The Cobra Travel Program Operational Model has 3 OPERATING ENTITIES: Travel Soccer Board, Age Group Leadership Team (Head Coach, Assistant Coaches, Trainer, and Team Manager), and the Program Membership (players and their families).
The CCO Travel Soccer Program has 8 unique ROLES working across these 3 OPERATING ENTITIES with the following organizational hierarchy: Commissioner, Travel Soccer Board, Director of Coaches (“DoC”), Head Coach, Team Manager, Assistant Coaches, Trainers, and Families (Players). The following are the more detailed explanation of these 8 organizational ROLES and their corresponding responsibilities.
1. Commissioner – Ultimate authority for all matters about the Travel Soccer Program.
2. Travel Soccer Board - Led by the Commissioner, is the core organizational group that provides overall leadership to the Travel Program. We are fortunate to have a Board rich with travel soccer experience and running volunteer organizations. In addition to the Commissioner, other key members of the Board are the Director of Coaches (DoC), Recreational Soccer Commissioner, the Travel Program FYSA Club Registrar, and the Travel Program Referee Assignor, former Soccer Commissioners, and other long-time Optimist-wide Board Members & Officers.
3. Director of Coaches (DoC) – The DoC is responsible for the design and delivery of the Program’s Player Development Program – which includes developing the training curriculum for the various age group membership teams, game management best practices, player development learning methodology, game tactics - and the development of the Coaching Staff. Given one of the main responsibilities of the DoC is the development of the Coaching Staff, the DoC will attend as many games and training sessions as reasonably possible to observe and evaluate coaching and player performance, and parent behavior. The DoC will on occasion coach a team as a role modeling development activity for its coaching staff and deliver training sessions to its staff. The DoC reports to the Commissioner. Listed below are some of the DoC decision authorities: Setting the overall Age Group Program objectives; Defining the Player and the Coaches Development Principles and Strategies (like the concept of the “versatile Player”; Bench Strength; 2 teams operating model, playing time distribution, etc…); Recommending new Coaches to the Board; promoting Assistant Coaches to Head Coaches; assigning Assistant Coaches a LEAD Assistant Coach role. Terminating coaches with Board review & endorsement. Supervising the Coaching Staff and providing general guidance. Final OK on Team Player Selection. Establishing the high-level Age Group-specific Training Plan focus. Establishing the overall Program Operational Policies, Procedures & Coaching Practices (like game management methodology). Qualifying and selecting Vendors to provide supplementary training – subject to approval by the Commissioner. Agent of the CCO Soccer Board to the Program Member families. Voice of the Program Members (Coaches & Families) to the Soccer Board. The DoC may delegate some of its Responsibility &Authority to the Age Group Head Coach and/or Team Manager.
4. Head Coach - The Head Coach reports to the Director of Coaches (DoC). The Head Coach will be expected to adhere to the FYSA Coaches Code of Ethics, and the Terms & Conditions outlined in the Travel Program’s Volunteer Coaches Services Contract, The Head Coach is the primary decision maker for the Age Group team(s) and is responsible for the delivery of the CCO Player Development Program including the behavior of the Program membership – the Players, their Parents, and Fans - throughout the season. Misconduct by any of these members could result in the Head Coach being suspended from coaching or worse, losing their coaching license. Head Coach will be held accountable for the team player development and team performance results. They will be expected to plan for the weekly training activities for their assigned team(s), deliver the weekly training, prepare the game lineups, and coach the team through the League and Tournament commitments always consistent with the Ag Group Program’s Player Development strategies.
5. Team Manager - The Team Manager is a volunteer position whose purpose is to work with their Age Group Coaching Staff, the Travel program Registrar, the DoC, and the Commissioner to ensure all the communication and administrative responsibilities of their assigned team(s) are done properly. The Team Manager reports to the Head Coach with a dotted line to the Commissioner. Among the Team Manager’s responsibilities: The “first point of contact” for its team members. This helps the Coaches focus on the development & execution of the training plan. Administration of the Age Group teams soccer activities like providing instructions for the families on how to get to the game sites and what to wear. Coordinating the Team’s sponsorship drive. Administration of the Team Account (which includes Club Account). Collecting payments for tournaments & leagues. Registering the players with FYSA. Registering the team with the selected Tournaments or Leagues. Coordinating team meetings between Coaches & Parents. Organizing team-sponsored social events. COMMENT: It’s important to note that CCO discourages holding these events at its member families’ homes for liability reasons.
6. Assistant Coaches. The Assistant Coaches support the Head Coaches in the delivery of the CCO Player Development Program. They report to the Head Coach.
7. Trainer - Trainers are additional adult resources to help the Coaching Staff deliver its Player Development Program. They report to the Head Coach. The more adults helping administer the weekly training sessions, the better the quality of training. Trainers may be absent from attending some of the practice sessions but when they do attend, they will actively support the Coaches running the training sessions or the league and tournament game warmups. Like the Coaches, Trainers will be carded with FYSA and will be required to complete a CCO and FYSA Background Check and the FYSA Child Safety Program. Trainers will be expected to dress as Coaches while providing their service. The Club will provide a SAFETY GREEN T-Shirt which they will be required to wear during the weekly training sessions. Although Trainers will not appear on the team’s FYSA Team Roster as Assistant Coaches, they will have an FYSA Coaches Pass in case they are needed for a game as a backup.
8. Membership - The membership is comprised of the players and their families & fans. They are expected to support the Head Coach in the Coach’s efforts to deliver a safe, positive, learning environment. They are expected to adhere to the FYSA Parent Code of Ethics and the CCO Parent Code of Conduct and its corresponding discipline escalation model.