Parent Manager Information
Below is a month-by-month break down of what to expect when you are managing a team.
Questions related to Travel Team Parent Managers should be directed to chathamunitedpm@gmail.com.
JUNE/JULY
Team Contact Information
Shortly after team announcements, Parent Team Managers will be confirmed by the club committee. When you have agreed to be Parent Manager, you will then be added as the “Manager” of your team in TeamSnap. Here you can find the roster with all of the player’s and parent’s contact information. Please check that everyone is set up with access and email the team to welcome them. Log in to TeamSnap and select your team, then select “Messages." Or you can export contacts from the "Roster" section to email directly. You should encourage your team to download the TeamSnap app , if they haven't already done so.
Coach Assignments
Professional Coach assignments will be made and advised in July by the Director of Coaching (DoC) for the Fall season.
Parent Manager Coaching Requirements
A Parent Manager (Parent Coach) that will assist on the sidelines or substitute for the Coach during games will need to fulfill Coaching Requirements HERE. No coaches will be added to league rosters until these requirements are fulfilled.
Uniforms
The Club will provide information on game and practice uniform ordering to the parents and Parent Managers. There will be a Number selection sign up scheduled for new members.
Bruins PM carrying the game balls
JULY/AUGUST
Game Schedule
Before the Fall season, the Game Scheduler will notify you to send in blackout dates for game scheduling (MCYSA teams only). Blackout dates are Sundays your team is not available to play a game (for example, NJ Teacher Convention weekend). Blackout dates are entered when the Club registers your team for the season so requests must be submitted timely. Generally two blackout dates are allowed per season. Requests should be emailed to ChathamUnitedGames@gmail.com.
**This also occurs in the Jan/Feb time frame when registering MCYSA teams for spring**
Tournaments
All travel teams will be entered in a minimum of two fall tournaments, you can check here for a listing of tournaments. Usually if you enter before a certain time, you can get a discount on the entrance fee. The Club covers tournament entry fees up to $600 per year. You or the Team Treasurer should complete the Reimbursement Request Form on the CU website if the club did not sign your team up.
You will need Club patches that your players will hand out to the opposing players at the conclusion of each tournament game for many tournaments. The Club will provide these to you prior to the fall season.
Pre-season Camp
There will be a pre season camp run by the team coaches the week before school starts. Registration and session information will be sent to the teams.
AUGUST
Registration
You must laminate the players’ cards. You must print the medical release forms from US Soccer Connect. These must be delivered to each practice and go to each game in case there is an emergency. You should also have a bag that you bring to each game that contains:
· 2 Game balls, home team provides game balls (CU provides all teams with 2 balls)
· Goalie shirt (CU will provide 9U and 10U teams with goalie jerseys)
· Goalie gloves (CU will provide 9U and 10U teams with goalie gloves)
· Ice pack and first aid kit (CU provides to all teams)
· Stay Parent contact list
· Official roster
· Extra game cards
· Medical Release Forms
· League handbook/rules
· Ties for nets that may have holes
· Pump
· Waterproof jacket
· Concussion Fact Sheet for Coaches and/or HeadsUp App on your phone
Royals PM going over the game plan
Fall Practices
You will be contacted by the Practice Scheduler with final fall practice times and fields. You or the Team Admin may need to enter them into TeamSnap. TeamSnap will send automated reminders to the team prior to each practice.
Please note that practices can only be held on CU Approved Fields. Insurance only covers activities conducted on the Approved Fields. There are no exceptions to this. Contact the Club Secretary for additional information.
Insurance only covers certain fields. Under no circumstances should a CU practice or home game be held on a field other than one listed below:
- Chatham school district fields (WAS, SBS, MAS, LAS, CHS, CMS (Haas Field), Cougar Field)
- Chatham Township and Borough fields (Shunpike, Sheppard Kollock, Lum, Esternay, Mountainview, Memorial)
- Central Park of Morris County
- Kantor Park in Long Hill
Any practices conducted on any other field or during the winter indoors without the specific permission of the Chatham United Board are not official sanctioned events of Chatham United (such practices are 'outside' the Club).
Additional Approved Fields may be added in the future. Contact the Club Secretary for more information.
Stay Parent Schedule
Stay Parent Policy
Chatham United requires a stay parent at all 9U-11U practices. For 12U if all parents on the team agree not to have stay parents, we do not require a stay parent. At 13U and up it is a team decision as to whether to have a stay parent at practices.
You should set up a “Stay Parent” schedule for each practice. The Trainer must have a parent with him at all times in case something happens to one of the children. The Trainer cannot leave the players so a parent will have to take care of any emergency. You can start with player’s names in alphabetical order. No parents can drop off their child without either the Trainer or the Stay Parent at the field. In addition, the Stay Parent cannot leave until all children are picked-up. Stay Parents should be listed in the Notes field of the practice session on the CU website.
For 9U, the Stay Parents will be loaded alphabetically into the CU website with a note indicating which parent is responsible for that practice. The note with the Stay Parent is included in the automated reminders that go out to the parents prior to each practice.
Budget/Treasurer
Moving forward, the Club will collect centrally for all Travel teams from the parents for both Fall and Spring seasons. The Club will issue the Referee Reimbursement. It will not issue the fall reimbursement as this is already considered in the central fee paid to the Club directly by the parents. However you may choose to have a team treasurer to take care of ref fees, team gifts and any misc items the team may incur.
Team Treasurers may wish to set up a bank account in the name of the team. Please note that team accounts may not use the Chatham United’s tax ID as this complicates IRS reporting.
Team Meeting
For new 9U teams, you may want hold a team meeting for the parents before the season starts. Sample agenda can be found here
Chatham United may also hold a Parent Manager meeting.
Coach Dunn at a 9U/10U scrimmage
SEPTEMBER
Game Schedule
Your game schedule will be posted about a week before the season starts into TeamSnap. This will include the field and directions to the field. The Club will enter the game schedule into TeamSnap. You or the Team Admin should ensure that the information is accurate. TeamSnap will send automated reminders to the team prior to each game with an easy link to the field directions. Contact information for your opposing coaches can also be found on the MCYSA website.
If you are the home Parent Manager for a game, you should email the opposing coach early in the week prior to the game to confirm the date, time, field, jersey color your team will wear and directions. You can find a sample email HERE.
Games
Make sure you are up to speed on all game day preparation for home games. Goals on turf must have sandbags on both sides of the goal. Goals on grass must be staked down on both sides with two stakes on each side (you cannot use sandbags on grass field). Sandbags/stakes are required for safety and insurance purposes and a referee should not begin a game without these in place. Corner flags should be placed in each corner of the field.
The first team on a field for the day is responsible to properly set up the field. The last team on a field for the day is responsible to properly clean the field. Goals may remain in place on grass fields however corner flags and stakes must be returned to their original location. On turf fields goals must be removed from the field and locked and sandbags and corner flags returned to their original location. If this is not done the Recreation Department will call members of the CU Board and they must do this often at the expense of time with their family. Failure to clean the fields will result in a $100 reduction in the Team’s reimbursement and/or your team will not be allocated space on turf fields.
On the MCYSA website there are game cards that you must complete and print out (instructions are on the league website). You must bring these to each game and provide them to the referee.
You have to give the game card to the referee and the laminated player cards to the referee. The referee checks all the players against their game cards. He or she also puts his or her name down on the referee portion of the card, and then the referee hands back the referee portion of the game card and the roster of the other team to you before the game.
The players should be at the games 30 minutes prior to a game to warm up. They should bring a water bottle, their ball, shin guards and both the white and blue shirt since we do not know the other teams’ colors. Usually the white shirt is the home uniform and blue is away. If it is cold, they can wear a Chatham United sweatshirt with their number on it or a blue long sleeve shirt under their jersey (no hoods as this is a safety hazard). Their number has to show. Socks must be completely over the shin guards and jerseys must be tucked in. Girls and boys should remove all jewelry and hard hair accessories (e.g., headbands).
After each game, you, the opposing coach, or the referee has to record the score on the League web page. You will need to have the game number which is listed on League website or game card. Check the MCYSA web site to see if the score was reported correctly if you did not enter it.
You may have to deal with field closure due to rain. If Chatham fields are closed, you have to contact your opposing coach to see if they have a field available, and vice versa. If not, you will need to reschedule the game. You will need to contact the CU Game Scheduler. Make sure you see in writing from the Game Scheduler that you were given a field and time. There are so many requests for rescheduling when games are rained out that your request may fall through the cracks.
The League requires you to play all of your games. The Club is fined for any forfeits and the Club may request payment from your team or withhold reimbursements from your team.
Parent managers at the Mt Olive Halloween Tournament
Halloween Tournament
If you are participating in a Halloween tournament (Mt Olive Halloween Tournament), you will need a parent to help coordinate costumes (shirt with numbers on the back and matching soccer socks).
NOVEMBER
The end of the season is the middle of November. During the first week, you might want to email the team about who would like to coordinate the end of season party, who would like to host the party, and who would like to get the professional Trainer his end of season gift. You can also call a restaurant like The Shop in Chatham and schedule a pizza party there right after your last game.
Budget/Treasurer
You probably will have money left over. You can use the left-over money for a party or credit each parent towards the spring season. Just let the parents know what you are doing.
You will be sent an email reminder by the Club Treasurer to complete the Trainer Tax Reporting Form. Information such as the Trainer’s name, organization, tax ID, address and total fees paid to Trainer are needed to comply with tax reporting rules. This form must be completed in order for the team to receive its fall refund ($800).
You should also complete the Reimbursement Request Form to obtain reimbursement for referee fees paid. You should have someone on the team collect for any end of year parties and gift cards for the Trainer.
DECEMBER
Optional Winter Practices [To be updated DoC]
Coach Ryan pointing the way
JANUARY/FEBRUARY
If your team is not having Winter practices, you should make your team parents aware that practice will begin again in late March. The fields become available for practice around the last week in March and your first game of the season tends to be the first week in April. If the winter is very wet, fields may not become available until April.
You will be contacted by the Practice Scheduler by email. You should talk to the DOC, team and the Trainer about what days they want to practice for the spring season. Teams usually practice twice a week in the spring season.
Game Schedule
The Game Scheduler will notify you to send in blackout dates for Spring game scheduling (MCYSA teams only). Blackout dates are Sundays your team is not available to play a game (for example, Spring Break weekends). Blackout dates are entered when the Club registers your team for the season so requests must be submitted timely. Generally two blackout dates are allowed per season. Requests should be emailed to ChathamUnitedGames@gmail.com.
MARCH
The Practice Scheduler will send you an email in March advising you of your practice schedule and fields.
Please note that practices can only be held on CU Approved Fields.
The spring season game schedule will be posted on the MCYSA website towards the end of the month.
Make a spring budget, which will be similar to the fall budget, except you may enter fewer or no tournaments and you may have a credit due to each family because of leftover money from the fall session. There is no trainer reimbursement in the spring also.
APRIL
Games
The spring season begins in early April. The spring season is very similar to the fall season except the players may have conflicts with other spring sports and you may have difficulty fielding a team on certain days. You should be proactive in managing the game schedule to minimize conflicts with other sports. This can be very difficult to do but Chatham United is committed to do this and allow the children to play other sports in their primary season.
Spring season can be very rainy and you might be rescheduling a lot of games. The league requires you to play all of your games. The Club is fined for any forfeits and the Club may request payment from your team or withhold reimbursements from your team.
APRIL/MAY
Tryouts
Chatham United typically holds it's second try-out for next year’s teams.
Player Evaluations
Chatham United will also email you a link to a form for you to evaluate each of the players. Your trainer will receive one also. You need to complete this form as soon as possible and follow up with your Trainer to ensure he/she has completed their form also.
JUNE
The last game is usually Father’s Day. Again, you need to find someone to host the end of year party. Since it is warm, you can actually have it at a park if you can’t find a person to host the party. You give your professional Trainer his end of year gift. Typically, you too are given a gift. If you know it is coming and don’t want anything, request a donation to children’s charity.
Budget/Treasurer
There will probably be money left over when the season ends. You can use the left-over money for a party, gifts for the players or return it to the parents. You should agree with the parents on what to do with the remaining funds.
You will be sent an email reminder by the Club Treasurer to complete the Trainer Tax Reporting Form on the CU website. Information such as the Trainer’s name, organization, tax ID, address and total fees paid to Trainer are needed to comply with tax reporting rules.
You should also complete the Reimbursement Request Form to obtain reimbursement for referee fees paid.
For 9U & 10U, you only need to submit the Reimbursement Request Form to obtain reimbursement for referee fees paid. You should have someone on the team collect for any end of year parties and gift cards for the Trainer. You do not need to complete the Trainer Tax Reporting Form.
