MANAGERS

Thank you for volunteering to manage a team at Gymea Netball Club. Below is some advice about manager responsibilities, and tips for communication with your team.

The key role of the manager is communication between the club and your team, keeping everyone up to date with game times and other club/SSNA events, and ensuring that the game is scored each week by one of the parents.

• Initial contact: Make contact with your allocated coach and discuss preferred training days. Some coaches will ask the team about days and availabilities. Some coaches may have limited availability due to work and other commitments. As they are volunteering their time to coach, our coaches have the final say about training days and times. Advise the team of training day and time, once this is decided.

• Team communication: Create a forum for team communication. A group chat in an app like WhatsApp works well. Add all parents and the coach. Often the coach will communicate directly with the team in this forum about training times, etc. Discuss with the coach how you will work together on communications.

• Regular updates: Pass on any information to parents, as requested by the club, through the agreed team communication channel.

• Club meeting and communication: Attend the club's coaches and managers meeting prior to the start of the season, and pass on any relevant information to your team. Advise your team that the club uses Facebook to communicate a lot of updates, so please follow the Gymea Netball Facebook Page.

• Equipment: The club will let you know when team bags are available for collection from the clubhouse. This will contain two balls, team bibs and team photo cards. Managers should bring the bag to each game, and wash the bibs between games. Balls should be kept pumped up, and pumps are available at the Gymea clubhouse and at the courts at control.

• Canteen: Inform parents at the start of the season that there will be at least one canteen duty during the season, and everyone is expected to give an hour or so of their time to cover the team's shift. Create a team roster once you have been given your allocated time.

• PlayHQ: Once draws are released, PlayHQ will publish draws for the season. Find your team's draw on PlayHQ and share the link with the team.

• Game times and courts: Update the team each week about the game time and court location. Communicate with the coach about what time players are expected at the court for warm-up, and let the team know.

• Umpiring: The club will provide umpires for junior teams and advise on how much they will be paid each week. Collect money from parents at the start of the season to cover umpiring fees. Please pay umpires BEFORE the game each week as they often have to rush to another game once yours finishes. Please support our club umpires (and umpires from other clubs) and report any umpire abuse to control and request a Gymea official to attend the court. Encourage your parents to be respectful of umpire decisions and encouraging of our junior umpires.

• Scoring: You may choose to score each week, but it's advisable to create a scoring roster and allocate scoring to all of the parents. If you choose to have a roster, let parents know there will be a scoring roster. Once you have created it prior to the start of the season, communicate it to parents in the team chat. We recommend you advise parents that if they need to change, they swap weeks with another parent. If you are the team listed first on the draw the allocated scorer each week should collect the score board from control before the game . The winning team returns the scoreboard to control. Note that children are NOT permitted to score.

• Wet weather: Will be advised on the club website, club Facebook and SSNA Facebook when determined by SSNA. Please pass information onto your teams ASAP.

• Absences: If any players will be absent from training or games, advise parents to post this in the agreed communication forum. Check that the coach has seen and is aware of any absences.

• Borrowing players: If player absences mean the team will be short, contact info@gymeanetball.asn.au to request contacts for team managers who you may approach to borrow players from. This will be from a lower and/or younger grade. Note that borrowed players can only play 2 games with you in a season. After the third game, they become part of your team. Try to borrow different players if possible.

• Forfeits: Teams can play with a minimum of 5 players. In the unlikely event of a forfeit, if you don't have enough players and are unable to borrow, please advise the club ASAP. Email info@gymeanetball.asn.au no later than 5pm on the Thursday before the game. Managers will be provided with a contact number for the club secretary to advise if you will forfeit after 5pm Thursday. Teams who do not advise of a forfeit, or who forfeit on the day, will be fined $50 by SSNA and will not be able to take the court the following week unless the fine has been paid.

• Photos and fundraising: Communicate with the team about photo days and collect money. Communicate about any special fundraising activities (eg crazy sock day) and collect team money to pass on as instructed.

• Safety and first aid: Remind girls about nails and jewellery rules. Trimmed nails. No jewellery. Players may not place band-aids over jewellery. Pack some hair elastics, bobby pins, band-aids, bandage/sticky plaster, nail scissors or clippers in the team bag.

• Player of the match awards: Junior teams may be allocated player of the match awards. The coach will decide on which player receives the award each match. It's helpful if you have a pen in the bag for scorers and to write up awards. Discuss with your coach if they'd like you to write up the awards each week. Keep track of who has received awards, in case the coach hasn't recorded this information.

• Sportsmanship and positivity: Stay positive, regardless of the game outcome, and encourage the girls to do the same. Congratulate the opposition, and encourage and model respect for each other, coaches, the other teams and umpires at all times.

• If issues arise: Let us know at info@gymeanetball.asn.au.

• Junior presentation day: Regardless of how your team performs, encourage everyone to come to junior presentation day. Each coach nominates a player to receive an award and it's great for the team to be there to celebrate together.

• After the season: Please return the team bag, laundered bibs and other equipment to the clubhouse as instructed.