Everyone loves sports, it’s an integral part of everyone’s life, the kids do it, and we watch them on TV. But as we get older, it becomes more difficult to participate if we are not in the fortunate position of being a professional athlete. One solution to this problem is to start a recreational sports team; this also gives you a chance to try out sports you may not have tried before, such as American Rugby. Here are five things to know when starting a recreational sports team.
Who is the Coach (& Team Manager)?
Even at a very low level you will need leadership. You may not be intending to be running a complicated playbook, come up with masterful tactics, or refine your performances to get every little percentage of improvement out of it. It is supposed to be recreational, after all! But even so, it is vital to have someone to choose the team, talk to the referees, etc. Team Manager is also a key role, and although it may seem trivial, buying equipment, arranging times to play other teams, and more is not the most challenging role, but it still needs to be done. You can even get team management software to help take the headache out of this task.
How Seriously You Are Taking It
Once you have the managerial roles decided, it is a good idea to have a shared understanding amongst the team of how seriously you are taking it? It could create real friction between team members if someone is deadly serious about winning every game, and others are just looking to get out of the house and have a few drinks afterward. It might be a good idea to have a team charter or mission statement to outline what your aims and ethos are?
Uniforms
Even the most casual teams need to display the same colors. You can do this as easily as merely buying a quantity of single color cotton T-shirts, but this is a little basic, and there may be league requirements to have numbers or names printed on the shirts. It’s surprisingly easy and economical to have custom t-shirts made up. As you are having them printed, you can get a little inventive and have whatever you like on them, so remember to use this opportunity to keep it fun, with nicknames or logos on them.
Practice Times
Being a recreational team, you are going to have to find a time to practice that fits around everyone’s personal and work schedule. This will be much easier if you are starting a team through your workplace as everyone will be on the same schedule, and you could even find time at lunch breaks if there are facilities on-site or close enough.
Where to Find Players
You can look for and find players on websites such as findaplayer.com; you can put up an ad and talk to people who may be interested. Also, ask those already playing if they have interested friends. Be sure that you have enough players that if someone is absent, you will still be able to field a team, but not so many that people are struggling to get a turn of playing.