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Flag Football Coach Information

First of all, if you have volunteered to be a coach, we thank you for taking the time to coach your child’s team with Club Sport Kids. This web page contains some important information regarding Club Sport Kids, uniforms, schedules, and coaching. Plus we have a starter kit of plays, information, and help for coaches here.

Introduction: Send out an email or call all parents on your team to introduce yourself and include important info like, for example, the rainout number. Remind parents to show up at least 30-45 minutes before the first game to allow plenty of time to find parking, find the field/coach/team, change into uniforms, meet the team and have a quick practice before the games start. Parents may want to bring chairs or blankets to sit comfortably on the side lines, sunscreen, bug spray to ward off the pesky mosquitoes, and lots of encouragement for the kids! Explain what time you’d like to host practice before games on Saturdays. Ask another parent to help on the side lines with substitutions, especially with the 3-4 year olds, as the kids tend to wander. It may be a good idea to start up a snack rotation to foster team bonding. We’d like to encourage parents to bring healthy snacks and beverages for the team, instead of soft drinks and candy. 

Jerseys & Flags:  The jerseys typically arrive 1-2 weeks before the first game and will be available for pickup in the Club Sport office. Our office is open from 9am to 9pm at 10901 Roosevelt Blvd N #100-D. I will send out an email when they have arrived!  We are asking that coaches pick up the jerseys at their convenience at the office before the first weeks game.  Once picked you can make arrangements to distribute to the parents of the children prior to the first game or arrive early at the first game and hand them out then.  Should you be unable to pick them up at all please make arrangements for someone from your team to pick them up.  Any uniforms left at our office after 3pm the Friday before the first game will be brought out to the field for pick up by the coach or team representative. 

Mouth Guards: All players in the 5-6, 7-9 and 10-12 year old divisions must wear a protective mouthpiece; there are no exceptions. They are also highly recommended for the 3-4 year olds.

Schedule:  The schedule will be posted online at http://clubsportkids.com/leagues.htm . This will also have a location of your field each week to make it easy to meet your team. We will have all of the fields set up by 8 am each day for your team to practice ahead of your game or feel free to stick around after your game for practice if 8am doesn’t work for you/your team.  If your team is short handed, we encourage coaches to make adjustments to share players or play 4v4 instead of 5v5 or 6v6 in order to keep the game going and the kids having fun.

Picture Days:  Pictures are typically taken the 3^rd week. Packets with order forms and team schedules will be handed out the 2nd week. Schedule for pictures will be found on-line at http://clubsportkids.com/leagues.htm.  Best advice is to have LOTS of patience on your picture day. It is tough to get the kids where they need to be and everyone smiling at the same time!

Rainout Information: We will update our RAINOUT line as soon as a decision to cancel games has been made. You may check our rainout line at 877-820-2582, ext 1.  If we are rained out, we will make every effort to make up games on another Saturday morning, depending on field availability. As coach, you will be responsible for sharing this information with your team.

A few other notes: At the end of every 3-6 year old game, we have a great Club Sport Kids tradition; parents from both teams will come together in the middle of the field to form a tunnel for the players to run through. The parents cheer on the players and give out high fives! The kids love this!  For the 7-12 year olds, please teach the kids to line up and give high fives or shake their opponent’s hand.

Coaching Basics:

Club Sport Kids and your team appreciates your time to help coach your team this football season. Coaching is a rewarding experience and there is nothing like your child looking up to you as coach of their team. That said, Club Sport Kids does have some guidelines we would like you to follow.

·     Club Sport Kids is JUST FOR FUN! Score is not kept. It is about fun, exercise, and learning the basics of the game. Your energetic spirit and good sportsmanship will no doubt transfer to the children and benefit their overall outlook of sports.

·     Coaches are on the field for 3-9 year olds to help guide the kids through the game, keep them within the parameters of the field, evenly distribute playing time, etc.

·     At no time should you yell, scold, or in any other way demean a player, on your team or another. Should this become an issue brought to our attention, you may be removed as coach.

·     You are a role model to these kids. Any yelling, berating or cursing at the refs, coaches or anyone else for that matter – may be grounds for your removal as coach as well as your kid’s removal from the league.

·     As a coach, while you are not responsible for all of your player’s actions, you may be responsible for correcting them. If you see a player acting inappropriately on the field, please gently suggest they sub out and mention to them, the other coach, or their parents what actions are acceptable. “Yanking” or “dragging” a child off the field would not be acceptable unless there was immediate danger to another player.

·     All players that desire to should play equal time regardless of skill. Some children may opt out of playing. That’s ok, just kindly encourage them to play, but it is not mandatory. Keep an eye on the time or have an assistant that can help you rotate players so each get a fair shot at playing during a game.

·     As a Club Sport Kids policy, mandatory (or even highly suggested) practices outside your game day are discouraged. If your team wants to informally get together outside of game day, that’s fine. But many parents/children join this league because of its little required time commitment – so requiring any time outside of the games should be no means affect the child’s playing time.

·     Be aware of your body language. I have seen many kids get so deflated when their coach shows frustration after a missed play or an error on the field.

·     Most of all encourage the players and make them feel special. The league is about personal growth and having FUN!

Coaching Tips:

You can find the basic Club Sport Kids rules here http://www.clubsportkids.com/rules/rules-football.htm. Please look them over. Generally, any drills or skill building exercises you may perform during your practice are much more fun if incorporated as some sort of game the kids can play.   If you are a returning coach and/or have any suggestions for rule updates or clarifications, please do not hesitate to email them to us. Your input makes the league better!!

For the 3-4 year olds:  at this age, most kids are still trying to grasp the concept. Help them to learn the basics of the game and work on staying in bounds, hiking the ball, working together as a team, good sportsmanship and the proper way to pull the flags. Two-three parents and the coach will be on the field to help coordinate where to stand and what to do. (1 ref will be officiating the game and also offer guidance)

For the 5-6 & 7-9 year olds: Work on the basics of the game – for example - staying in bounds, hiking the ball, working together as a team, good sportsmanship and the proper way to pull the flags. One coach will be on the field for each team to help coordinate the plays.  (1 ref will be officiating the game)

For the 10-12 year olds:  build on their current knowledge of the game, develop some plays, and help them to play together as a team. Coaches remain on the side line to assist with substitutions and coordinating plays. (1 ref will be officiating the game)

Rainout Information:

We will update our RAINOUT line as soon as a decision to cancel games has been made. You may check our rainout line at 877-820-2582, ext 1.  It may end up being a game time decision as the evening rain showers are more prevalent this time of year. If we are rained out, we will make every effort to make up games on another day, depending on field availability. As coach, you will be responsible for sharing this information with your team.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. We will always have staff at the field (in a white Club Sport Kids shirt) to answer any questions or solve any problems.

Flag Football Formations & Plays:

We have a starter kit of plays, information, and help for coaches here.