Team Manager

The team manager is a volunteer position that assists the coach and organization throughout the season. As a team manager, you take on the operational aspects of the team, which allows the coach to focus on player development and on-ice instruction. A manager will be selected by the head coach upon selection of the team (not prior to tryout/evaluations).

Ice Time

• Travel teams are afforded 1.5 sheets per week
• Valley will pay for ice for 18U, 16U Youth TB, and 19U and 16U Girls TB on August 1. All other teams pay for their August ice.
• Rest of the travel teams, Valley Ice officially starts on September 1.

Team Manager must:

1. Register with USA Hockey as a non-ice volunteer (free)
2. Get SafeSport certified (free)
3. Complete the USA Hockey background check (fee – but reimbursement available through the VYHA treasurer and upon verification of completion by the Director of Coaches).

Preseason

• Both the Team Manager and Head Coach must have access to HorizonWebRef.com and keep the profiles up to date. Reach out to the VYHA Director of Referees for help.
• Team Manager and Head Coach (ideally all coaches) must attend the annual Coaches’ and Managers’ Meeting held by VYHA – date and time to be set by Director of Coaches.
• The Manager and Coach should communicate with the team the date and time of the annual VYHA Parents’ Education Meeting.
• The Team Manager should meet with the Coach/Coaches before the season start (post team selection) to assess how many games they would like for the season and which tournaments.
• Determine with the coach whether the Coach or Manager will handle the scheduling for the team. Connect with the Director of Coaches if you need help with scheduling resources (i.e., Team Contacts +/- one age or skill level from your team at Valley, Outside Associations, Tournaments, My Hockey Rankings, Snowbelt, etc.).
• Tournament applications should be submitted as soon as they open, as many fill up before the season starts. Tournament fees can be paid for by the Treasurer or submitted for reimbursement (contact the Valley Treasurer for the team's budget).
• Estimate budget for the team using the number of home games (ref payments), additional ice if requested by Coach, Tournaments, team events if desired, and other costs (such as apparel, team building activities, etc.). The Parents and/or fundraising must cover any costs exceeding the Team budget. Money collected should be submitted to the Valley Treasurer in one of two forms: a check payable to VYHA or cash in a sealed envelope, clearly indicating both the amount and the team it is intended for. All funds should flow through the Valley Treasurer.
• Coaches/Managers are responsible for working with the Valley Treasurer to keep up to date with the team budget. Each team will be provided a portion of their overall budget by VYHA, determined by the number of players registered. The VYHA portion of the budget is a “use it or lose it” each season.
• Ensure all players are registered with VYHA prior to Summer practices for travel teams. House team players must supply their future season USA Hockey number to the coordinating coach prior to any summer skates.
• Ensure all players order jerseys and socks promptly; orders take roughly 8-10 weeks from store close to delivery. 

• Ensure all players are registered and paid (or on a payment plan) according to the Valley Registrar’s guidance (within two weeks of Travel Tryouts or two weeks after House team selections). 
• Confirm with that your team roster on the Valley Webpage is accurate. Request access to use Crossbar as your team's communication and schedule reminder app.
• Ensure all Coaches on the bench (and those helping on the ice for practices) are cleared per NYSAHA and USA Hockey requirements as indicated by the Registrar. Work with the Director of Coaches and Registrar to monitor the progress of this.
• For 18U Youth and 19U Girls, ensure that ALL players have completed their SafeSport certification prior to taking the ice.
• The practice schedule is set by the association (VYHA Scheduler) and can be found on the Valley website. Times will be updated on the Valley website on a regular basis. 
• Game time slots should be requested to the Scheduler and Valley Ice Coordinator (Steve Eccles, seccles20@twcny.rr.com) and entered into the online schedule by the Scheduler. No one should be deleting time slots from the online schedule. Deleting any ice slot in your team’s calendar will also delete the corresponding slot on the Master Schedule.
• Report away games to the Scheduler and Valley Ice Coordinator as well (via email). 
• Work to get your game requests in ASAP once you start building out your team schedule. Let the Scheduler and Valley Ice Coordinator know which weekends you know your team will be out of town. That way we know we’ll have less requests on those weekends to help accommodate others.
• Referees should be assigned on a monthly basis. Late additions to the schedule (within 2 weeks of game time) MAY NOT be assigned a referee and MUST be sent to the Director of Referees as soon as the game has been added (vyha.referees@gmail.com). Any referee questions can be sent to the Director of Referees.
• Managers should refer to the referee schedule of fees shared by the organization at the start of the year to see what the cost of referees will be for their games. The manager must pay referees in cash for each home game (refer to the budget for cost). Submit for reimbursement to the Valley Treasurer if paying from the team account in a timely manner after the game. The Coach/Manager can obtain advances of referee fees from the Treasurer, eliminating the need to pay up front and then get reimbursements (must coordinate with the Treasurer).
• USA Hockey Rosters must be reviewed for accuracy by the Coach prior to any league games or tournaments. Changes to an official roster can be made by contacting the VYHA Registrar. If going to Canada, the manager must also request a “Travel Permit” issued by the Central Section Registrar via our Valley Registrar. USA Hockey rosters lock in December and cannot be changed after that time.
• Games should be confirmed with the visiting team the week of the game. Also, for home games, the Manager and/or Head Coach should double check HORIZONWEBREF.com on the Monday leading into the weekend of games to ensure referees are assigned, that they are assigned to the correct rink, correct time and the you have ref contact information in the event you need to cancel for any reason (if you cancel after Thursday at Noon, you will still be responsible for paying referees unless it is weather or COVID related and you catch the refs prior to leaving their homes). 
• Assign or request volunteers for the clock, game sheet, and penalty boxes for each home game. Assignments can be created in the game listing under the Crossbar app.
• There must be a Locker Room Attendant (adult supervisor in the locker room) for every game – this person MUST be SafeSport certified and must complete a background check.
• Valley uses the GameSheets application, an electronic game sheet system, for home games, and Team Managers are provided with that information at the start of the season.
• When using paper game sheets, team stickers can be used on game sheets (3 per sheet). Stickers should indicate Goalies (G), Coaches with CEP numbers, and Valley Eagles as the Team name. League games should also have the Team ID# found on your USA Hockey Roster. The Director of Coaches has a back stock of game sheets, but there should be inventory at both home rinks.
• At the start of each game, the Head Coach or Manager should review the roster sticker or game sheet to cross off any player(s) who are not in attendance for that game. Then the head coach (or acting head coach) must sign the sheet. Be sure to retain copies at the conclusion of the game (make sure the referees have signed after the conclusion of the game). 
• For all Tournament Bound Travel teams, ALL game sheets must be retained and added to a binder/notebook for possible review at the NYS Tournament. Games need to be reported (game sheets submitted) to the Central Section at the end of each weekend for player eligibility tracking.
• Snowbelt teams will need to collect, report results to the snowbelt website, and upload game sheets within 48 hours of game completion. This will be coordinated by the Snowbelt League Scheduler.
• Bring your USA Hockey Roster to all tournaments. Do NOT wait until the week before to get your USA Hockey Roster in place – plan ahead!
• Game Misconducts must be reported to the VYHA Vice President, with a copy of the game sheet, within 24 hours of the conclusion of said game. They should also follow up with the game(s) the player sits as a result of the misconduct. 
• Refer to the Valley Code of Conduct and/or the VYHA Vice President for any other disciplinary issues/questions.
• Refer to the Central Section website, or Snowbelt website (if applicable), for all league game requirements. 
• Work with the Head Coach to connect with the families of your team at least weekly, either in person, via email, or through the Crossbar App, to keep them informed.