Being a team parent is super important and something that I take full pride in. Many years ago, I started off as a Team Parent for a team that had no coaches! But I pushed through, communicating, pressing forward and working hard, helping to create my now 15 yr old first soccer experience with Mt Tabor! I could not have done it without the help of our former Team Parent Board member! I am beyond excited about being in this position now on the Board and have many ideas of how you, as a team parent, can make your team have an awesome MTSC experience, too!

Team Parent Responsibilities:

1)       Pick up your Team Parent packet that will be available to you at Soccerfest. If you do not get one at that time, contact me, and we will make arrangements.

2)      Develop a roster with all coaches, kiddos, parents and supporters. On the roster for your team, have phone numbers, email addresses and add any other information that might pertain to your team (like jersey numbers or home addresses in case you have carpool situations).

3)      Check to make sure that all kiddos, coaches and field assistants have player cards. If they do not, it is important to find someone to take a picture and get the card generated by the registrar. For coaches and field assistants, they will need to fill out a background check. They will still need a picture as well. You can laminate them fairly easily at a Fedex-kinkos. Hole punch the top left corner of the card and put the cards on a key hook!

4)      Know your websites to make sure that you keep up to date. It also gives you access to all the board members so that you can get any needs met quickly. The websites are:

       PYSA     www.portlandyouthsoccer.com

       MTSC    www.mttaborsoccer.org

5)      Be the soundboard and problem solver for any conflicts and/or contact me for assistance.

6)      Work with your coaches to decide upon a date, time and place for a parent meeting. If you are a well formed team, you may not need the parent meeting but if you are a new team, this is very important. Ideally done after Soccerfest and before or on the first day of your practice. This meeting will be for you to hand out jerseys, discuss practice days, location and times, the fundraiser, picture day and snack schedule/expectations.

7)      For jerseys, please keep track of which player received which jersey and mark on paper provided when given the jerseys. Hold on to this form as you will be responsible for returning the jerseys at the end of the season.

8)      For practice days, locations and times, the team coach should have this information but if not, you may be asked to contact the field board member.

9)      The fundraiser is always the same…tickets to the Pilots game. We generally have the date already posted. Help talk it up. It is a great event and super fun to go to as a team. Check your calendars in advance and invite your friends. Information about when you need to collect the money and when to pick up tickets will be posted on the TEAM PARENT website that I will explain shortly and will be in your Team Parent packet.

10)   Picture day will also be presented in the packet the coach receives. Ask the team coach to give you the picture information and picture packets for the kiddos. Keep them safe and follow the instructions on the picture form. It will involve, at some point, you calling…oh…me and setting up your time for the picture to be taken! Pictures are generally taken all day long on a Saturday at Clinton upper park at the Franklin High School campus.

11)    For snack schedule and expectations. Fairly straightforward in that we suggest no peanut products (avoid allergy conflicts), no sugary stuff and we highly encourage fruits, veggies and of course, water. Believe it or not, kids actually like carrot sticks! And the snack schedule is generally done one of two ways A) one parent provides both snack and drink B)one parent provides snack, one provides drink. As a Team Parent, simply do the schedule and then let your parents take care of changing their assigned dates among themselves as needed. Another option is to identify a parent who really likes to make sure that snacks and drinks are provided and ask a certain amount from each family, provide to that person the funds and they will make sure to have the snacks/drinks every time. Of note, sometimes parents of older kiddo teams choose not to do snacks. That is of course a choice that you have but I would strongly suggest that extra drinks be provided regardless of age and honestly, all kiddos at all ages (including us adults) enjoy a bite or two and a sip of something cool after a game!

12)   FINALLY: End of season celebrations….I know…seems silly to consider this at the beginning of the season but it makes things so much easier if you do. There are a host of ideas for this…pizza place, Mt Scott rentals (pool or roller skating), Montavilla gym rental, some other restaurant, a parent’s home/potluck, a soccer play event at a park, Blue Lake Park. And then there are some other decisions about what you want…trophies, medals, soccer balls, certificates, picture books. And then there are a host of ideas for coaches gifts…piece of clothing with MTSC logo (needs to be ordered early), soccer ball signed by kids, picture certificate, gift cards, water bottle with team pic on it, plaque. I am more than happy to assist with any organizing and/or ideas…that is the part I like best…honoring parents, kiddos and coaches who have dedicated themselves to the season!

13)   Are you overwhelmed yet? Don’t be! It is a fun job to do and really does not involve as much of your energy as it seems. I like to write things out in detail so you have all that you need and can do the best job possible. And remember, I am always a phone call or email away! Thank you for your service…