Team Manager Overview
Academy Team Manager works to ensure that the team functions administratively. The Team Manager communicates and updates the team regularly. Most of this information is provided to you by the club. The Team Manager handles the administrative duties while the IAFC coaches focus on training and player development. Primary roles are below:
1. Managing your team’s official documents (you will be issued a team notebook)
2. Communicating to your program Director of Coaching
3. Communicating to your team any weekly schedules, updates, and announcements
4. Registering/check-in for tournaments and managing tournament paperwork
5. Some game day duties
Communication
You are responsible for communicating with your team throughout the year. TeamSnap is the program we use. You have been invited to be your team’s manager via email by your Director of Coaching. Once you accept, you will have access rights to update the team page. Most player contact info will be included already and the parents will have to update their own player entry, but you will be responsible to keep the team page updated with schedules, notes, updates, etc. (everything team-specific) throughout the year. Encourage your team to download the app to their phones for immediate updates. Use TeamSnap to send the emails rather than gmail or your personal accounts.
Game Day Responsibilities
Communicating with your team prior to each game is critical. The earlier the better! You will need to:
1. Notify team of time and location of game (uploaded in advance to TeamSnap).
2. Players should confirm their availability through TeamSnap in advance.
3. Let your coach and Director of Coaching know of any player absences ASAP.
4. Make sure to have the player cards for each player and a filled-out game sheet.
5. Collect player cards (don't forget) after players are checked in.
Tournaments
Academy teams will participate in at least two tournaments each season - a pre-season tournament and a post-season tournament - and the fees for these are included in the registration fee. Make sure to communicate the dates of these tournament weekends to all of your parents at the beginning of the season - stress that their participation is vital and that they should plan to keep these weekend dates open for their son/daughter.
Tournament Registration
- Once the DOC selects which tournament the team will participate in, you will be asked to go online to the tournament website and register the team. Make sure you understand exactly which level the director wants you to place the team (provided in document sent to team managers) and be prepared to list potential conflicts for the tournament directors to manage (example: your coach has multiple teams in same tournament).
Many tournaments use soccerincollege.com or GotSoccer.com for registration. If you are a brand new team, you will need to create a login ID and “build” your team profile. Data entry required. The DOC can help with this. If you are a returning team and manager, most of the information will already be in the site, although it may need slight adjustments to rosters; new managers to existing teams may need to get access to the team from the DOC.
Team Check-in For Tournament
- Preparing for and completing the team check-in prior to the deadline is very important. Normally, the team check-in window opens online the week prior to the tournament. There is a fee to check-in online (please pay it and forward your email receipt to our Bookkeeper for reimbursement). You will need scans of the required documents (player cards, medical releases, official state roster) in order to complete the online process. DOCs will provide these scans to you at the beginning of the season.
Tournament Payment
- After registering for standard pre- and post-season tournaments, send a confirmation email to your DOC and the club will pay (with one large check for all teams) at one time. If this is an extra tournament that the team has elected to participate in, the team should split the costs of tournament fees and coach’s fees.
Tournament Fee and Mileage Policy
1. Tournament and coaching fees (only if traveling outside of Atlanta) will be paid by the club for four tournaments per year.
2. The team shall reimburse (or directly pay for) the head coach’s accommodations if tournament requires significant travel.
3. For tournaments requiring travel more than 90 miles (one way) from the Arizona Soccer Fields, teams shall reimburse the head coach for mileage in accordance with the published IRS Standard Business Mileage Rate.
Travel Tournaments
- As the kids progress in age and ability, the team, along with its coach, may choose to participate in some off-season or additional tournaments. These are typically a-la-carte and require that the team parents fund the tournament fee(s), coaching fee(s) for both the weekend and for additional practices (if planned), and any related travel expenses that the coach will incur (e.g. hotel, parking, mileage, and any other expenses as may be requested). IAFC will cover the travel and tournament costs for full financial aid recipients. Reimbursement forms are available under Policies tab.
It is a best practice to prepare a team budget in advance (with input from the coach) as to the total picture so that parents can be made aware of the financial impact of their decision to participate in a given tournament. Cost saving suggestions include: coaches sharing rooms with one another if multiple teams are participating, coaches coaching more than one team, coach car rental instead of paying mileage, ride sharing for coaches with one another or a family.
If your team decides to travel out of state for a tournament, you will need to obtain “travel permits” from GSSA. At the time of this writing, the cost for this is $5. Information on this process may be found on the Georgia Soccer website. In addition, GSSA has prepared a helpful guide for getting the most out of your tournament travel (including helpful hints regarding establishing supervision and hotel rules). If you travel to a tournament, whether out of state or just overnight, check to see if there is an “official” tournament hotel. Most tournaments offer guidance as to accommodations and may offer discount arrangements. Many clubs have outside entities arrange lodging and negotiate rates. Some tournaments specifically require that teams stay with the official hotel.