Thank you for your interest to be a team parent for your child’s team. You are an important part of your child’s athletics experience and will provide invaluable assistance to your team’s coaches.

What is my role as a Team Parent?

You are the team manager. In fact, that is a much more fitting title than “team parent”. As the team manager, you help the coach and the team by facilitating, communicating and delegating. You are there to coordinate the things that need to be done. This frees up the coaches to do what they are there to do – coach the kids!

First take care of the requirements to be a team parent. These are the basic minimum requirements for all volunteers.

• Complete the Coaching Application at the bottom of this page
• Complete an eApps online criminal background check application
  
• Attend Virtus Training within 60 days of beginning service
  
• Read and sign the Code of Conduct for Church Personnel
• Complete the Child Abuse and Neglect Tracking System Form – CANTS
• Complete Mandated Reporter Training

Below is a list of the basic tasks for a team. Needs are on a team by team basis working with the Head Coach.

• Assist with communication of information from the coaches to the parents (schedules, changes, game information, etc.) if need be
  
• Gathering and/or taking photos of the team in action throughout the season
  
• Recruit help early for the end-of-the-season party. Get the other parents involved!
  
• Help coach and team comply with all safety rules and regulations
• Outline a list of volunteer needs.  Work with the Athletics director to recruit volunteers for home games, and a schedule for carpools to away events if need be
• Present those needs to the team parents and rally for their support. If you can get others involved it makes life easier!
  
• Assist the coaches during team photos
• Get parents to pitch in for snacks. Create a snack sign up and distribute a list of healthy snack ideas!
  (not required)
• Be a supporter of the coach, even if you don’t like him/her. You are there to help make thier job easier, not add drama to the team.
• Parents tend to stand in clusters and complain when they don’t like something. Stay away from negativity and let it be known that you are not interested in joining the fray. 
• Encourage parents who are unhappy to take their complaints directly to the coach, not to you, not to other parents, and especially not to their kids.
• Thank people. The volunteers, the coaches, and the officials - they are grateful for words of appreciation because they often only receive negative feedback.
• Be a cheerleader for every player, not just your own kids, and certainly not just for the team’s star players.
• As a team parent, you are a leader. Remember that due to your position, people are looking up to you, watching how you react to the coach and other team issues.

A team parent can contribute toward setting the tone for a good season. With good communication and organization, you can help make it a great experience for parents, coaches, and players alike.

You can volunteer to be a Team Parent during the registration process for you child