Organize!

Tools for team organizers or managers

Whether you’re a parent, coach, captain, or dedicated team manager, there are a lot of logistics involved in starting a team or club, and keeping it running smoothly. Here are some topics to consider:

  1. How to start a team
  2. Recruitment of players, parents, and a coach
  3. Rosters and placements on teams
  4. Managing volunteers, including volunteer coaches
  5. Finding fields & accessing them
  6. Risk management (waivers, insurance, background checks)
  7. Sample budgets
  8. Hiring coaches
  9. Organizational options

In Seattle, a lot of infrastructure was put in place early on (in the 1990s?) by having the sport written into a school levy as an official middle school fall sport. This led to athletics directors at many public schools taking on many of the logistics listed above. Eventually, similar infrastructure evolved at the high school level, but even in the 2010s parent volunteers drove the growth of the sport down into elementary schools. At both levels, the school’s PTSA proved to be a helpful source of parental support.

To give you a practical sense of how this manifested, here is an example of materials organized for an elementary and a middle school in Seattle from ~2010-2015:

Other links related to organizing a team —

2 thoughts on “Organize!”

  1. I’m looking to work with or create a youth ultimate frisbee team in or near Riverside CA. I am not sure where I can find possible teams in the area or create a community of ultimate in middle and high school. Please let me know anything that I can do or any resources for me would be much appreciated. Thank you.

  2. Hey Max, good on ya for organizing on the eastern edge!

    Here are four ideas for you in So/Cal:

    1) Ask for help/contacts with local professional teams, e.g. tha LA Aviators https://theaudl.com/aviators

    2) Ask about youth programs and resources via the Bay Area Disc Association — https://bayareadisc.org/youth-ultimate — or SoCal Youth Ultimate — https://scyu.org/

    3) Find a local pick-up game and network with other coaches/organizers there — https://pickupultimate.com/map/city/losangeles

    4) Inquire about new initiatives and incentives with your CA state reps within USA Ultimate’s Youth Division — https://usaultimate.org/about/contacts/

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