Your first meeting with your team’s parents set the tone for the coming year and is an opportunity to set clear expectations with each parent to make sure they know what’s ahead of them. Here’s an example of your agenda for a Pre-Season Team Meeting:
- Share your team philosophy: are you planning to focus on development without emphasis on winning or are you planning to develop an elite team that will enter several highly-competitive out-of-state tournaments? Review the goals that you want for players and for the team.
- Outline required paperwork and by when you need it
- Review the inherent risks of soccer and other safety issues and cover your emergency action plan. You can refer parents to our Inclement Weather Policy and Code of Conduct for more details at www.wwpsa.org/ClubInfo/Policies.
- Inform parents of uniform costs, registration costs and estimated team fees. You will also need to explain how team fees are calculated and will be directly related to your team’s philosophy; greater reliance on a paid professional trainer and more tournaments equate to higher fees. Also communicate the importance of registering their children with WWPSA and that they cannot play unless the register via https://ssl.demosphere.com/WWPSA.
- Review the uniform or accessory order (if applicable).
- Review the proposed season practice schedule; the first team meeting of the year will likely not have details of when or where, but this may be a good time to understand known conflicts for the upcoming season.
- Discuss nutrition, hydration and rest for players.
- Review methods for communication, including e-mail, phone chain, team website, etc.
- Call for volunteers to help with snack schedules, practice parent schedules, etc. The following positions are also required for Travel teams: treasurer, SAGE representative and Sunburst volunteer coordinator.
- Discuss expectations of behavior from coaches, players and parents.
- Provide time for questions and answers.
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