The Administrator

Handy Tips From Goal Safety Day

Hopefully the pun in the title didn’t scare you away from today’s article. In conjunction with Youth Soccer Month, September 2nd was Goal Safety Day. Here is what you might have missed.

The majority of soccer related injuries actually happen after playing. They are caused by transporting goals the wrong way or playing on them inappropriately.

Goal nets with smaller mesh can prevent climbing and entrapment. Get your ruler out, maximum mesh gaps shouldn’t exceed 4.72 inches.

Always anchor your goal, whether it is heavy or not. The heavier goals can cause much more damage if not anchored properly. Don’t rely on their weight to keep them from blowing over.

A 12” anchor peg is recommended to properly anchor a goal to clay. Use a 16” peg for loam soils because they have more dispersion than clay. Cork-screw auger anchors work best for sandy soil.

Most goals that tip are “homemade”. Don’t let a coach make a goal with his shop class unless they understand the proper counter balancing techniques.

Unless your goal is anchored in a permanent manner (i.e: anchors to cement), always lock it in a safe manner. This means place your goal with its face against a secure structure like a building.

Padded goals will not protect a person from injury when a goal tips over.

You should fully disassemble goals for seasonal storage.

Always keep your goal safety labels clearly visible.

If you have any other questions please read the Goal Safety Booklet here.

Administrators, it’s your job to ensure field safety practices. These tips can help you set a guide for your club.

~Sam@bluesombrero.com

College Athlete Loses Scholarship Over Viral Video

Due to a video recorded on a cell phone that was never meant to go online in the first place, a highly recruited freshman athlete will never play for his university football team. Josh Jarboe, University of Oklahoma football player, made a seemingly innocent freestyle rap in the common area after practice one day. Little did he know the recording he made would wind up online and get him kicked off of his school team. The rap talks about violence and guns, leaving little to the imagination, but according to him was just part of the culture and was in fun. 

We’ve discussed YouTube on The Administrator before, but we never covered the negative side. As proof above, poor video judgment can result in a poor reflection of your club, its members, and can lead to you having to dismiss a player or family from the system. It’s not really something you can censor as administrators; the best way to deal with it is by informing your membership. That way, players and parents alike will at least think twice before posting something that is potentially damaging. 

Jarboe faced a pretty stern coach, who didn’t think twice about dismissing him. There was also plenty of pressure on the University to take action as well. Players don’t think about the position their actions put on others when documenting these types of things, and bad decision or not, have to deal with the consequences.

Would you kick a family out of your club if one of these videos turned up? Or would it be just an excusable mistake? How would you deal with this, let us know by posting below.

~Sam@bluesombrero.com

Performance Anxiety: Part Deux

Staying in the same vein as last week, we are going to explore another reader generated issue, from Terri. This one deals with extreme performance anxiety.  We’ve had to overcome it in our lives, but watching our kids and players deal with is a completely different situation.  There can be so much pressure involved in what was once just a way to have fun, that our players end up quitting for good.  Players get anxiety from parents, friends, and coaches when they step on the field, detracting from their ability to focus and perform stress free.  Terri wrote:

My husband and I are dealing with performance anxiety at the present time.  Our 10 year old daughter plays for a premier soccer traveling team and has been on the team for one season. The season ended with a tournament at Wide World of Sports at Disney World and her team came in 3rd of 32 U-10 teams. Since Disney, our daughter wakes up the day of the game throwing up, not wanting to play, wanting to go home, etc.  It makes me feel horrible. We don't pressure her and we want her to have fun. Her coach is very intense but is still an excellent coach. We have our last tourney tomorrow, out of town, and she has already started with the anxiety today.  She just gets so worked up.  After she gets in the game she is usually ok, but after throwing up she is so sluggish.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Does anyone know of any anxiety exercises she could do before heading to the game?

So we know fear, psychological pressures, unrealistic goals, poor preparation and insufficient performance simulations can all lead to performance anxiety.  What can we do to relieve it?  Identifying where your problem lies and concentrating on that issue is defiantly a safe bet.  Furthermore we can use proper nutrition, sleep, exercise and calming methods to pacify our fears.  For example, my biggest problem was tensing up, which would lead to poor physical response and from there generally to disappointment.  A great method of prevention is balling up your fists, arms, and upper trunk for a good 5 seconds.  Then throw your arms down and release the stress with it.   It was effective because it got my body relaxed and I associated that feeling with being stress free. 

We by no means are related or endorse the following videos, but thought they could be good starter resources.

Gina Parris talks about using your anxiety to your advantage...

Dr. Stankovich talks about the youth sports industry and sources of performance anxiety...

There are tons of ways and tons of reading (try Zen in the Art of Archery) that deal with this, but we really want to know how you in the soccer community deal with it.  Click on the article heading and leave a comment below. Thanks again to Terri for spurring the debate. ~Sam@bluesombrero.com

DOC Compensation

One of our readers, DOCGURU, came to The Administrator recently with a question that a majority of you probably face when deciding on new staff; how much should we pay our DOC’s, and how do we decide on a fair pay scale.  Youth sports salaries tend to vary because each position is so unique.  You could be the head of a 20 team recreation focused club or in charge of 1 select team and have the same salary expectations.  Size, community, competitive level, and location all play into the decision.

The NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America) lists DOC salaries ranging from $10-120,000. Besides being vague, this just shows how much variance there is.  Listings in Atlanta (our home) range from $30-50,000, while reader’s suggestions ranged from $35-70,000.

It seems that clubs in the south central region suffer the most for salaries, particularly Dallas. Dallas has become a magnet for former professional players, who can ask for more pay because of experience.  In 2006, The Dallas Star listed 12 area youth coaches each earning more than $60,000 annually.

In the end it depends on what you want out of a DOC.  Are you building the best competitive club around, or are you out there purely for the fun of it?  Make sure you acknowledge their qualifications (ie: licenses and experience) in your decision.  Try not to let DOC’s get out of control with over compensation, in the end they are meant to improve the playing experience.  Thats just our opinion, what do you think?  Click on the article heading and post a comment below.

`Sam@bluesombrero.com

Administrator Of The Year Awards

Happy Soccer Administrator’s Day!  Cue the fireworks and streamers.  Before we announce the winner(s) of our Administrator Of The Year awards (below), The Administrator would like to offer a few words from Blue Sombrero Cofounder Pete Santora.

“I was a force to be reckoned with.  There was no player that I couldn’t take down and no team that I couldn’t single handedly dribble through.  A goalkeeper looked more like a cone than a threat.  In a game heralded for its team play, I was a one man wrecking crew.  I was their atlas and I was just turning 5 years old. 

A lot changes from your fifth birthday.  I have been playing soccer for almost 30 years … Division I, A-League, Europe, old guy’s league.  From the players point of view the world revolves around us.  Everything that happens outside of practice and games is unimportant in the grand scheme of things because everyone is there to allow you to just think about the game and succeed.  Things change slightly for the coach, but the principle still applies.  “Give me the things that I need to succeed.  I have a team to organize and motivate.  WE have a big game coming up.”  Players and coaches don’t know anything about administration.

What makes May 9^th such an important day in the world of soccer is that without our club Administrators, we wouldn’t have soccer…period.  Coaches don’t fully grasp what Administrators go through.  They don’t understand the volume of paperwork, the volume of emails, the volume of phone calls, and the volume of organization that is needed to give the impression of a finely tuned machine. 

One day is such a small amount of time to say thank you to an unheralded group of people that give so much for other people to succeed. 

If someone hasn’t told you…YOU…Sandy Jenkins, Meg Munson, Ric Marion, Jane Olinger, Joe Zizik, David DeHoog and the thousand of Administrators around the country, you help build our kids futures. 

THANK YOU and Happy Administrator’s Day!”

Now To The Awards:
We had hundreds of essay entries for our Soccer Administrator’s Day contest.  We spent hours reading, rereading, and arguing over who deserves to be named Administrator Of The Year.  In the end we jut gave up and threw darts at our “Top Ten” list (just kidding).  In order to properly reward our top finalists we have decided to give prizes to our Winner (obviously) as well as our Co-runners Up and our Newcomer Of The Year.  Are you ready to meet the winners?

Newcomer Of The Year: 

• David C. DeHoog
• Lafreniere Soccer Club
• Nominated by Julio Paiz

Excerpt From David’s Entry Essay: 
David’s organizational skills have been invaluable to our club. He has saved the club thousands of dollars by reviewing contracts and implementing a better system of fiscal management. He has made sure the club maintains the proper documentation for all legal and financial matters. He has written several new club policies. David spends many "12 hour days" in the office working and then still continues to do so at home. He can also be found out at the fields on the weekends. Through his managerial and organizational skills, the unselfish volunteering of his time to cover areas that were not his responsibility, and self imposed high standards, David has given us an invaluable and much needed improvement to the administration of our club.

Co-runner Up:

• Jane Olinger
• Brentwood Soccer Club
• Nominated by Vicki Sanford and again by Bret Dye

Excerpt From Jane’s Entry Essay:
Under Jane's leadership Brentwood SC has tripled in size. She has served as Girls V.P., Registrar, President, and is now Ex Director. Always with her eye on the future Jane pushed to develop a great website, was the first local club to use online registration, and became involved with US Club Soccer. Jane was instrumental in the club's strategic plan, which included a new mission statement, core values, goal setting, and plans for the future. There is no soccer administrator who can hold a candle to Jane Olinger.

Co-runner Up:

• Vinnie Herczeg
• Parkland Area Soccer Club
• Nominated by Kris Campbell

Excerpt From Vinnie’s Entry Essay:
His vast knowledge of computer software and how it works has really moved our club into the current generation with all registrations being done online and using the various tools available to us for creating teams, reports, rosters, and information. Vinnie has spent countless hours working with Blue Sombrero to streamline different aspects of our website and system tools not only to help Parkland Area Soccer Club but for all groups that Blue Sombrero works with and support. Vinnie is a kind, warm, helpful, energetic soul and I could think of no one else who deserves to be recognized as "Administrator of the Year" more than he.

Administrator Of They Year: 

• Jim Kelly
• Franklin Township Soccer Club
• Nominated by Scott Ludwigsen

Excerpt From Jim Kelly’s Entry Essay:
Jim is an amazing soccer administrator and without him our Executive Board would need about five more people and that is why I nominate Jim as the Administrator of the Year! (Ironically, as I was proofing this nomination he just called me FROM LONDON to address an email I had sent him about an urgent matter for tomorrow - talk about dedication!)

Click Here to read more essays from across the country 

Congratulations to all our winners!  You are shining examples of how hard work and dedication can enhance the lives of our young athletes.  We encourage all our contestants to fully embrace Soccer Administrator’s Day… You deserve it!  Take a break, from the daily grind to reflect of the fruits of your labor.  Our sombreros are off in honor of your unending dedication to the development of youth soccer. 

~The Administrator and Team Blue Sombrero

The Origin of Soccer Administrator's Day

This year’s participation in a long overdue holiday, celebrating your hard work and effort, has already been a smashing success.   We thought during this year’s festivities you might want to take a minute and reflect in the commemoration’s roots. 

Soccer Administrator's Day was created as a celebration of the men and women whose continual and extreme hard work has driven the growth of youth soccer in our country.  It takes a lot of late nights and extra hours, and most people (even your coaching staff and parents) often go without realizing it.  On top of your daily lives, you still find time to fulfill your administrative duties to keep your clubs running. 

Thank you...
Thank you to those of you who are parents and still find the time to manage your lives as well as maintain your club duties.  Thank you to those of you who have full time jobs and somehow have the energy to come home after work and better your club.  Thank you to those of you who don’t have any real interest in sports, but are deeply connected in creating a worthwhile experience for your community’s family.  Lastly, thank you to those whose kids have already grown up, yet stick around because you realize the importance of the club to your community's youth. 

Soccer Administrator’s Day isn’t a historical holiday like Independence Day or MLK Day, and it might not compare to the hype of New Year’s Eve (yet), but Soccer Administrator's Day is genuine.  We know how important it is to recognize those of you who do so much for so little in return, so keep up the hard work; it is so worth it in the end.  If you have anything further to add to our holiday’s recognition post below, email us at Sam@bluesombrero.com or call 404-835-0305.

America’s Top Soccer Administrators

The Administrator is absolutely blown away.  Your response to Soccer Administrator’s Day has been nothing short of amazing.  We have been flooded with hundreds of essays and entries. From across the country, individuals have selflessly nominated other members of their club or organization for the Administrator Of The Year award.  In recognition of all our contestants, we would like to share a handful of quotes from various entries which we have received over the last month... enjoy!

1) “Jim is an amazing soccer administrator and without him, our Executive Board would need about five more people and that is why I nominate Jim as the Administrator of the Year!” Scott Ludwigsen about Jim Kelly (Franklin Township Soccer Club)

2) “Our club is strictly volunteer and the fact that he did this while managing so many other personal items shows how much heart and love he has for the youth of Hendersonville.” Thomas Sanchez about Erik Swinger (HSC)

3) “Shellie Ross always goes above and beyond at all times for whatever the club needs. She is always active with the Director of Coaching to streamline the registration process for a club of over 2000 players. ” Anonymous about Shellie Ross (Rockledge Soccer)

4) “She is the glue that holds the club together and is always there for everyone. I can't imagine what the club would be without her.” Vicki Sanford and again by Bret Dye about Jane Olinger (Brentwood Soccer Club)

5) “Vinnie has spent countless hours working with Blue Sombrero to streamline different aspects of your website and system tools not only to help Parkland Area Soccer Club but for all groups that you work with and support.” Kris about Vinnie Herczeg (Parkland Area Soccer Club)

6) “David Ray has been very instrumental in keeping our Club together. In the past two years we have had 6 resignations, and David has taken on the extra work load to make sure the club survived.” Rex Blackwell about David Ray (AASA)

7) “My mom helped my club with their soccer tournament last month; she did a lot of hard work to make sure that our team had fun. She just loves watching all the teams play soccer and have fun.” Wheeler Birsch about his mother Annette Birsch (Classics)

8) “Joe Sciame has devoted over 20 years of his life to Eastchester Soccer. Serving as coach, commissioner, registrar, club vice president and many other roles. Joe has been the backbone of this very successful club with over 90 teams and 1300 players …...... If anybody deserves a blue sombrero, it is Joe!!!” Steve Ulrich about Joe Sciame (EastChester Youth Soccer Association)

9) “…Through his managerial and organizational skills, the unselfish volunteering of his time to cover areas that were not his responsibility, and self imposed high standards, David has given us an invaluable and much needed improvement the administration of our club.” Julio Paiz about David C. DeHoog (Lafreniere Soccer Club)

10) “She is truly doing her work for the good of the club, and especially the good of the kids. She puts her heart and soul into the club, and deserves to be Administrator of the Year.” Beth Thompson about Mary Ellen Edwards (Spirit United Soccer Club)

Click Here to read our favorite essays for Administrator Of The Year

Thanks again to all our readers who took part in this competition.  Make sure you and the rest of your administrative staff take advantage of Soccer Administrator’s Day, and let us know you plan to celebrate!  Post a comment below, send an email to jon@bluesombrero.com, or call 404-835-0305.

Administrator Of The Year

 
Soccer Administrator’s Day is THIS FRIDAY (May 9^th)!  To show our appreciation for all your hard work, The Administrator has decided to hold a contest to help us find the Administrator Of The Year.  However, in order to locate a winner, we need your help!

Click on the link above and nominate yourself or a member of your club.  Hurry, you only have two more days!  The winner will receive:

- A $100.00 Amex gift card
- A spotlight article in The Administrator
- A Blue Sombrero Prize Pack (including a blue sombrero)
- And a whole lot more (Top Secret)!

Thanks to everyone who has already submitted a nomination, we have received a ton of awesome entries from across the country.  This is a testament to the administrators who put in long nights and late hours to ensure that all club members have a wonderful youth soccer experience. 

Good luck and get your nominations in today!
~The Administrator

May 9th Is Soccer Administrator's Day

      

That’s right folks, The Administrator is turning 2, but instead of throwing ourselves a party we’ve decided to reward you!  In honor of the men and women in the youth soccer trenches, we’ve decided to hold a little contest to help us find the Administrator Of The Year! 

Step 1:  Contact Us

• Click on the link above
• Enter your personal info
• Enter your nomination

…and tell us why you, or a member of your club, deserve to be named Administrator Of The Year!  Don’t worry; you will not be graded on your writing ability.  Feel free to send us pictures, links, videos, or anything else to help strengthen your case.

Step 2:  Read The Administrator
On Soccer Administrator's day (May 9^th) we will announce the winner! 

Step 3:  Celebrate!
So what do you get?

1. A spotlight article in The Administrator, broadcast to 30,000 weekly readers
2. A Blue Sombrero Prize Pack (including an authentic blue sombrero)
3. A $100.00 Amex Gift Card of your choice to be used at the Blue Sombrero Soccer Depot, or any other location
4. And a whole lot more (Top Secret)!

Don’t wait; get your nominations in today!  Feel free to submit as many members of your club as you want.  We look forward to reading your entries!

Thanks again for making The Administrator the leading resource for youth soccer management in the country, and as always… good luck this season!

~The Administrator

We Have A Winner!

Congratulations to Gary Johansson of Hockessin Soccer Club in Hockessin, DE.  Gary is the winner of our Fill Out a Survey… Win a Sombrero contest.  Entrants offered their opinions and suggestions regarding our nationwide newsletter in exchange for the opportunity to win a highly coveted Blue Sombrero.  Gary was randomly selected out of hundreds of hopefuls as the winner!  Keep checking in with The Administrator in the coming weeks for your next chance to enter and win. 

Additionally, special thanks go out to all our survey participants.  Through your ideas, critiques, and comments, our newsletter is able to offer helpful articles based on what matters most to you, the youth soccer admin.  From all of us at The Administrator, have a great season!

~The Administrator