It doesn’t matter if you are a new committee or have been doing it for 20 years, the weeks leading into round 1 are always a mad rush. Whilst some of this stress is unavoidable there are a few things you can start to put in place now that might make life a little easier come the first month of your season

Have you got a roster yet for game day volunteers? Perhaps you still need to recruit – you will be surprised at the number of students and retirees that are looking to keep busy but don’t necessarily want to play. Why not advertise for umpires? A quick add in the local paper and on your social media page is always worth a try!

Many clubs are still working hard to get new sponsors on board (don’t worry last minute arrangements are very common!) but whilst you go through this process it is important to document your commitments and make sure you follow through with them. Do you have the sponsors logo in an appropriate format for signage and uniforms? Have you included them in your newsletter template like you promised?

Accreditation

Club accreditation/s is something that is easily forgotten, especially if reminder notices are being sent to a former committee member. Things like alcohol licenses and food handling requirements, changes in the rules (for example many leagues are now enforcing a larger distance between the boundary and any fencing), updates to your own club policies on player and parent behaviour/alcohol/gambling. These all need to be reviewed and updated to ensure that you are not putting your club under undue risk. Often they need to be clearly displayed around the club rooms so now is a good time to check your requirements and get the laminator out!

It can be a little cliché but ‘failing to plan, really is planning to fail’. Many clubs do not set on-field goals, let alone off-field – nor are these communicated to the relevant parties. Some ideas that will help you set up for success are:

• A clear financial budget including target profit margins on items like merchandise, canteen sales and events
• Guidelines on how coaches (and other staff) are going to be assessed. Too often committees only ask for feedback from coaches when things are going wrong. Why not ask for a monthly report (nothing too detailed) that asks coaches to assess their progress and set goals for the next month
• Succession planning – is there something that you could be putting in place/teaching so that future handovers are even easier. Perhaps the goal is to document a process or appoint a new volunteer

All of which can help the club keep an eye on the future, even amongst the mad rush of Round I.

Hopefully none of the above comes as a surprise and your club is already well prepared for season 2018, but if not, don’t be afraid to ask for help and delegate some of these tasks -because as a club committee member you cannot take everything on yourself.