The AYSO Team Parent is a pivotal part of every team. They are the coach's assistant, cheerleader and traffic director all in one. These are things you will already be doing if your child is on the team, so take it one more step and help the entire team operate more smoothly! 

Every coach needs help arranging snacks for after games, making calls when rain makes practice impractical, and keeping an energetic team in line on the sidelines. You're making a difference for the whole team - a team that includes your child. It's a great way to make your child's team a family experience! 

Another important role a Team Parent can play is the unofficial Kids Zone representative at every game. Kids Zone is one of the ways AYSO makes sure all its players and volunteers are having fun. The program encourages spectators to use good language, show good sportsmanship in attitude and behavior, and create an enjoyable day for every player. The Kids Zone button, parent pledge form and sign, remind those on the sidelines to act appropriately.  A Team Parent can wear and share these important tools with everybody watching the game. 

Please step up at the beginning of the season and offer the coach your help as Team Parent!

General Responsibilities and Duties of the Team Parent

Your duties will vary from team to team and each coach will be different but in general the team parent takes care of the following tasks:

Uniform Distribution: When a parent registers their child, they also indicate a uniform size for their child. The league will order these uniforms and you will help to distribute them once they arrive.

Order Team Banner: The team banner needs to be ordered and received before Picture Day. The cost of the banner is to be shared amongst all team members and must include the sponsor's name, the team's name, and each team member's name. You can make your own banner or order from one of the local banner vendors in our area.

Organize a Contact Information Sheet and Snack Schedule: Gather all the team information in one easy to view location and sign-up your fellow parents to supply snacks for a particular game. Encourage parents to utilize the BAND App for communication, game reminders, and league updates.
Some snack tips:
·Prepare/bring fruits (grapes, oranges, etc.) for a halftime snack; individually packaged is convenient.
·Bring end-of-game snacks; usually a drink and something to eat.
·Don't forget the coaches and referees, when determining the right amount of snacks to bring.
·Be sure to check for any allergies!

Weekly Updates: Once you've collected all the contact information, send out weekly email updates with game time, assigned snack duty, and any other relevant information (e.g. Change in practice, game time, or location) to the parents as a friendly reminder.

End of Season Party: Organize the end of season team party and buy the coaches a "Thank You" gift. Like the banner, the cost of the coaches' gift should be shared amongst all the team members.

Team Parties & Coaches Gifts
We receive a lot of emails toward the end of the season regarding what to do for team parties and coaches gifts. So, we now have a whole section about this:

1. Parties are good. They're a fun way to celebrate the season and say "thank you" to our team coaches, referees and parents.
2. You don't have to go to a pizza parlor.  Consider a potluck at one of Paso'a fabulous parks, or grab a picnic table after the last game of the season!  Make a list of items and circulate it at a practice for people to sign up and bring things. This way, the kids get to run around and you have plenty of space for trophy distribution as well.
3. Sometimes you get lucky and families will offer to host the party at their homes. You may want to send a quick email out to ask.
4. Coaches Gifts.  They are a nice gesture, especially given the amount of time of coaches volunteer to help the kids.  Check out our list of suggested gifts and divide the cost of the gifts among players' families.  Or, you can simply collect $5, $10 or $20 per player and then purchase the gifts. Given the current economy, it is best to run these things by the team families and get their input. You don't want to go out and purchase a $200 item and your team only has 8 players and shock the families with the $25 per player amount. There are several ideas below that do not cost much at all – and they will mean so much:

• a gift certificate to local restaurants;
• take a picture of the kids at a game or practice and frame it and have the kids sign the matte;
• purchase soccer equipment for the coach if you've got a soccer-loving coach. Training equipment is good;
• buy some cool Paso Robles gear;
• buy a cool soccer ball and have the kids sign it and purchase a case for it;
• buy your coach tickets to a Cal Poly game;
• purchase a t-shirt from their favorite soccer team

Trophy FAQ:

• Trophies are not provided by Paso Robles AYSO.
•  Trophies are not a requirement for your team, but you can choose to order trophies to hand out at the end of the season.
•  Each team will have to split the cost of trophies if you decide to purchase them for your players.
  

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Trophy Vendors:
Recognition Works
Crown Awards
Trophy Hunters