A Coach’s Guide To Preseason Planning
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If you ask any coach about their tips for making preseason as successful as possible, they will likely lead with the importance of organization and thoughtful planning. Just like anything, preparation is key to a smooth operation.
If you are a youth sports coach, a college coach, or even a professional coach, when preseason pops up on the calendar you want to be as prepared as possible, in the same way you expect your players to be. In order to make sure preseason runs how you want it to, TeamSnap has created a guide to help your preseason planning.
TeamSnap will help you plan ahead.
Early doesn’t mean a week out from preseason. You will want to make sure your ducks are in a row months in advance of the start date. The first thing you can prioritize as a coach is figuring out who on your team has or hasn’t downloaded the app. You will also want to make sure you have a team manager, unless you are the team owner. Once you’ve got that taken care of you can start adding any games or events that you already know about into the team schedule.
[The Ultimate Fall Sport Planning Checklist]
If you have a date, get it on the app and sorted now.
You can import any games or scheduled events into the app. Once these are added, the team will be able to see them. TeamSnap recommends having a start date added as soon as you know it so parents, players and other coaches and coordinators can plan ahead. If you plan on having different events throughout preseason, for instance dinners, picnics, pick-up games, etc, you can also begin adding them as soon as you have a place, time, or subject. If you run into any last minute changes, you can edit or cancel directly in the account and parents will be notified.
[How To Use The TeamSnap Chat Function]
Keep up the communication.
In order to form good moral, keeping up with communication within a team is vital. As the coach, don’t be afraid to pose some questions, post photos, or send motivational quotes to your team. You can do this in the Team Chat. In the Team Chat you will also be able to view any previous messages. If you are welcoming lots of new players this season, use the chat function as a way to introduce yourself to the group. TeamSnap members can send emails from the Messages tab on both the web and mobile applications to active email addresses listed on roster profiles. There’s also an alert feature which is a good way to prioritize important messages for the group. You can send out one message to your entire team and each member will receive the message in the format they choose: a push notification, an email, or both. Details can be found at Sending Alert Messages Sending Availability Reminders.
Figure out who’s doing what.
In order for preseason to run smoothly, you will need to know who’s doing what; from providing the equipment, handling post-session fuel, assisting you with rosters, and more. With TeamSnap, you can easily assign people on your team roles. Get the parents involved and assigned for snack duty and an end-of-pre-season party. Once you have an idea for what role you want everyone to play in the beginning of the season, start assigning tasks and roles through the TeamSnap assignment feature.
[Top 4 Ways to Use TeamSnap Assignments]
We hope this guide will help you start preseason off on the right foot. Don’t wait until the last minute, start early and let the TeamSnap app help you assign, delegate and breeze through your best season yet.