TEAM MANAGEMENT
Welcome to the role of Team Manager! First, thank you for stepping up to contribute to the benefit of your kids and their team. You have a great opportunity to help provide a positive, fun, and healthy experience. Keep in mind that the responsibility of the Manager is not to do it all, but to ensure that it all gets done. With this responsibility, you need to plan to delegate duties.
1. Team Meeting:
a) As early as possible, plan an initial team meeting with the coaches and parents. Prepare an itemized agenda of topics and provide sufficient notice to ensure maximum attendance. Hockey Canada has a Hockey Canada First Parent Meeting outline you may wish to utilize.
b) Bring a list of team duties to be filled (see Team Volunteer Positions). Have parents sign up for what they are interested in.
c) Discuss the team schedule. During the season, teams will have 18-22 regular season games, playoff games, 35-40 indoor practices and 10-15 outdoor practices. The team may also participate in approximately 3 tournaments and exhibition games.
d) Tournaments are an issue which should be addressed immediately as they fill up fast. You should have some knowledge of available tournaments prior to the first parent meeting to determine which ones the team may be interested in attending. Teams can request a schedule exemption once in the first half of the season and once in the second half. Exemption requests must be received by the Hockey Winnipeg office by the dates indicated in the Hockey Winnipeg Rulebook (page viii and/or page 80). The Schedule Exemption/Travel Permit letter is available on the Hockey Winnipeg Website, under Forms).
The A-division schedule exemption deadlines for the 2023-24 season are:
First Half: October 10, 2023
Second Half: November 24, 2023
Second Half: November 24, 2023
2. Team Activities:
a) Teams will have ballot votes on the following with a 75% majority required:
i) Number of tournaments the team will participate in.
ii) Whether the team wishes to play tournaments or exhibition games in the U.S.A.
iii) Whether the team wishes to participate in group or individual fundraising.
ii) Whether the team wishes to play tournaments or exhibition games in the U.S.A.
iii) Whether the team wishes to participate in group or individual fundraising.
b) Ask about special concerns such as medical problems and the unavailability of players who will be on vacation or planning special trips.
3. Team Finances
The Team Manager is also responsible for team finances; however, there is the option to appoint a Team Treasurer.
a) Review the cost of tournaments, practice ice, extra training, team equipment, etc. These expenses are in addition to registration costs and are shared equally by the team. Provide parents with a team budget for the year (Sample Team Budget).
Please note: SWHA recommends that team expenses do not exceed $1,200/player, unless there is 100% agreement from the parent group.
b) Open a team bank account which shall be used to pay all outstanding team bills. Banks require a letter from the SWHA President to open a team account. Complete the SWHA Team Bank Account Letter with your team manager and coach information and email it to SWHA President, Steve Mason (president.swha@gmail.com) for signature.
Note: All bank accounts must have two signatures for expenses and cannot be a personal account. The two signing authorities cannot be from the same family.
c) Prepare financial statements for parents at the end of the first half (Dec.) and at year-end. For assistance keeping track of team finances, use the Team Finance Template.
d) Oversee fundraising ventures.
4. Paperwork!
a) Provide a team contact list with parent and player full names and contact information.
b) Submit a completed Team Registration Form (Roster) to the SWHA Registrar prior to the annual deadline (as set forth in the Hockey Winnipeg Program Chart 2022-23).
Please make sure the team officials have the required training courses. A summary of required courses is available under Coach Certification.
c) Apply for team schedule exemptions and travel permits (form available on Hockey Winnipeg website, under Forms).
5. Parent Representative & Problem-Solving Protocol
The Parent Representative acts as a liaison between parents and the coaching staff. It is the responsibility of the Parent Rep. to take questions and concerns from the parents to the coaches and to assist the coaches in forming a response to these concerns. Should a serious conflict arise, the Team Manager and Parent Rep. are asked to take the concerns to:
i) Age Convenor
ii) SWHA VP (House League, Female Hockey, 8-12, Direct Entry or Twins AA)
iii) SWHA President
Contact information for the above can be found on the SWHA website here: SWHA Board Members & Convenors.
Team Fee Receipts
As you know, hockey fees are made up of 2 components:
1) Registration fees – parents can print off a receipt online at the Hockey Canada Registration site, https://registration.hockeycanada.ca/registration/?ID=10849
2) Team fees – the amount treasurers collect to pay for practice ice, tournaments, team equipment, etc. Because team fees are unique for every team, receipts for team fees are issued by the team treasurers.