It is club policy that no individual teams receive exclusive sponsorship from an organisation. This includes resources, apparel and financial support. Offers of sponsorship need to be directed to the Junior Administrator of the club so they may look at the sponsorship to be benefited by other junior teams. This does not preclude each team from organising weekly awards for their team and others as well. It is important that the committee is aware of all awards (sponsorship) to ensure sensitivity.

Presentation Day and Voting Procedure

The Presentation Day will be held after the completion of all season matches including finals if any. All awards will be presented at this special afternoon. Dates and details of the afternoon will be advised accordingly. There are 5 Special award trophies per team with participation for Under 16’s, Under 14’s and Under 12’s, with participation only for all players at Under 10’s and Under 8’s level. Coaches cannot dictate what awards will be provided nor will they have authority to purchase any extra awards.

There is no voting at Under 10’s and Under 8’s age group, only weekly encouragement awards to be distributed evenly to all children over the year to recognise their efforts and achievements. It is advised that a record should be kept to ensure an even spread of awards throughout the year. For calculation of Best and Fairest Awards for Under 16’s, Under 14’s and Under 12’s, the Team Manager will hand out vote cards to parents who wish to participate. It is important that Team Managers advise vote givers the importance of the voting procedure and that the votes should go to the best and fairest player on the field that day for Sunshine. (Not the child that has played better than expected). Completed vote cards are to be kept in a sealed envelope by Team Managers and handed to the Junior Administrator as required at the end of each round. It is not mandatory but recommended that Coaches, Team Managers and Runners should vote, but not every week. The five (5) highest vote receivers for the season will receive the awards and these are to be kept confidential until announced at the junior presentation day. The best five players for each team at Under 16’s, Under 14’s and Under 12’s level will receive special awards on Presentation day. Participation awards will be presented to all Under 8’s and Under 10’s players. All Under 16’s, Under 14’s and Under 12’s who have not received a special award will receive a participation award. Thank you plaques will be presented to the Coach and Team Managers,.

Training

With the size of the club, and the large number of teams, a great deal of pressure can be placed on Kinder Smith Reserve as the training venue. It is important that we are aware and respect the training needs of other teams within the club. The times the ground has been set aside for teams and age groups should be respected and the condition of the ground should be taken into account. The committee reserves the right to cancel training to protect the playing surface at Kinder Smith Reserve. Coaches should consider weather conditions and look for alternative venues and training during adverse conditions. Coaches should use the ground wisely and work with other coaches to do longer drills when more room is available.

Like every other club in the district, an important point to consider is that with the current level of water restrictions in place, we are under orders from State and Local government and this may continue to affect the viability of utilising Kinder Smith Reserve, which is all dependent on the outcome of the summer restrictions.

JUNIOR TRAINING TIMES WILL NORMALLY BE

• Under 16’s ‐ Wednesday and Friday - 5:15 pm – 6:30 pm

• Under 14’s ‐ Wednesday and Friday - 5.30 pm – 6:45 pm

• Under 12’s ‐ Wednesday and Friday - 5.00 pm – 6:00 pm

• Under 10’s – Friday - 5.00 pm – 6:00 pm

• Under 8’s – Friday - 5.00 pm – 6:00 pm

For further details, please refer to the Junior Team Details page

Under normal circumstances, we would expect teams to train at Kinder Smith Reserve.

Note pre-season training may be a different timetable to normal season so times and days are subject to change.

Any changes to training times / days will be distributed in regards to this via the website, club newsletter, social media promotion and also announcements by coaching staff.

Coaching Accreditation

To coach within the league, it is mandatory that all coaches are accredited as Level One coaches. As a club, we endorse this policy and expect the club will cover all costs incurred in Level One Accreditation.

Coaches are strongly encouraged to pursue higher levels of accreditation. The club will support coaches in this activity and may assist with the expenses of such an endeavour. Contact the Junior Administrator for details. To remain accredited, coaches are expected to be actively coaching, members of AFCA and attend professional development evenings. The club sees the coaches as the “face of the club” and strongly endorses this policy. As such the club may meet the costs involved in these expectations. Annual membership will be covered by the club. Membership entitles coaches to regular Coaching Magazines, access to resources provided by AFCA, and Seminar Nights. Again, contact the Junior Administrator for details. Two Seminar nights are held each year. Presentations are of a high quality and cover various areas of coaching. All coaches will have their entry to these evenings covered.

The club will conduct a number of Coaches Meetings throughout the year. Coaches are expected to attend these meetings. The purpose of the meetings is to address issues relevant to coaching at Sunshine Football Club and share resources amongst the coaches and maintain a level of consistency amongst the coaches. The coaching coordinator will be responsible for giving feedback to the coaches from time to time.

North West AFCA provide a resource Library of Videos, books and other equipment that is available to all coaches. Any costs incurred in hiring the equipment will be covered by the club.

First Aid and Trainers

It is a requirement that all first aiders are accredited to Level Two and ERC Module completed. Any training required will be covered by the club. If a person benefits from special first aid training it would be hoped that that person would assist in first aid dues for a number of years or while their child was participating at the club.

The club is responsible for maintaining the first aid kits to the required standard. Any extra first aid needs to be passed on to your appointed first aid person with instructions.

The junior club has an Asthma management policy and procedure that may be obtained from the committee on request. It is a requirement for all players to wear a mouth guard during a game and recommended they are worn during competitive training.

Special Needs of Players

As a coach you may become aware that one or more of your players have special needs, apart from obvious physical needs such as injuries and skill deficiencies. The other needs may fall into three (3) other categories. These being educational, emotional and social.

• Educational Needs: Not all students within a classroom learn the same way or learn at the same rate. Some students have 'Specific Learning Problems' that make it very difficult to learn using traditional teaching and coaching methods. It is important to be aware of any Learning difficulties that a player in your team may have. Modify your presentation of information in an attempt to accommodate these players Learning Needs.

• Emotional and Social: From time to time players may exhibit uncooperative behaviour that negatively affects training and coaching. Often this can be put down to adolescent behaviour and nothing more needs to be done, however such behaviour could be indicative of a more serious emotional or social problem that the player may be experiencing. It is in the best interest of the coach to spend time communicating with the player in an environment free from tension to ascertain if there are social or emotional issues that are affecting the child's behaviour. As coaches it is not our role to solve such issues but we play a very important role by being a 'significant' adult in this person's life, prepared to talk and communicate with the child, in a supportive environment where a common interest exists, that being football. The club has access to a large support network for your people who are experiencing Emotional and Social difficulties within their lives. Professional advice for our coaches is available in dealing with such situations and many professional services are available through this network for the player.

Grievance Procedure

At times parents may have issues that concern them and/or their child. The committee of the club has addressed a number of areas that they believe are significant in the coaching and management of players. This has resulted in the production of policies and procedures associated with selection rotations mentioned in this document. These policies have been made very public, in an attempt educate parents and make them fully aware of how coaches are expected to act in regards to these areas.

In the event of a grievance being raised by parents in regards to these areas or other areas of the concern, the following steps should be followed:

• Under normal circumstance, parents are encouraged to approach the coach to resolve the matter.

• The parent may approach the committee prior to approaching the coach or may not be satisfied that a resolution has been arrived at, even after the initial discussion with the coach.

• In this situation the Junior Administrator will act on behalf of the committee and communicate directly with the coach to inform them of the concern that has been raised. It is then hoped that a resolution to the issue will occur, based on the clubs relevant policies and procedures.

Player Mentoring and Specialist Coaching

Sunshine Football Club has many qualities that appeal to people. At times these characteristics are not easily identifiable except that when combined together people like the feeling that it produces. If you speak to people often they describe it as a family club, where the individual is cared for as much as the team, where often the 'game' of football plays a secondary role to the development and needs of the person playing the game.

Benefits of a Mentor Program. A Mentor is defined as an experienced and trusted advisor. This is a fairly general definition of a mentor, however the reward that is gained through such a program is huge. Some of these are:

• The opportunity for the senior members of the club to develop their sense of value to the club community.

• The Big Brother concept is a very important part of growing up for adolescent children. To have significant male role models in their life is essential to their ongoing development.

• It develops a sense of value and responsibility within the mentor.

• The life experiences that some senior players have been exposed to may help some of the younger players in the club.

The Mentor Program

• Senior coach and players approached about the idea, with a request for support. Those able to participate will be allocated to a team. Not all senior players will be involved due to various reasons.

• During the year, the team mentors can participate in training from time to time, attend functions, help out at 'Club Nights'. Young players can clearly identify with senior players and will show a greater interest in that player. In effect the players could become like a mini‐cheer squad for that player. This may increase the following for senior team. The barriers between the senior and junior sections of the club will be reduced, and when senior players train with junior teams e.g. Under 14’s or Under 16’s, the quality of the training is enhanced.

Parental Involvement and Match Day Officials

There are two positions that need to be sanctioned by the committee.

These are: a) Coach, and b) Team Manager. The remainder of required match day tasks will be allocated to parents.

The club relies on continual parent support to ensure that all official dues are carried out. These positions are either match day officials or official club appointments.

A document has been produced and is available outlining the dues of the team manager and is a very helpful tool available to team managers.

The organising of the match day officials is the responsibility of the Team Manager.

These positions are:

1. Goal Umpire

2. Umpires Escort

3. Boundary Umpire

4. Runners; (Permanent basis)

5. Trainer - First Aid; (Permanent basis)

6. Time Keeper

7. Match Day Manager

8. Water Person

9. Canteen help (if a home game)

10. Ground Set Up / Pack Up (if a home game)

Team Managers have several options to ensure parental involvement is maximised.

A Roster can be drawn up to include all parents OR requests for volunteers to identify positions they would fill on a more permanent basis.

For a full list of duties for the above mentioned roles, please click on the button below