FLORIDA FIRE JUNIORS TEAM MANAGER MANUAL P.O. Box Naples, FL

Transcription

1 FLORIDA FIRE JUNIORS TEAM MANAGER MANUAL P.O. Box Naples, FL Revised October 26th, 2016 Ver 2.5

2 Table of Contents I. Introduction A. Team Components B. Team Manager Responsibilities II. Communication A. Communication with the Team B. Communication with the Club C. Communication with the Director of Operations D. Communication with the Director of Coaching E. Conflict Resolution (Concerns from Team Member) III. IV. Team Meeting Team Roster V. Team Binder VI. VII. VIII. Player Passes Uniforms League Play A. League Registration and Schedules B. League Rosters C. Referee Fees D. Guest Players and Fees E. Partial Season Fees F. Scrimmage Requests IX. Tournament Registration X. Team responsibilities and guideline for Coaches Per Diem XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. Hotel Arrangements for Travel Teams Team Treasury and Fundraising Volunteer Requirement Team Photo End of Season Team Party Additional Reference Information A. FYSA Website Access B. FYSA & GotSoccer C. Transfer and Release Process XVI. XVII. Concussions it s the Law Lighting 2

3 I. INTRODUCTION Thank you for taking the time to volunteer to serve as a Team Manager. Team Managers perform a very important role in the successful management and running of the many teams that comprise Florida Fire Juniors (FFJ). The purpose of this manual is to provide Team Managers with an overview of the many areas of responsibility of team management and serve as a reference guide to help assist you in the running of your individual teams. Each team may elect to have one person perform the responsibilities of the Team Manager or they may be shared by multiple members. A. Team Components There are many people that comprise a successful soccer team. 1. Coach: The Head Coach is someone that has been selected by FFJ as the primary individual responsible for the team. The Head Coach has to report to an internal board of directors (the parents), an external board (the club) and deals with competing enterprises (other teams) in a business association (leagues and tournaments). The Head Coach is responsible for decisions regarding player selection, assistants, team rules and playing time. The Head Coach is also responsible for team conduct and is the club s ambassador to others. A Head Coach may select one or two Assistant Coaches to help him/her fulfill their roles and responsibilities towards the team. Both the Head Coach and any Assistant Coaches are responsible for meeting the expectations of FYSA and FFJ with regard to conduct and qualifications. 2. Player: Each player that registers and agrees to play for a team affiliated with FFJ must abide by the FYSA Code of Ethics and the Player Agreement required to be executed upon registration with FFJ. This includes displaying good sportsmanship and proper respect toward others on the field. Each player needs to make a concerted effort to be at all practices and games with all appropriate playing equipment because each player is an important link of the team. 3. Parents: Parents provide an important role in contributing towards the success of an individual soccer team. Parents are also required to adhere to the FYSA Code of Ethics and Player Agreement executed upon registration of their player with FFJ. 4. Team Manager: The Team Manager is generally a parent of a player on the team who is willing to assume responsibility for the successful organization and management of the individual team. Team Managers can either elect to manage the team by themselves or enlist the assistance of other parents to help with the successful organization and management of the team. 3

4 B. Team Manager Responsibilities The Team Manager serves as the general manager for the team organization, coordinating all of the tasks that need to be done throughout the soccer season. Team Managers can familiarize themselves with their roles & responsibilities at the Team Manager Meeting, which is generally scheduled in August before the beginning of each season. Some important areas of responsibility of the team management are listed below. These responsibilities are discussed in more detail later: BEFORE THE SEASON BEGINS: Communicate with the various parties associated with the Team, including the FFJ, the Director of Coaching, the Director of Operations, the Coach, the Parents & the Players. Attend the FFJ Managers Meeting. Confirm that all players have a uniform. Collect any new players birth certificate copies and forward on to the Registrar. Collect/confirm data from players: parents & players names, uniform number, parents home and cell numbers, and all s. Confirm with parents that contact information can be shared amongst team parents. contact info to parents on your team (of those who are willing to share their info). Make sure all families are comfortable with and/or text communication and will use it for last minute schedule changes. Note alternatives for families requesting calls or texts. Communicate with your coach and make your plan for the season training, tournaments, how you two would like to handle parent concerns, player injury assistance, who reports the score of your games, etc. Check GotSoccer.com and verify all players are showing up on your official roster (under Documents). Any players not listed need to be reported to the Registrar immediately. Spend some time familiarizing yourself with Gotsoccer.com, but do NOT change any information. If you need help navigating Got Soccer contact your registrar. Maintain a FFJ Medical Release Form for each player. These must be at each game & practice. Make a copy for every coach and yourself. (these no longer need to be notarized) Player passes: Registrar will contact you to give you your player passes and make arrangements for you to receive any new player s passes. It s handy to punch holes in the corner of the cards and keep them on a ring. Discuss whether you or your coach will hold onto the cards. Uniforms: When new players are added, be certain they visit soccer.com to get their uniform ordered. DURING THE SEASON: Early in week, ask coach who will opposing team s manager or coach to confirm next week s game time/date and to ask for/give directions to fields if necessary. Register for tournaments. It is expected that each team will play in a minimum of one tournament per season. Confirm that the tournament is an FYSA sanctioned tournament. Please confirm with the DOC before registering for any tournament... parents/ players a link to directions for soccer fields the week before each game. Remind them what color jersey to wear (RED, RED, RED home, White, Red, Red away) but always have the players bring both jerseys! Always carry all parents cell phone numbers with you so you can contact them for last minute cancellations or emergencies. In the event a home game needs to be rescheduled during season (usually due to weather), contact the other manager to find a new date/time. Then the Field Assignor who will contact the Referee Assignor. Communicate information to your team. Create and Maintain a Team Binder Manage along with the team coach Player Passes for the Team Distribute League Play information Register for Tournaments Facilitate Hotel Arrangements for Tournaments and Travel 4

5 Manage the Team Treasury/Fundraising Efforts Organize a Team Photo day Organize an End of Season Team Party FOR THE GAMES: Bring 3 game cards to each game: one for opposing coach, one for referee, and one for your coach. Or the correct SFU multi-color game card, Bring player cards to every game. This is mandatory and players without cards are ineligible to play. Pay referees before game begins. Help ensure that parents/guests on our sideline are respectful, positive, and display good sportsmanship. Remind parents on our sideline about Code of Conduct, if necessary. If you need help talking to a parent, ask your coach or the appropriate Director. Our teams, club, and community are judged by our actions let s represent all involved in a positive light. Our players are watching. AFTER THE GAMES: Call in game scores (contact information on game card) immediately after game. These responsibilities do not all need to be the sole responsibility of the Team Manager and the Coach and Team Manager are encouraged to meet prior to the start of the season to confirm the delegation of these duties. Once the Coach and Team Manager have reached an agreement about the specific roles of the Team Manager and Coach, a Team Manager may choose to perform all of the duties assigned to him/her or more realistically, the Team Manager may decide to delegate out some of the duties to other team parents. The main purpose of delegating duties out to others is not only to take the burden of all of the administrative responsibilities off of one person, but also to create opportunities for all of the team parents to participate and be involved with the team. Seasonal Year The seasonal year for FFJ officially runs from August 1 through July 31 st of the following year. However, many events occur prior to the start of the official seasonal year. A general overview of the FFJ seasonal year is as follows: Coaching Assignments Tryouts Initial Registration Drive Pre-season meetings Team Meetings Fundraising through sponsorships Soccer Showcase (FFJ Picnic) League play Senior Teams Junior Teams Fall Tournament President/Commissioners Cup State Cup End of Season Banquet AGM Spring Tournament Tournaments May Late May/June June Late July/Early August August-September August-September September August-October; February-May September-Dec.; Jan/Feb-April October February - May March - May May March April / May Varies 5

6 II. COMMUNICATION One of the most important components in the successful organization of a team is good communication with FFJ, the Director of Operations, Director of Coaching, the Club Registrar, the Coach(s), the team parents and the players. Individual teams may decide upon the best form of communication for their teams, which may include , text, phone or handouts or a combination of the above. A. Communication with the Team: Most teams streamline the huge communication responsibility by the use of or group texting as their main method of talking to their team families. The main reason is that it saves time by being able to talk to several families at once. However, not all members of your team may have reliable access to and it is important that the communication channels reflect the abilities of ALL the individual members of the team. Please add DOO and DOC to all team communication. Team communication is should not be used to advertise non FFJ events for further clarity contact DOO. Group Messaging: There are various cases where you need to send a text message to all your team. Game or practice canceled because of rain, you want everyone to meet in one place or bring water to a game to name a few. There are many Apps for Android or iphone that allow for group texting. Sports Engine is recommended. Communication with the Club: Make sure your team families are familiar with the FFJ website: The website includes information about your Board of Directors, BOD meetings, club news, upcoming FFJ events, individual team pages and coaches, links to other related websites, parent & player resources, uniforms, fields & schedules, sponsorships, forms, etc. This web-site is a good source of information for parents. It can even be customized for your team to include links to team calendars. The FFJ web-site allows parents to sign up for automatic updates. The web-site also allows parents to questions or provide feedback. Parents are encouraged to attend and participate in the operation of the FFJ by attending monthly board meetings and club events such as our annual picnic, tournaments or end of season banquet. The dates and times for these meetings and events are updated during the season on the website. B. Communication with the Director of Operations: The Director of Operations ( DOO ) for FFJ is responsible for the day-to-day operations and administration of the club. Any questions regarding Florida Fire Juniors, sponsorships, uniforms ordering, fundraising, team functions, etc. should be directed to the Director of Operations. The Director of Operations contact information is as follows: Director of Operations: Dwight Morgan Address: admin@floridafirejuniors.com Phone: (239) C. Communication with the Club Registrar: The Club Registrar for FFJ is responsible for the registration and verification of players, player passes, Rosters, uniform issues and scholarship questions. The Club Registrar contact information is as follows: Club Registrar: Shari Bills Address: registrar@floridafirejuniors.com Phone: (239)

7 The Club Registrar is the primary point of contact for the Team Manager for player parent issues as noted above. As such, the Team Manager needs to ensure that all communication from the Club Registrar regarding registration, uniforms and fee payments needs to be forwarded to the parents of each team. D. Communication with the Director of Coaching: The Director of Coaching ( DOC ) is responsible for the technical direction of FFJ to include training, league play, tournaments, additional training opportunities and any other questions regarding the technical development of each team/child within FFJ. Director of Coaching: Paul Williams Address: doc@floridafirejuniors.com Phone: (239) The Team Manager and/or Coach may serve as the primary source of communication of information from the DOO and DOC to the parents. As such, the Coach/Team Manager needs to ensure that all communication from the DOO or DOC to parents is forwarded within 24 hours. E. Conflict Resolution (Concerns from a Team Member): Occasionally a Team Parent may come to you with a team problem, usually of a sensitive nature, that they would like for you to discuss with the coach. Relay as best you can the problem and perhaps help the coach come up with a workable solution for all involved. If a team member feels there is something of concern that needs to be brought to the attention of the club, please have them follow the following process: 1) * Member/parent to approach coach first with the issue. Appointment for a face to face meeting is to be requested by , copying to both your ADOC and member to concerns@floridafirejuniors.com. There is absolutely NO discussion of issues by by either coach or parent. 2) If issue remains unresolved after parent/coach face to face meeting, member/parent to schedule meeting in person with their ADOC by copying the same concerns mailbox listed above. 3) If issue still remains unresolved at this point, parent/member may request that their issue/grievance be heard by the "Member Relations Committee" by request to the same concerns mailbox above. Committee to be composed of two board members, the DOC a coach and a selected parent volunteer. Committee will meet monthly or as needed. Committee reserves the right to investigate and discuss matters before rendering any plan of action, but will work to deliver rapid resolution. Decisions of the Member Relations Committee are final and binding. * Absolutely NO approaching Coaches with issues/concerns within 24hrs of any game or tournament. A 48hr "cooling off period" required before requesting a meeting by with the coach after any game or tournament. 7

8 III. TEAM MEETING Once the Coach and Team Manager have come to a decision about how the team will operate over the coming seasonal year, the Team Manager should schedule an initial Team Meeting. The initial Team Meeting should cover the following areas (but is not limited to these areas); 1. Team Welcome 2. Team Roster Distribution 3. Review Team Registration Status/Deadlines with the team 4. FYSA Code of Ethics & Player Agreement (Review) 5. Coaches Coaching Philosophy 6. Practice Schedule (Dates/Times/Locations) 7. Game Schedule (if available) 8. Tournament Expectations/Schedules 9. Equipment Requirements (Players/Coach/First Aid Kit) 10. Assign Additional Duties to Parents 11. Team Uniform Florida Fire Juniors Gear 12. FFJ Events (Soccer Showcase/End of Season Banquet) 13. Sponsorships to date, additional opportunities Sponsorship Form 14. Additional Fund Raising Opportunities 15. How to address concerns / disputes IV. TEAM ROSTER Once the try-out process is completed and the players for a team have been selected, the Coach should provide the Team Manager with a list of all the players who made the team along with their phone numbers and addresses, if available. The Team Manager should call/contact all of the families where he/she doesn t have the information that s listed below. These families are usually the ones who are new to your soccer team. Don t forget to welcome them to the FFJ family! 1. Player Name 2. Player Address 3. Player Phone Number 4. Parent(s) Work Phone Number(s) 5. Parent(s) Cell Phone Number(s) 6. Address 7. Jersey Number Once gathered, this information should be entered into a spreadsheet format. It is useful to share this team roster and contact information with all members of the team. You can have the team roster laminated (in various sizes) and distribute it to your team families for them to keep. The Team Roster should also contain the Coach s phone number and contact information and Team Manager s contact information, so parents and players have the ability to communicate with both. 8

9 V. TEAM BINDER The Team Manager should maintain a 3 ring Team Binder, which contains the following information: 3-hole binder pouch to hold the following to ease in giving to referees prior to each game: Up to date roster Laminated player passes on a ring Referee fees when applicable Encased in page protectors Medical Release Form for each player Roster (FYSA and League (SFU, US Club or FSPL) Signed Parent Code of Conduct Form Team Game Schedule Team Practice Schedule Field Maps Guest Player Forms Team Agenda for games (when travel is involved) Statistics Notification of Possible Head Injury Form FYSA signed Informed Consent about Concussions and Head Injuries Form o Copies of FYSA - Possible Concussion or Head injury Notification Form Monthly Financial Reconciliation o Team Treasury Information/Referee Monies/Team Monies This Team Binder should accompany the team to each soccer event. In most cases, the Player Passes, medical releases, rosters and referee fees need to be submitted to the tournament committees prior to participation in any tournament. NOTE: For Presidents or Commissioners and State cup the FYSA tournament staff will have Official copies of your roster you do not need to bring them. These copies were made after the roster freeze date and are the ones they will use for the events. Under most conditions they will not use your Roster even if you do bring them but it never hurts to have a few copies runoff after the roster freeze date just in case. VI. PLAYER PASSES Registration for the season is completed online via GotSoccer. Registration instructions can be found on the Florida Fire Juniors web-site ( All players must register online and complete payment to be eligible to receive a player pass for the season. Once all players on a team have completed the registration process and been properly registered with FYSA, the Club Registrar will issue player passes for each player. The Player Pass is your player s passport to play. Players are not allowed to play in league play or tournaments without a valid player pass. If a pass is lost (or not retrieved back from the registration desk at a tournament which holds player passes for the duration of a tournament), it is the team s responsibility to pay for the cost of replacing the pass. The Team Manager or Coach should ensure that Player Passes are properly retrieved upon the completion of each league game (from the referee) or tournament. Player Passes are generally not required for scrimmages. The Club reserves the right to revoke any individual Player Pass for violation of the terms of the Player Agreement. Team Managers are required to return to the Club Registrar any player pass which have been revoked. Passes should remain with the team manager or coach and are not to be used for Non FFJ events. The passes 9

10 will be collected and given to the DOC at the end of the season. For questions regarding Player Passes, contact the Club Registrar. VII. Uniforms Each player must purchase a uniform kit through Eurosport (Soccer.com). Upon completion of their registration, each player will receive an from Eurosport with information on how to order their uniform for the season. In general, the Club is on a two-year uniform cycle, requiring the purchase of a new uniform every TWO years. Basic required uniform items include two game jerseys (Home and Away), one game short and sock, one practice jerseys, one practice short and sock. In addition, State Cup ( Premier ) teams require warmups and back-packs for travel to out-of-state events. Other items may be purchased by families at their own discretion. Home Game Kit: Red Jersey/Red Short/Red Socks Away Game Kit: White Jersey/Red Short/Red Socks Alternate Game Kit: White or Red Jersey/Black Short/Black Socks Practice Uniform: Grey Training Jersey/ Black Short/ Black Socks Players are required to wear the designated game and practice uniforms to all games and practices. VIII. LEAGUE PLAY At the beginning of every season, each Coach will work with the DOC to determine the appropriate level of play for his/her team and what league the team wishes to compete in for their regular season A. League Registration and Schedules: Once a team has identified which League they wish to participate in (East Coast/West Coast) registration forms must be completed by the individual teams in accordance with the terms and requirements of the individual leagues. Each team is responsible for completing its own league registration. Fees associated with the league registrations are paid by the Club. As soon as available, league play schedules should be forwarded to all parents and players on a team. Team Managers may want to establish a process by which parents can notify the coach in advance of any scheduling conflicts. Individual leagues have different restrictions on rescheduling of games and games which are not played according to the schedule set forth by the league may be subject to forfeit. Each team needs to familiarize themselves with the rules of play of their respective league. League specific questions can be directed to the League Representative specified below: 10

11 League web-site information is as follows: League Name Website League Representative Southwest Florida (SWFL) West Coast Boys & Girls Paul Williams Lee County Youth Soccer (LCYS) Recreational - West Coast South Florida United (SFU) East Coast Boys & Girls Florida State Premier (FSPL) Boys & Girls Premier Paul Williams willospyder@aol.com Jack Togher jacktogher.ffj@yahoo.com Paul Williams willospyder@aol.com B. League Rosters: Individual leagues have varying requirements for rosters for league play but in general, West Coast and some East Coast leagues will allow the use of the electronically generated roster from GotSoccer.com. Other East coast leagues require league specific rosters, which are generated by the Club Registrar and handed out to each team prior to the start of their league play. C. Referee Fees: The amounts and payment terms for referee fees for each league is set by the individual league prior to the start of league play. Referee Fees for league play are paid by FFJ but Team Managers are responsible for requesting the correct fees from the Club at the start of their league play season. Requests for referee fees should be ed to Shari Bills at registrar@floridafirejuniors.com. When checks are issued for referee fees, the Registrar provides the bill denominations needed on the check stub, so the team always will always have the corresponding leagues breakdown information. A copy of this request should also be sent to the Director of Operations at admin@floridafirejuniors.com and the Director of Coaching at doc@floridafirejuniors.com. Referee Fee requests must include the following information: 1. Name of the Team/Age Group/Gender 2. Name of the League 3. Amount of the Request (# Games * Fee Per Game) 4. Payment Information (Who to make the check payable to) 5. Mailing Instructions Requests for referee fees need to be made at least two weeks prior to the start of league play to allow for sufficient time to process the request. 11

12 Per Team, Per Game, Amount Referee Split SFUYSA Per Game Fee Referee Fees 9U & 10U $40 team $36-$22-$22 11U & 12U $46 team $42-$25-$25 13U & 14U $55 team $50-$30-$30 15U+ $70 team $64-$38-$38 LCYS Home team pays Referee Fees 10U $24 only for ref fees $24 12U $51 only for ref fees $25-$13-$13 15U $72 only for ref fees $36-$18-$18 19U $88 only for ref fees $44-$22-$22 SWFL Fees Split Between Teams Referee Fees 9/10U $28 only for ref fee $28 11/12U $60 only for ref fees $30-$15-$15 13U $80 only for ref fees $40-$20-$20 FSPL Per Game Fee Referee Fees 15/16U $60 team $60-$30-$30 17/18/19U $70 team $70-$35-$35 D. Guest players VS Club Pass players Guest Players and Fees: The use of guest players is governed by the terms of the individual leagues in which a team is playing or the specific rules of the tournament for which a team has applied. Guest Players are not permitted for Presidents/Commissioners Cup of State Cup competitions. Club Pass may be used intra-club (within FFJ) and Guest Players inter-club (from another club other than FFJ). If your team desires to make use of a Guest Player or Club Pass, all initial communication should go first to the DOC (doc@floridafirejuniors.com) and then in the coach of the team from which you are requesting the guest or player pass. Initial Guest Player requests should NOT go through the player or parent. Any guest player requests received by the Director of Operations or Club Registrar will be forwarded to the DOC for approval. For most league play, Guest Players may be hand-written onto the league roster, with a notation of the team code for the Guest Player that he/she is primarily registered to. You must have your guest player forms at the event you are attending. For most Tournament Play, Intra-Club club pass Players can be added to a team s roster through an Event Roster, which can be obtained from the Club Registrar. These players do not typically require a separate Guest Player Form (club Pass). 12

13 For Inter-Club Guest Players, a signed Guest Player Form must be obtained, which must be authorized by the DOC or the Club Registrar. The individual team is responsible for making sure they have the appropriate signed Guest Player Forms and player passes for the competition they wish to utilize the Guest Player for and that all rules for Guest Players have been adhered to. For Guest Players that are being asked to play that are not currently affiliated with any club and are not joining the club as a regular player, the player must register as a guest player using a registration link provided by the Club Registrar. The Club Registrar will issue the Player Pass for the Guest Player. Once the player has completed his Guest Play event, the Player Pass for this player must be returned to the Club Registrar. The guest playing fee one-time guest players is $50. All passes must be returned after the event. E. Partial Season Fees For players that request a partial season, the registration fee based is calculated upon the number of months they plan on participating within the current season. They would also be rostered to the Guest Player roster: High School Presidents Cup: Season September to early May (appx 8 Months)* High School State Cup: Season August to early May (appx 9 Months)* Non-High School Presidents or Commissioners Cup: Season September to early May (appx 8 Months)* Academy: Season September to early May (appx 8 months)* *denotes break in training for either High School and/or Winter Break F. Scrimmage Requests Only the DOO and DOC are authorized to contact the County concerning scrimmage field availability. Any team or teams that circumvent this directive will be responsible for all costs incurred including but not limited to the cost of the field, the assignor fee (if used) and the referee fees. Team scrimmage requests must follow this directive. All scrimmages need to be planned at least 2 weeks in advance. There will be a charge for ALL scrimmages that need to be assigned a field and referees. In-training (on the day of your training) and/ or In-house Club scrimmages have no charge. In-training scrimmages must be approved by DOC. In-house or FYSA opponent (home) scrimmages need to be scheduled with DOO. Fees Breakdown: Field Rental (@ NCRP) $30 check payable to Collier County Parks & Rec. + Referee Fees, to include center official and potentially 2 assistant referees. Initial Request will be sent to Field Assignor/Director of Operations, Dwight Morgan at admin@floridafirejuniors.com and copied to the DOC, Paul Williams at doc@floridafirejuniors.com and corresponding ADOC. Include age group (i.e. 15UB), date(s) requested, teams playing (i.e. 15UB premier and 14UB premier) and your need for referees (1) center or (3) full referee crew. (See comments lower down) 13

14 Once the county schedules the field the field assignor will contact the referee assignor to arrange for the referees you have requested and you will be notified. In the event the County cannot accommodate your request you will be notified immediately so you can make other arrangements. Additional considerations when considering scheduling a scrimmage. A. In-house VS Inter-club a. If the scrimmage is in-house (2 fire teams) on a non-training night i. You may use only a center referee with or without club linesmen. 1. Referee is assigned by the assignor you pay the going age group/league referee fee. ii. At your discretion you may find your own center referee 1. The referee and the team decide on a fee and communicate with the DOO, DOC and ADOC. iii. In either case the referee must be a certified official b. If the scrimmage is inter-club (vs FYSA opponent) i. A full crew of refs are required and will be paid by the teams playing ii. The referees will be assigned by the club assignor iii. The team will pay the associated referee fees B. If you change your game or cancel a. If you change your game or cancel it with less than a weeks notice i. You will be required to pay the referee fees. The referees and the assignor have all made commitments to your game day and time and a cancellation or change impacts their schedules, time and efforts. C. Why can t you get me a field on the weekend I want; the fields are empty? Simply put, our Memorandum of understanding with the county or MOU. In the MOU it is set out that we (FFJ) are limited to 1 field of each size per weekend (1) full size, (1) 12U and (1) 10U) and this is set by the County, no discussion. Therefore, with league games being played we may not have the field space available within our MOU on a given weekend. We have created this process based on requests from the County and to make sure that our teams, staff and assignors are fairly dealt with. Please respect other teams and your club staff. XIV. TOURNAMENT REGISTRATION At the beginning of every season, the Coach should identify which tournaments the team will be interested in attending and present it to DOC for Approval. Any tournaments entered prior to this approval will be at the liability of the coach. Information regarding upcoming tournaments can come from a number of sources but a listing of FYSA sanctioned tournaments in contained in the FYSA web-site at Prior to the registration deadline, the Team Manager is responsible for completing the registration process for the team, including submission of any required registration documents and payment of any applicable tournament fees. Other than Presidents/Commissioners Cup or State Cup which are paid for by FFJ, any tournament fees incurred by the Team are the responsibility of the individual team. Most tournaments require an upfront online registration & payment of a fee. Required registration information may include the following: 14

15 1. Team Name /Team Code *Make sure to use team name assigned on Got Soccer 2. Club Affiliation (Florida Fire Juniors) 3. Head Coach Contact Information 4. Team Contact Information (can be Coach or Team Manager) 5. Team Jersey Information (Home Color: Red; Away Color: White) Prior to the actual start of the tournament (either the night before or prior to the first game), physical registration must take place, including presenting the player passes, (NOTE: Most tournaments require the player passes be presented in roster order for check in.) rosters, medical releases, and any other required documentation i.e., waivers, etc). The Team Manager should ensure that they have read all the applicable registration requirements so that they can satisfy them at the physical registration. It is also recommended that the Team Manager print out a copy of the Tournament Rules. Most tournaments in the State of Florida will allow the use of the electronic rosters generated from the secure portion of the FYSA web-site. Please see the FYSA Section below for more information regarding electronic rosters. Information regarding the tournament should be forwarded to all members of the team, including field location, game times, etc. IX. HOTEL ARRANGEMENTS FOR TRAVEL TEAMS An important component of travel soccer teams is the need for teams to stay together at locations around the state of Florida as part of their travel schedule. This may be due to a tournament, whose driving distance makes it inefficient to travel back and forth between games or back-toback away league games that also involve a great amount of travel time. For each overnight stay, the Team Managers provide the opportunity for parents and players to stay together at a central location. As part of this process the Team Managers should take the following into consideration: 1. Make a concerted effort to choose a hotel with acceptable accommodations at a reasonable price (at the first parent meeting, get some guidance from your team parents as to an acceptable price and hotel rating). Your soccer families may have limited budgets be sensitive to everyone s financial situation. 2. Contact identified hotels before all away games and tournaments. Specifically ask for the group sales contact at the hotel since you will be interested in a discount hotel rate for a large group. 3. Once an acceptable hotel/room rate combination has been identified, reserve a block of rooms for each of your players and coach(s) if necessary. Make sure you indicate what type of rooms you want rooms with double beds and hopefully non-smoking rooms. Information regarding cancellation policy, additional features (such as breakfast included) is also helpful to obtain. Do not reserve the rooms under your credit card number. Agree with the hotel on a deadline date by which each parent must call the hotel to provide their own personal credit card number or else they will forfeit their room reservation by the deadline date. 4. Some hotels will require execution of a group sales contract, the terms of which can be negotiated but most hotels will allow you to reserve a block of rooms for a short period of time without providing a guarantee via credit card. 5. As soon as the room block has been set-up, all parents with the hotel information, deadline dates & contact information so that they can make their individual reservations. 6. Follow-up with the hotel prior to the expiration of the group block to make sure all of the players have made arrangements for overnight stay. Follow-up with any 15

16 parents who do not appear to have made a reservation to confirm if they have made alternative plans. 7. Remind parents about appropriate behavior for your team players during their hotel stay. 8. Keep a record of all hotel information and confirmation information in the Team Binder. X. Team responsibilities and guideline for Coaches Per Diem It is the team s responsibility to ensure adequate funding and resources are made available to their coach prior to any events where they will be traveling outside of the Collier/Lee county area. It is established by FFJ that the teams will pre-pay their coaches travel expenses based on the coaches travel guidelines as set by the Florida Fire Juniors. It is the team Managers responsibility to communicate with the Coach In order to confirm the coaches prepaid travel expenses (room/gas/meal allowance, etc.) have been met prior to any qualifying event. Guideline for Coaches, Per Diem is: $50 per day and 40 cents per mile which covers, wear and tear, insurance etc. only applicable for travel outside Lee and Collier County. Hotel, Your coach is expected to stay in the same hotel, or a hotel of comparable cost, as their team. It is expected that the team will reserve the room, secure payment methods with the motel/hotel on the coach s behalf before departure, and supply the coach with the confirmation number required at check-in. The team is not responsible for miscellaneous room charges such as in-room movies, etc. Per Diem is based on $10 breakfast, $15 Lunch, and $25 dinner; Per-diem is set at $50 per full day by the FFJ board of directors. Your coach should be able to tell you when he/she is leaving Naples and what per-diem will be for each day. Mileage calculations should be made based on round trip Naples or the coach s home to the event, using MapQuest or Google Maps. When calculating mileage use shortest time. Additional costs such as road, bridge and tunnel tolls as well as parking fees will be reimbursed to the coach by the team provided receipts are submitted. The team manager and coach should determine a procedure to submit receipts for reimbursements. A reimbursement form is available online to use as needed. Once the Team Manager receives the reimbursement request they should without delay reimburse the coaches expenses. There is the possibility that during tournament play there may be an instance where the team and coach are required to stay longer than anticipated and outside of the pre-paid expenses that you provided to your coach. In those rare instances the coach is responsible for submitting a reimbursement form (a form is posted on line under member resources, form ) to the team manager as soon as possible after the event. Once the Team Manager receives the invoice they should without delay reimburse the coaches expenses based on the submitted invoices. Florida fire juniors expects the Team Manager and Coach to work together to ensure that the coach s expenses are pre-paid whenever possible prior to his/her departure. 16

17 Please communicate closely with your coach on all away games, tournament schedules and events so that you can plan for travel expenses. If there are concerns please contact your DOC and/or ADOC. a. Stay and play tournaments. Teams requiring overnight accommodations must stay at a one of the tournament hotel options. Out of town teams will not be eligible to participate in the tournament unless the hotel reservation is confirmed. These kinds of forced requirements as another way to bilk money out of parents and traveling teams. There is considerable suspicion about rates being hiked up. Further, there is discontent that good old American freedom of choice is being violated without good reason. Stay away from these tournaments. It is a tricky requirement and all sorts of things can go wrong, either at the team, hotel, or tournament management level. It s a matter of fairness. Can hotels keep decent rates and apply them evenly to ALL teams? Families? XI. TEAM TREASURY AND FUNDRAISING A. Team Treasury: An important part of a Team s success is management of the Team Treasury, which allows each team to fund all the activities for their seasonal year, that are not covered by FFJ. Expenses that are typically incurred by individual teams include (but are not limited to) tournament expenses (other than Presidents/Commissioners/State Cup registration and referee fees), coach s travel expenses, scrimmage fees, and End of Season party expenses. Management of the Team Treasury can be accomplished by appointing a separate Team Treasurer if the Team Manager is uncomfortable assuming this role. Management of the Team Treasury includes the following: 1. Create a budget form the Club Budget template for your Team s finances for the seasonal year, including tournament fee expense projections, coach s travelexpenses,etc. 2. Open a team account at a local bank. The account may be under the Team Treasurer s personal information but should reference the Team that it is being established for. Determine who should have signature authority for this account (typically the Team Manager, Treasurer and Coach). 3. Keep a running ledger of money coming in and going out. Money coming in should be from fundraising and sponsorship revenue. Money going out would be the tournament registration fees, coaches reimbursements, etc. 4. Provide the team with a periodic accounting of all monies in the Team Treasury. B. Fundraising: In order to cover the ongoing expenses of the Team for the seasonal year, each team needs to identify how the expenses of the team will be funded: 1. Pay as Your Go Approach: Each parent would contribute their proportional share of Team Expenses for each event/obligation as they are incurred. This approach is very equitable but involves a lot of money collection and follow-up on the part of the Team Treasurer. 2. Sponsorship Opportunities: FFJ offers various levels of sponsorship opportunities for individuals and companies wishing to make a tax-deductible donation to FFJ. 17

18 Team Managers should promote the team s participation in the sponsorship opportunities by distributing sponsorship forms to your team families as soon as you receive them. Deadline for sponsorships are set forth on the Sponsorship Form and include varying levels of contributions. Sponsorship Forms need to be turned in to the Director of Operations or mailed to the FFJ PO Box by the deadline specified on the Sponsorship Form in order to be considered eligible for the benefits associated with the sponsorship. 3. Fundraising: Teams may elect to participate in any fundraising opportunities offered by FFJ or pursue their own individual fundraising efforts. Ideas for fundraisers are unlimited but teams are encouraged fully research any fundraisers that they participate in and contact the Director of Operations for any questions pertaining to hosting an event. Use of the FFJ logo in any fundraising efforts is subject to approval of the Board of Directors of FFJ. Once your team has identified the fundraisers it would like to participate in, the Team Manager should: 1. Notify the team families with the expectations of the fundraising event including: the date, time, expected attendance, expected fundraising dollar amount per player. Encourage all players to participate in the fund raising event to equally allocate the burden. 2. On the fundraiser day, make sure the players are all participating and the money is being handled responsibly. 3. Once the money has been collected, have two people count the money and give the funds to the Team Treasurer. Make sure payment is given for any services rendered. The Team Treasurer needs to take into account which players participated and distribute the profit earned amongst those players unless another agreement was previously made. XII. VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENT Each club member is required to participate in the minimum of 5 hours of volunteer work at posted Florida Fire Juniors events or in a committee. Financial Aid athletes are required to complete 5 hours + 4 hours of volunteer support to fulfill their 9 hours required. We ask that you track your team s volunteer participation throughout the season and forward any s from the Director of Operations out to your team members. Club members may choose to opt out of volunteering by paying $50 to the club. Financial aid recipients can opt out of the initial 5 hours but must fulfill the remaining 4 hours of Volunteer service. The Director of Operations will provide you after each event with the list of volunteers and hours completed for you to record and report. XIII. TEAM PHOTO AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Once all members of the team have received their uniforms, schedule a time to take a team photo (before a game, at the Annual Club Picnic or before a training session). Ideally, the team photo should include every member of the team and coaching staff (team in Red Home Uniform and Coach in Black coaching gear). Forward a copy of this photo via 18

19 to FFJ to be added to the website team pages. the team photo to The Team Manager should also provide periodic updates to the Club regarding team accomplishments in tournaments and league play that may be added to the web-site to help promote your team and provide public relations opportunities. All news worthy items can be sent to XIV. END OF SEASON TEAM PARTY As soon as practicable upon the completion of your season, the Team Manager should schedule an End of the Season Party for all of your team families to honor your coach(es), parents and players. This event brings finality to the season and gives everyone an opportunity to thank all those who worked so hard during the season. You could hold the end of the year party in conjunction with/or separate from the annual End of Season banquet sponsored by the Club (generally in March/April). CELEBRATE THE SEASON!!!! XV. ADDITIONAL REFERENCE INFORMATION A. Florida Youth Soccer Association ( FYSA ) Access: The web-site for FYSA is This site contains important information regarding soccer events in Florida, schedules and deadlines, contact information, codes of conduct, Presidents/Commissioners Cup and State Cup competitions, field locations, other FYSA clubs and much more. FYSA has transitioned the registration of players and team information to GotSoccer, starting with the Seasonal Year. Each coach, assistant coach, team official/manager needs to register online via GotSoccer for the seasonal year. Contact the Club Registrar to obtain a link to the registration portal. As part of this registration, each individual will also be required to complete a background check and comply with other requirements of FYSA. Only persons having completed the FYSA background check in GotSoccer can be added to a team roster as a team official. B. Florida Youth Soccer Association & GotSoccer All information regarding teams and players was merged into an online database ( beginning with the seasonal year. Each coach/team official needs to complete a back-ground check in GotSoccer prior to being added as a team official to a specific roster. In addition, each team in GotSoccer will have a Team Account, which will allow them to register for GotSoccer Tournaments. If you need assistance with user names or passwords for either your Coach/Team Official Account or Team Account in GotSoccer, please contact your Club Registrar (Shari Johnson at registrar@floridafirejuniors.com). 19

20 C. Transfer/Release Process If your Team receives a request from a player who has previously registered with Florida Fire Juniors to transfer to another club or leave the Club, the following steps need to be taken prior to any transfer/release being approved: 1. All Player Releases and Transfers must be submitted in writing by the Player requesting the Release or Transfer. 2. Forward the written request for a Release or Transfer to the Director of Coaching (doc@floridafirejuniors.com) and the Club Registrar (registrar@floridafirejuniors.com). 3. The Director of Coaching will evaluate the request and attempt to resolve any issues or disputes that may be the cause of the request 4. The Club will work to resolve any Club or Team commitments needed to be completed by the Player. 5. Transfer/Releases will be processed by the Club Registrar once the written approval of the Director of Coaching has been obtained. XVI. Concussions it s the law Did you know? There are very few soccer-related deaths. However, the US Center for Disease Control reported that 18 people between 1979 and 1993 had been killed by falling goalposts. Of these 18 people, 14 had head injuries and most were children who were climbing on unstable goalposts, not playing soccer. The point is by speaking up the next time you see kids climbing on a goal you may save a child s life. Soccer what a game! Where else do people use their heads to bounce balls going 75 miles an hour? Managers need to remember that they are the ones that parents often look to for guidance. Please share your thoughts and understanding of concussions with them. Active sports, particularly contact sports like soccer, always carry some risk of injury. Parents also should take the time to observe their child s practice sessions as well as games and don t be afraid to speak up if something does not look right. In this way they can be assured that rules are being applied and guidelines followed. Concussions by the numbers Concussion 50% of "second impact syndrome" incidents - brain injury caused from a premature return to activity after suffering initial injury (concussion) - result in death. Female high school soccer athletes suffer almost 40% more concussions than males (29,000 annually) Female high school basketball players suffer 240% more concussions than males (13,000). 400,000 brain injuries (concussions) occurred in high school athletics during the school year. 15.8% of football players who sustain a concussion severe enough to cause loss of consciousness return to play the same day. 20