Spring Hockey On The Horizon: Advice For Team Managers

January 30, 2012
Posted in BC Edition, Development

BY KRISTI PATTON /

If there is one term to sum up what it takes to manage a tournament hockey team, it is simply—organization.

“Absolutely, that is really all there is to it,” agrees John Little, a volunteer team manager for the past six years in the Lower Mainland of B.C. “The information I send to people is what I want to be receiving as a parent. I basically do it to keep myself organized and share that with other people. I literally think about what I want to get from the team that week, type it out and hit send to all the parents.”

Without the help of a minor hockey program to schedule ice, games, and provide schedules, spring hockey managers are expected to take care of all of that plus more. Little said delegation can be key when it comes to duties like getting jerseys, team clothing and other team needs. To start, Little said the team manager should get the budget approved by the parents and decide on how the money will be collected — either in payments or all at once. The budget should include expenses for travelling, practice ice, tournament entries, team uniforms and clothing and any skill development costs. The next priority is entering tournaments.

“I read tournament listings in Hockey Now and you figure out which tournaments are the bigs ones; locally, we have the Mainland and Challenge Cup. There are always travel tournaments and that is fun. A team can go all over from Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, the U.S. and even Europe if they have the budget,” said Little, who manages the North Shore Winter Club Peewee A3 team, and the Vancouver Thunderbirds. “You should be looking at tournaments early if you want to get into the bigger ones, but there are always tournaments to enter if you don’t get into your first choices.”

If it seems like a daunting task, Little said the team manager job probably isn’t for you. He suggests a person that has access to their computer at their job and someone who is a people person.

“It is the kind of job that the person will have to deal with information flowing back and forth, dealing with budgets and money, answering parents’ questions — if you don’t like doing those types of things, then don’t bother volunteering for that position.” said Little.

One of the biggest mistakes the team manager can make comes in money management. Little said, keep all funds separate from your own, perhaps open another bank account, and always have a spreadsheet available with the revenue and expenses so at any time a parent can look at it if they want to.

“That is one of the biggest things that could go totally wrong and has the biggest consequence because this is not your money it is the teams money. You could be dealing with anywhere from $15,000 to $34,000 in fees,” said Little.

Technology plays a big part in staying organized with team email lists and websites such as league lineup or team snap, which are free or charge a small fee, your parents and players can stay connected.

“Once you get into managing a team, it is not a big deal. You also get to know the other managers and it’s its own network in itself and people can always help with your questions. Really, all of it only takes me a few hours a week, once I got it rolling,” said Little.

Another long-time volunteer/team manager in West Vancouver said there is a lot of things to know about managing a team and it can seem overwhelming, but once you get a handle on the job, it is enjoyable.

“It can be time consuming, but it’s a rewarding job. You also get to know all of the people on the team a lot better including both the parents and the kids so I really enjoy it,” she said.

This manager said ice and insurance are top priorities. Waiting too long to get an ice time means kids could be stuck with an unusual ice time.

“In Fall hockey, you are given jerseys, insurance, refs, coaches, a schedule — basically the backbone to everything. In the spring, you have to do everything yourself and even though its a shorter season I would have pretty much everything lined up for the team by September or October,” said the manager. “There are a lot of things to think about to get the game to actually happen, a lot of parents who just show up to the games don’t realize that.”

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