked one of them if we could take this change to pivot to Team Snap or a similar app (they were still using email for communication) for more timely contact. He asked me to research 5 options, ensuring that they also allowed for photos to be uploaded, etc., then provide him with my research for him and the other guy to make a decision. No wonder why that guy was unemployed.

My DD was the back up for the team manager's DD who started. Everyone would get subbed, then finally DD would go in. The dad was the one responsible for telling the coach the times for subs. I'm sure it was just a coincidence.

In the end, the players with the nicest parents ended up playing for D1 schools while the rest were scrounging for D3 slots after their parents had spent years bragging about which T5 team they would play for or which Ivy.

[Anonymous]

Don't do it. I did it one year and had to constantly deal with crazy parents complaining about the coach to me. We didn't have a separate social coordinator, so I got stuck with that too as the team manager. It is not worth it.

[Anonymous]

I love being a manager. Admittedly I like knowing what is going on and I want other families to know as well. The summer is when the work happens; after that it’s updating team snap and depending on the league coordinating uniform colors with the other team. Pretty simple. SafeSport takes a couple of hours the first time. Our club handles international clearances, and they are a one time thing anyway. You may need to collect photos for player cards. If the team wants social events you can get someone else to handle that. The thing I dislike is finding hotel blocks but it’s not the end of the world. Talk to your coach about his expectations and the club’s admin staff about how the role works at your club. It can vary but again, lots of people enjoy it and do it for years.

[Anonymous]

Nova2Euro wrote:Team managers will have a hundred thankless responsibilities and really are the glue that keeps the team together. If you're a good manager, everyone will have a good experience.

Jesus, all these people sniping about managers whose kids get a little more playing time than you, in your obviously expert opinions, think they deserve... LET THEM. That's literally the only possible reward for a manager after getting unceasingly griped at by parents. They take care of making sure that your kid gets to play--at least let the one parent who is actually doing work for the team see their own kid play.

No. The kid should play only if the KID earns it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Nova2Euro wrote:Team managers will have a hundred thankless responsibilities and really are the glue that keeps the team together. If you're a good manager, everyone will have a good experience.

Jesus, all these people sniping about managers whose kids get a little more playing time than you, in your obviously expert opinions, think they deserve... LET THEM. That's literally the only possible reward for a manager after getting unceasingly griped at by parents. They take care of making sure that your kid gets to play--at least let the one parent who is actually doing work for the team see their own kid play.

No. The kid should play only if the KID earns it.

Agree. I was manager and wouldn’t want that to have anything to do with my kid’s playing time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love being a manager. Admittedly I like knowing what is going on and I want other families to know as well. The summer is when the work happens; after that it’s updating team snap and depending on the league coordinating uniform colors with the other team. Pretty simple. SafeSport takes a couple of hours the first time. Our club handles international clearances, and they are a one time thing anyway. You may need to collect photos for player cards. If the team wants social events you can get someone else to handle that. The thing I dislike is finding hotel blocks but it’s not the end of the world. Talk to your coach about his expectations and the club’s admin staff about how the role works at your club. It can vary but again, lots of people enjoy it and do it for years.

SafeSport takes a couple of hours the first time and every subsequent time, because you have to watch it every year to remain certified... but otherwise, I agree with this. Not a huge amount of work, makes me feel like I'm being helpful, makes it easier to get to know all the families on the team quickly. (My kid isn't old enough to have hotel blocks be an issue yet, though.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the team manager is usually just someone helpful but it isn't as much work as it seems. Op, you should try it for a year, its not that big of a deal like class parent or anything.
I disagree with some pps here. The team manager personality to me is different than the soccer dad who is always in the coach's ear. That guy is the worst.

You must be in rec. the team manager job for ECNL is like a full time unpaid side job.

[Anonymous]

I was the team manager for a couple of years for my DS' NCSL team.

It wasn't much work, just a bit of managing the schedule via the TeamSnap app and showing up to games with the roster for check-in. The biggest PIA was the several league websites that had to be accessed usually only at the beginning of the season -- just another set of rarely used login credentials and clunky, confusing websites to navigate. Oh, and if a game needs to be rescheduled, there is a whole rigamarole that needs to be undertaken again via these league websites.

Overall it was not bad at all, but after doing 2 years of it I'm glad someone else is doing it now. I never tried to use my position as team manager to influence the coach or involve myself in any game or practice related decisions, other than offering my opinion on scheduling when asked.

[Anonymous]

I was a manager for several years for DD. It’s gotten quite a bit easier thanks to TeamSnap and improvements from Maryland Youth Soccer on the platform for registering players.

Some teams (B/C teams) take on new players all the time. That makes it more work. Plus coordinating player cards for players guesting with A team or older teams.

I always tried to answer parent questions right away to keep them from bothering the Coach too much. You know, so he could coach rather than talk about practice field permits or the weather.

Best advice is to delegate things like hotels, parties, team dinners, service activities.

My kid probably got a little more playing time but this was a B team and everyone hit plenty of playing time.