Our idea in the House League is to set up a structure that is enabling in situations where decisions or support may be called upon.  This assistance can flow through the House Coordinators, the Director of Coaching, the Fields Coordinator and/or the Equipment Coordinator.  The plan is to establish a “Lead Coach” or sometimes referred to as an Age Coordinator for each age group in the league.

Some of the responsibilities expected of the “Lead Coach” include:

è     Determining Game Playing Conditions – the Lead Coach needs to decide if sessions or time slots should be canceled due to inclement weather or poor field conditions (refer to the “Inclement Weather & Cancellation Guidelines”).  This decision needs to be communicated to other coaches and thus to players and parents and referees.  Lead Coaches will be responsible for assisting in the rescheduling of games with the respective coaches.

è     Promoting the Flow of the Game for the benefit of the kids – Examples include (but are not limited to):

o        Encourage coaches to share subs in cases where one team is short and the other team has extra players.  A suggestion is to rotate players to the other team for a half or a game.

o        Discouraging “blow-outs” or “running up the score”.  Encourage the stronger team coach to institute “challenges” to his/her players.  For example, 4 passes before shooting, swapping player positions, swapping goalkeepers, and swapping players with the other team.

o        Maintaining “space” between parents and players and coaches.  For example, keeping parents on one side of the field and teams on the other.  This “spacing” promotes interaction between players and coaches and sharing subs.  At the U8 level, for instance, keeping parents on the outside and teams on the inside will help to alleviate congestion. 

è     Direct Line support for other coaches and a liaison with the Director of Coaching – the Lead Coach should act as a “on-the-spot” support for other coaches and bring to the attention to the Director of Coaching any issues to be resolved.

è     Direct Line support for parents and coaches and a liaison with the House Coordinators – the Lead Coach should assist the House Coordinators in getting feedback from players, parents and coaches to address issues and improve the quality of the league.

The league greatly appreciates the assistance from each and every volunteer to the organization.  We also value the feedback and comments for making our organization better.  A special thank you to our Lead Coaches for promoting these efforts and helping us to achieve our league’s goals of having fun, making friends, building teamwork, and learning some soccer skills.  You help us all succeed!