Springfield United FC

Thank you for putting your hand up to be a coach or manager for a side. 

We have set up a Facebook Group for all the club's coaches and mangers. 

We recommend that the first thing you do is use the link above to join. If it does not work, the group can be found by accessing the linked groups from our club Facebook page.

The group is used:

• For the club to disseminate information across the teams (via you as manager/coach of your team);

• To allow you to ask/answer questions in a group of other coaches and mangers, many of whom have been in these roles for many seasons;

• For you to share match reports and gameday photos with the rest of the coaches and managers group (from 2021 these can also be posted on your teams public dugout page).

Generally, a team will require, at minimum, a Coach and a Manager (we are not averse to there being 2 people in each role on a team and often find it works better if people can't make certain games). The roles are different and are described below:

The Coach role mainly involves the on-field work. 

The Coach is in charge of taking the training sessions and running the matchdays. Training sessions should comprise of a warm up (10-15 mins), a game activity that displays the skill to be practiced (20 mins) and a game situation involving the skill in open play (20 mins). Teams generally are assigned a training zone with another team at that age or a similar age - we encourage you to interact with the coach of the other team in your area and end the session with a game against them.

The Manager role is more concerned with the off-field and admin activities. Generally, a manager will be the first point of communication for parents and the go to between the team and the Board/Executive Committee. 

Managers may also devise schedules for tasks to be shared among team parents (kit wash, ground official duties, half time fruit rosters etc.) and will provide match reports on games back to the wider club, which are distributed via our social media.

At the Divisional (U12+) and Senior levels, the Manager is also required to input the team sheets into the online teamsheet system. 

As a Coach or Manager, you must hold a Blue Card. As a volunteer for the club, you can apply for a card with no fee, refer to our Blue Card page for instructions on how to do this online.

You will also need to register as a Coach or Manager in PlayFootball (external to the club). Make sure you upload a photo when registering your account, as this will be used for your ID card. No fee is charged for this registration.

In the Dugout, you can see player and official information and can send emails and SMS to your team (note SMS requires the purchase of credits to send). You can also add in upcoming matches to the schedule (there will soon be a function where the club can mass upload all these for you) and can add match reports for each week's game. 

PLEASE NOTE if you are a MiniRoos side (U11 and below) DO NOT put the scoreline in these reports as the competitions are not scored and we face reprimand if we publicly display scores.

There is also a Public Team Page you can access across the top banner of the dugout. All match reports are posted here, but you can also add in any other posts you wish to for your team. Please note however that information on the public page is publicly displayed so keep that in mind when posting.

• The Facebook group, where you can ask questions of and learn from other Coaches and Mangers. Every so often, we will also post hypothetical scenarios in the group to get you thinking about what action to take in certain situations.

• Coaching guides - there are many out there, and some are more applicable than others across the different age groups of teams. The couple we recommend are:

- Coaching sessions available on the PlayFootball website. There are different sessions for different ages and development levels. There is also a MiniRoos program leader guide, that has some helpful drills included.

- Football Brisbane's Football FUNdamentals guidebook - we have some hard copies of this in the clubhouse should you wish to grab one also.

• Our Football Development Manager, Mark Elrick, is an ex-New Zealand international footballer. You will find him on the grounds most nights and he is always happy to provide guidance/pointers for your sessions.

• Our Manager's Guide provides some helpful information on the role.

• Managers for U12 teams an above will also be required to input teamsheet information online. Please read this guide as to how to do this.