Coaching high school soccer on a limited budget.The recent budget cuts in the public schools of Missouri Missouri, state, United States Missouri (mĭz  r`ē, –ə), one of the midwestern states of the United States. have
jolted jolt v. jolt·ed, jolt·ing, jolts v.tr. 1. To move or dislodge with a sudden, hard blow; strike heavily or jarringly: the athletic programs as heavily as the cuts in academics. As the head coach of both boys and girls boys and girls mercurialisannua. soccer teams at Central HS in Springfield, I was expected to figure out how to run both programs on a very small budget. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The first thing I learned was that even though a specific budget would be set aside for a sport, you could not expect to receive exactly what you wanted or even needed. So how could a coach be expected to keep his players fully equipped and safe, the parents happy, and the coaching staff sane sane (san) sound in mind. sane adj. Of sound mind; mentally healthy. sane while trying to obtain the essentials needed for the job? Following are just a few of the strategies that we had to resort to in order to meet the needs of the kids. While I have focused on high school soccer, the strategies can also be applied to other sports. 1. Get the numbers. Find out exactly how much you will receive for the year and then take it from there. Decide which items are absolutely needed and those you can wait for. 2. Be organized. If you have no idea what you have in inventory because you are too lazy to check everything out or have passed the job on to an assistant, you may discover all kinds of key shortages and defections in your equipment room. Get on the ball! Organize! Keep track of everything! Don't slough off Verb 1. slough off - discard as undesirable; "the candidate sloughed off his former campaign workers" get rid of, remove - dispose of; "Get rid of these old shoes!"; "The company got rid of all the dead wood" 2. your responsibilities! Organization will make your life much easier and be appreciated by your athletic director Athletic director (commonly, "athletics director") is a position at many American colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, which oversees the work of the coaches and related staff involved in intercollegiate or interscholastic athletic . 3. Maintain the existing equipment. Due to budget restraints, you may often have to wait two years before ordering a specific piece of equipment or even uniforms for the team. Make sure your players and their parents learn how important it is for them to take care of all the issued equipment and see that it lasts. 4. Approach your AD early for needed equipment. If you don't at least ask for a new goal cage, you'll never know if you can get it. You don't have to ask for the most expensive set of goal cages. You may discover that the cheapest set has a lifetime warranty and actually offers a better deal for you and the AD. 5. Seek out parent support. Start a booster club A booster club is an organization that is formed to contribute money to an associated club, sports team, or organization. Booster clubs are popular in American schools at the high school and university level. and enlist en·list v. en·list·ed, en·list·ing, en·lists v.tr. 1. To engage (persons or a person) for service in the armed forces. 2. To engage the support or cooperation of. v. the current booster club members to help with fund-raising fund-raising, large-scale soliciting of voluntary contributions, especially in the United States. Fund-raising is widely undertaken by charitable organizations, educational institutions, and political groups to acquire sufficient funds to support their activities. activities. The players will often want to keep their own t-shirts or jackets beyond the season. Raise the money and you won't have to worry about the athletic department budget. 6. Conduct team fund-raisers. Your team, along with every other activity in the high school, may have to participate in fund-raisers at the same time. Set a prize goal for your players and make sure that they know exactly what they are working toward. 7. Welcome community donations and sponsorships. As we started our first year of boys soccer, we had zero dollars for almost anything extra. I couldn't even buy extra soccer balls. But I had a parent who asked his company for support for our team. The company ended up buying us screenprinted t-shirts with our school logo and their advertisement on the back. If you don't mind serving as a bulletin board, the extras that your team wants may come for free. Above all else, take the time to understand that if you are on a limited budget for your sport, you are going to have to learn how to stretch your spending dollars. Kids must understand that they are going to have to work harder and learn the value of a dollar in order to keep their teams running. BY CHRIS WELCH Chris Welch was reviewer and critic with Melody Maker during the 1960s and 1970s, reporting on the rise of such bands as The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Traffic, If, as well as Cream. During that time he also reported on the UK jazz scene. Boys/Girls Soccer Coach Central HS, Springfield, MO |
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