The Youth Football Guide – No. 6: Home Games

Welcome to the sixth installment of a small series of serialisations of my book “A Guide to Surviving Youth Football” If you like what you see and want to read more please do go and purchase a copy of the book by going to Amazon.

Home Games

As a coach when you have a home game you are in charge. If you are in a league where it’s up to the home manager to dictate kick off time and day then you are completely in control of everything, but even if you are in a league which dictates kick off days and times then you still have a lot of control and responsibility over what happens.

As a home manager you are not only the point of contact for your own team and their families but you are the point of contact for the away team. If the team visiting you has never been to your ground before, they may ring you up for directions before the game but then they still may get lost on the way so it will be up to you to have your mobile on so you can help direct them.

When the away team gets to your ground it is then your responsibility to introduce yourself and welcome them and show them to any facilities you may have. If you don’t have any facilities players and parents may ask you where the nearest toilets or the nearest shop is so you need to know your local area.

As a home manager it is up to you to show understanding if an away team is running late due to traffic or getting lost and delay the time of kick off to allow the opposition to have a proper warm up and not miss the kick off. If you decide not to delay the kick off which is still your right you can expect the same treatment when you go away to teams. You’d better not be late or get lost going to any away games if you decide to go down this route!

As the home manager it is up to you to monitor the pitch in the week building up to the game, checking that it is in a playable state whilst keeping an eye on the weather forecast. If you are using a pitch which doesn’t belong to you, you need to also make sure that it has been booked and that no one else is using the pitch at that time. It is the home manager’s call whether a game is postponed or not. If the home manager deems the pitch to be unplayable or the weather too bad to play in then they can call the game off. It is normally the kind thing to do to keep your opposing manager in the loop if the game looks like it may be unplayable and to let them know at the earliest convenience if the game is to be postponed. If you are going to postpone a game you have to figure out when the away team would be leaving so you can let them know before they set off but still give the pitch and the weather as much time to improve as possible. To travel all the way for an away game to find out it has been called off is very frustrating so again if you don’t want that happening to you don’t do it to anyone else.

www.theyouthfootballguide.com

(Image courtesy of szczel)

Related Posts:

• The Youth Football Guide – No. 10: Opposing Managers
• The Youth Football Guide – No. 9: Referees
• Unfairly Paying the Penalty
• The Youth Football Guide – No. 8: Facilities
• The Youth Football Guide – No. 7: Away Games