Mite Manager Checklist

If you are a Team Manager, the below checklist will help you prepare for and execute the season. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the club’s Manager Liaison, Brad Rozmarynowski at: (312) 208-5492 (M) managerliaison@jrtrevianshockey.com

• Crossbar app: All Jr Trevians teams utilize the Crossbar app in order to view team rosters, schedules, rink locations, coach information and parent group chat capability. Make it a point to encourage all of the parents on the team to download the app to their phones where they can confirm practices, games, and locations at their convenience. Also, the group chat feature (only available via mobile app) on Crossbar is very handy for parents throughout the season.

• Seeding round (6 games): The seeding round games will be scheduled by the Hockey Director. The games will be posted on the Crossbar team calendar.

• Set up team operations: Solicit volunteers from the team to fill the roles of Treasurer, Social Chair, Tournament/Trip Coordinator, and Communications Liaison.
• Treasurer: Manages team finances from slush fund: paying the team bills (tournaments, dinners, gifts) and any other accounting that needs attention.
• Social Chair: Arranges social events for the team: planning team parties and bonding activities throughout the season, as well as an end of season party.
• Tournament/Trip Coordinator: Arranges events/activities for down time at tournaments and plans goody bags, door signs, etc.
• Communications Liaison: Responsible for providing updates, photos, videos, etc. to the Club communications team for sharing on website and social media channels. This person sends information to communications@jrtrevianshockey.com.

• Establish slush fund: Ask each family to donate for the slush fund. Approximately $250-$300 is a good starting point. These funds pay for the tournament registrations, coaches hotel rooms and gas fees during tournaments, social events at tournaments, coaches' gifts, etc. Parent coaches are not reimbursed for travel unless they are the head coach.

• Season kick-off party: Arrange for a start of the season team bonding event or team dinner. Thursday through Sunday the first two weekends of the season work well for this.

• Weekly emails: We highly recommend sending a “Week Ahead” email on Sunday nights to communicate any upcoming events or changes. This is a good time to coordinate who will be running the clock and scoresheet for any upcoming home games. It can be easiest to link to a Google doc or Signup Genius for sign-ups. This is also a good time to reiterate arrival time for players on game days. Players must arrive 45 minutes before the puck drop to allow ample time for dryland warm-ups, changing, and a coach chat with the team.

• Schedule tournaments: The Hockey Director will schedule your first two tournaments: one (1) out-of-town tournament in the early fall and one (1) local tournament over Thanksgiving break. The Hockey Director will also establish a block of rooms with a special group rate at one of the participating hotels for the early fall out-of-town tournament.* The team will typically play in a second out-of-town tournament after the winter break and before the postseason begins. This tournament is usually played over MLK, Jr. weekend in January or another weekend close to that. The manager should communicate with the head coach to settle on the tournament dates and the manager will also book the tournament slot for the team through the tournament website. As the team manager, you are responsible for disseminating the information about the tournaments and hotel blocks to your team. *Note, tournaments are typically “stay to play,” meaning you must stay “as a team” at one of the hotels that they choose in order to play at the tournament.

• Scoring of the games (except for tournaments; see below) will be done on an iPad using an app called GameSheet. Parents volunteering to help with scoring should watch this brief GameSheet tutorial in order to get familiar with the app prior to their game scoring duties. It is important that the volunteer be prepared with an iPad that has the GameSheet app loaded in advance and logged in so that they are ready on game day. The iPads are not supplied by the club and the GameSheet app has no cost associated with it.

• As the manager, you are also responsible for providing roster stickers that are affixed to the paper scoresheets that are used (tournaments only). The team manager from each team will affix a sticker on each of the three pages of the three-part (paper) score sheet prior to the game. After the game is over, one copy of the completed scoresheet is given to each team and the master copy goes to the tournament coordinator(s). Please be sure to bring at least 15 stickers per tournament. You should plan to create and print these on Avery label template #5163, which is the ideal size and fit for the score sheets.

• Scoreboard & time keeper: You must provide a parent volunteer to operate the scoreboard for all home games. There are written and laminated  instructions in each scoring booth to help the volunteer understand how to operate the scoreboard. At Centennial Ice Rink there is a control panel in the scoring booth used to operate the clock, scoring, penalties and game buzzer. At North Shore Ice Arena, a new jumbotron has been installed for scoring, clock, penalties and game buzzer using the ScoreVision platform on a permanently-docked iPad in the scoring booth. All games are pre-loaded in ScoreVision and instructions for navigation of the ScoreVision app are printed and laminated in the scoring booth. At either location, rink managers or Zamboni drivers are the point of contact for major scoreboard issues. Scoring notes: 1) Please ask the scoring volunteers to be aware of the "Mercy Rule." All goals are recorded on the official scoresheet or GameSheet app. However, when a team is up by more than five (5) goals, it is typically not reflected on the scoreboard. Instead, you display only a 5-goal gap in the total scoring on the scoreboard itself. 2) Expect to incorporate “running clock” during the 3rd period (and ONLY the 3rd period) IF the goal differential reaches five or more. If that happens, the scorer will run the clock continuously (only stopping for penalties) and revert back to normal game stoppage only if the goal differential reduces back down to four (4) or less goals. 3) In CUHL (Chicago United Hockey League) Mite hockey games, the standard period length is 12 minutes for Divisions 1 and 2, and 11 minutes for Division 3 and House leagues

• Score keeper: You must provide a parent volunteer to perform score keeping duties for all home games. This parent records the score live during the game using the GameSheet app on an iPad. Again, parents volunteering to help with scoring should watch this brief GameSheet tutorial to become familiar with the app in advance of their scoring duties.

• Penalties: You may be asked to provide a parent volunteer to operate the penalty box door at games. This can apply to both home and away games and is usually needed if the penalty box is not connected directly to the bench where the coaches could operate the door themselves. Coaches will signal to the box attendant as to whether the player should skate directly to the bench or go from the penalty box directly back onto the ice at the end of thor penalty timer. Check out the CUHL Scorer's Box Quick Reference Guide.

• Referees: The Hockey Director will work with CUHL to schedule referees. If a game is rescheduled, make sure the Hockey Director is aware, as referees will need to be requested. Parents are NOT to abuse referees, as outlined in Zero Tolerance Policy. When you are the home team, team managers must confirm referees are present (i.e., check the referee's locker room 20 mins before game time). If they are not present, call the Hockey Director.

• Locker room assignments: Home games are self-explanatory, as they are posted upon entry at both of our home rinks. Away game locker room assignments are usually posted as well and the rinks sometimes require a driver’s license or set of car keys in exchange for the locker room key at the rink’s front desk. The players are expected to treat the locker room with respect and clean up after themselves and the team. It is the manger’s responsibility to ensure that the room is clean and relocked.

• Manager folders: These binders/folders must be brought to all games...home and away. Find another team parent to bring it if you can’t be there. They should include:
• Team Roster
• CUHL Playing Rules
• Consent to Treat Forms
• Liability Waiver

• Regular CUHL season (9 home games/ 9 away games): At the end of the seeding round, you will need to schedule the regular CUHL season games. This is all performed online and nearly every manager at all of the clubs uses Sign-up Genius for the scheduling. You will get a list of who you will be playing and whether the games will be home or away. You will receive a list of game times and dates from the hockey director that you will input into the Sign-up Genius in order to provide the game time options to the other managers in your division. The other managers will do the same by sending you their home ice options via Sign-up Genius to give you the opportunity to take the game times that work best for your team. The window to complete the scheduling is just a few days long and therefore it is HIGHLY recommended that you be vigilant about getting your team’s list of game times out to the other team managers ASAP upon receiving the list from the hockey director.

• Prior to scheduling: Know your coaches and goalie(s) black out dates and conflicts. Prioritize the scheduling of longer-distance away games FIRST and try to book all of them for weekends. Consider travel route, time of year and time of event when scheduling (e.g., you don’t want to battle traffic to make a 6PM game in Joliet on a snowy Tuesday in January). Familiarize yourself with the location of potential opponents rinks (i.e., rinks that are close should be scheduled last and may be scheduled on a weeknight if necessary). Once scheduling is complete, enter your games into the CUHL site (see below). Consider when you might also want to schedule a team holiday event or gathering prior to winter break. Some teams like to plan an outing on the same day following an early game on a Saturday or a Sunday, for example.

• Prepare for fall tournament weekend: Confirm your tournament details, which have been booked by the hockey director. Parents on the team will use a booking link provided by the club for their tournament in order to reserve their hotel rooms. If possible, reserve a conference or party room at the hotel for the team to gather between games and during the evenings over the tournament weekend. Work with your team’s tournament coordinator to provide a detailed outline of the weekend's activities and schedules so families know where they need to be and when. This early season tournament is a tremendous opportunity for the players and families on the teams to get to know each other and build team chemistry that will carry through the season.

• Book tournament for MLK, Jr. weekend: Select your tournament for MLK, Jr. weekend and book your team to participate. This is usually done by filling out their online form and paying the tournament fee (reimbursable to you via the team slush fund). In addition to submitting the tournament registration form and paying the fee, you must select a hotel for the team. Once that is secured, you must make sure that the group rate reservation link is dispersed to the parents on the team so that they can individually book their own hotel rooms. If possible, reserve a conference or party room for the team to gather between games and during the evenings over the tournament weekend.

• Confirm tournament for MLK, Jr. weekend: Confirm your tournament details for MLK, Jr. weekend (e.g., dates, locations, hotels, etc.). Contact the HockeyDirector to ensure that fees have been paid (if you did not book it) and make sure hotel rooms have been booked, including coaches rooms. Work with the team’s tournament coordinator to provide a detailed outline of the weekend's activities and schedules so families know where they need to be and when.

• Check the slush fund: Confirm with your Treasurer that the slush fund balance is up to date and ask them to “true up” the fund with parents.

• Plan a final party: Start to plan an end of season party (e.g., outdoor skate, pizza party) knowing how much you have to spend from the slush fund.

• Get a coaches gifts: Lavish team gifts are unnecessary and discouraged. Approximately $100 per coach at the winter break and at the end of the season should be sufficient to convey a proper sense of appreciation.