Phase 2: Lesson 3
Return to the full Roadmap to Success.
Getting coaches and team managers together is one of the most critical tasks you’ll need to complete to ensure a successful season. If you are a for-profit club or a not for profit association, your coaching searches probably look a bit different. Most clubs compensate coaches in some way, but there are some out there who rely on volunteer coaches. Regardless of how you’re set-up, here are some tips on preparing to onboard and set up your coaches.
Build your coaching checklist
Sit down and put together all of the requirements needed for your coaches. Do they need specialized coaching clinics, certifications, background checks, waiver forms, etc.? Do you have particular experiences required? Make a list; you’ll be referencing it plenty later.
*Note: be sure to check with your national governing body if you aren’t familiar with their requirements.
Build a dedicated webpage
Recruiting coaches will be different based on your requirements. If you’re a rec club with only in house teams who have parent coaches, recruiting is pretty straight forward. However, if you need to go out and get coaches, it can be a little more complicated. Either way, put together a webpage that lists out all of the steps and requirements needed to coach.
Here’s an example from my club. We send out the link to that page regularly, and it’s a heavily trafficked page on our website.
Set up your screening and education resources
You may be directed by your governing body to use a particular screening service or training program like SafeSport. They may have it set up for you already. If you need guidance or need to set up your own, do your research. (Hint: SportsEngine HQ directly integrates with NCSI, which is used by dozens of NGBs and Abuse Prevention Systems, and is considered the gold standard when it comes to safety.)
When you have this all organized, you’re going to need to set up a registration to send coaches through so you can collect their information, have them complete forms, and initiate their screens and training programs.
Set up your registration
Set up your new registration in SportsEngine HQ. The easiest way is to have SportsEngine internal account management teams set it up for you. They’ll make sure your screening program is set up, and all appropriate fields are configured correctly.
Create your smart groups
In my opinion, smart groups are the most valuable feature that is underutilized. Here’s how I recommend creating them. This will allow you to create “U8 Coaches” or “Girls Program Coaches” lists so you can message them and also see your numbers in real-time.
We’re through the preparation phase, and we’re on to opening our program registrations. Next time, we’ll look at executing our communications plan and getting our registration launched. The new Design Center will be helpful, and we’ll discuss our listings on SportsEngine.com.
