The weeks leading up to a new sports season can feel like a frantic sprint to a finish line you can't see. Between finalizing rosters, chasing down paperwork, coordinating with coaches, and booking facilities, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Important tasks can slip through the cracks, leading to a chaotic start that puts stress on everyone—admins, coaches, parents, and players.
A successful season doesn’t start with the first practice; it starts weeks or even months earlier with a solid plan. By following a clear pre-season checklist, you can turn that frantic sprint into a well-paced and organized journey, ensuring a smooth kickoff for your entire program.
Finalize Your Budget and Fees
Before you can do anything else, you need to know your numbers. Review your expenses from last season and anticipate new costs like increased facility fees or new uniform requirements. Once you have a clear budget, you can finalize your registration fees for the upcoming season. Getting this done early prevents financial uncertainty and allows you to communicate costs clearly to parents from the very beginning.
Open and Promote Registration Early
Nothing creates more last-minute stress than not knowing how many players you’ll have. Open your online registration well in advance of the season. This gives you a clear picture of your numbers, allowing you to accurately plan for the right number of teams, coaches, and uniforms. Use an online system to collect payments and waivers automatically, which eliminates messy paperwork and the awkward task of chasing down checks at the first practice.
Build Your Schedules and Book Facilities
Practice fields and game courts are a finite resource, and they get booked up fast. As soon as you have a rough idea of your team numbers from early registrations, build out your master practice and game schedules. This allows you to identify potential conflicts and book your required facilities immediately. A centralized, conflict-free schedule is the backbone of a smoothly run season.
Hold a Pre-Season Coaches' Meeting
Your coaches are your front-line leaders, and they need to be on the same page. Before the season begins, hold a mandatory meeting for all head and assistant coaches. Use this time to review club rules, discuss communication expectations, distribute playbooks or coaching materials, and cover important safety protocols. When your coaches are aligned and informed, they can confidently lead their teams.
Host a Parent and Player Welcome Meeting
Setting clear expectations is crucial for a positive season. Host a brief welcome meeting (either in-person or virtual) for parents and players before the first practice. Introduce key staff and coaches, walk through the communication plan (i.e., where to find schedules and updates), review the code of conduct, and answer any questions. This one meeting can prevent dozens of emails and phone calls down the line and ensures everyone starts the season with the same information.
How Playbook Sports Prepares You for Kickoff
Following this checklist is much easier when you have the right tools. Playbook Sports is specifically designed to automate and simplify these critical pre-season tasks, so you can focus on the big picture.
Our platform offers a seamless online registration system that handles payments, waivers, and data collection all in one place. The integrated financial tools help you set fees and track your budget with ease. With our powerful scheduling feature, you can build a conflict-free master schedule for your entire organization and share it instantly. Plus, our robust communication tools make it simple to organize your coaches’ meeting and send welcome information to all your families. Playbook Sports centralizes every step of your pre-season prep on a single, easy-to-use platform.
Start Your Season Strong
Preparation is the difference between a season of stressful scrambles and one of smooth success. By taking a methodical approach to your pre-season tasks, you build a strong foundation for your entire organization. You’ll enter the season feeling confident and in control, ready to provide a fantastic experience for every player and family.
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