Team parents provide a vital communication link between coaches, players, parents, and the Menlo community.

Volunteering as a sports team parent? The resources and references below are available to make your job easier to support the team, the coach, and the fans. 

The Role of a Team Parent

1. Streamline communication among coaches, players, and parents  
2. Organize other parent volunteers, including those for team dinners, Senior Day celebration, end-of-season banquet, game support, etc. 
3. Plan and track team expenses
4. Help coordinate optional apparel
5. Other duties as requested by the team coach(es)

You are the ‘General Manager’ of the parent volunteers, but all parents should share in the volunteer work, such as hosting team dinners, coordinating potlucks, collecting for coaches gifts, etc. The team parent will work closely with the coach(es) to coordinate all of these activities.  Each coach is different, so the team parent should work with the coach to understand the coach’s preferences.

Communications

Upper School teams have standardized on using TeamApp as the principal form of communication with the players, coaches, and parents. TeamApp is an application — accessible via mobile devices and the web — which allows management of the team schedule, news, roster, communication, and has a live scoring feature so parents not able to make the game can follow the action. The team parent should work with the past team parents or the Athletics office to get administrator rights, and be trained on using the application. The team parent will then populate the application with content, and help parents understand how to use its features. All emails sent to the team should be created and distributed through TeamApp. Team parents should add Director of Athletics Earl Koberlein,  Assistant Athletic Director Buffie Ward Williams and Sports Information Director Pam McKenney to their distribution list on TeamApp.

Some teams will create additional materials, such as a roster card (player, uniform number, position) as well as organizing materials to manage parent volunteer duties (using spreadsheets, Google docs, etc.) and attach to Team App. 

Note that the game schedules will be posted by the Menlo Athletic Department on the team’s public webpage.

Fielding Parents Concerns - If parents/guardians approach you with concerns, please be supportive of the coach/team, but when appropriate, let the coach know of general parental concerns. Remember that you need to set the tone for the parents, and please cut off negative chatter, questioning of either coaches’ or referees’ calls, or gossip about players or coaches. 

Stress the proper sequence of communicating issues among players, parents, and coaches.

1. Player to Coach
2. Parent to Coach
3. Player and/or Parent to Athletic Director

For information on proper parental communication of concerns, please reference Page 18 of the Menlo Athletics Parent-Student Handbook

News Articles, social media posts  - Pam McKenney, Sports Information Director (SID), writes Athletic News articles and manages the Menlo Athletics social accounts. Feel free to notify the SID of any newsworthy accomplishments or upcoming events for the team or individuals on the team.

Game Scores - Coaches are responsible for reporting  their team’s scores to the SID. However, if you notice that scores are not being posted on the website, please contact the Athletic Department as it strives to keep the website and Twitter feed as updated as possible.

Team Website - The Menlo Athletics webpage  hosts news and information for players and parents. Select “Upper School Teams” or “Middle School Teams” on the left navigation menu to land on a list of sports teams. Each team’s webpage shows headlines for the season, information about the coaches, the team’s history, and each team’s schedule, game location, player dismissal time, bus schedule and W/L record for the season. These are public pages that anyone can visit to learn more about the team and upcoming games. If there is ever a discrepancy between the website and what the coach tells you, please contact the Assistant Athletic Director, Buffie Ward Williams.

Menlo has Moved Away from Team Fees

Team fees that were typically collected from families to pay for expenses related to participation on athletic teams are now included in each team’s budget. Each team will have a budget for four team dinners, drinks/snacks for away games, and senior day expenses. Team trips and banquets will continue to be paid for by participating families through the Menlo Campus Store online. Financial Aid is available for team trips. Questions? Contact Earl Koberlein. 

Form A

Form A, also known as “Authorization for Non-Tuition Expense Collection” is a spending approval form used to by the school to identify expenses incurred outside of tuition-covered expenses. All departments of the school use either Form A (Athletics) or Form B (Arts, Clubs, etc.) to budget and approve the cost of the student activities not included in the tuition. In the case of Athletics, the coach and team parent work together to put together a budget for an activity, then they submit the Form A with a projected per student cost and the approval process then moves through a chain of authorization ending with the Campus Store setting up an account for the activity. The Campus Store then becomes the “banker” for the team activity. The team parent helps communicate costs and due dates, and the Campus Store collects payments from the players’ families.

Jay Ward Fund/Financial Assistance

The Jay Ward Fund helps service nearly all the need-based requests from Menlo student-athletes who need assistance paying for tournament travel, team apparel, or equipment-related expenses. Student-athletes apply confidentially for assistance directly to Rose Garza in the financial aid office.

Team Gatherings, Kick-off, and End-of-Season Celebrations

The Athletics Department recommends that there be a kick-off event at the beginning of the season and a team celebration/banquet at the end of the season that includes parents, players, and coaches.  

• Team parents should organize the location and food. Normally, in the interest of containing costs for the athletes’ families, the Athletics Department highly recommends that these gatherings be a potluck and encourages them to be on campus (on the Quad, in Stent Hall, Athletic Center Classrooms, Spieker Center, Creative Arts and Design Center patio or the Dining Commons). 
• The Athletics Department also asks to limit team dinners during the season (typically players and coaches, without parents) to three maximum. 
• Awards/End of Season Team Celebration/Banquets must be held on a designated date approved by the Athletics department. Typically, team celebrations are held on a Sunday after the regular season. Please confirm your date with Buffie Ward Williams. 
• The Athletics Department would like to promote unity within the entire athletics programs and therefore suggests that Varsity, JV, and Freshman Kick-off, and End of Season celebrations be held together. The post-season dinner may include individual team awards presented to each player by the coaches. (Awards are coordinated and provided by the coach, paid for by the Athletic Department). 
• Coaches Gifts - Gifts for the coaches are up to the discretion of individual families. Menlo School requires that the gift does not exceed $250 in value per coach per family. No cash may be given to coaches, but meaningful personal items or gift cards are encouraged.
• An excellent resource for learning more about the logistics of planning events at Menlo is the Event Resources webpage which lists how to book a conference room, schedule set-up for a banquet, create a volunteer sign-up, schedule a photographer, etc.  

The End of Season Celebration/Banquet requires budget approval by the Athletic Director (AD), and it is suggested that the total cost per attendee not exceed $25.00 per person. Potlucks are encouraged to reduce costs. Typically, the coach and team parent outline the details together, and the team parents take the lead planning the banquet and creating a budget. The team parent should complete Form A and follow the same procedure as above.

Overnight Travel Procedures

1. Prior to making any arrangements, please contact Assistant Athletic Director Buffie Ward Williams 

1. Coach and the AD develop permission slip, travel budget, and estimated costs per player, and coach submits Form A. Parents may be asked to assist with researching travel tickets and costs.
2. Coach is responsible for ensuring that all players have paid and turned in permission slips before the event travel.
3. Tickets/hotels will be booked by the school using the Athletic Department credit card or the school will issue a check once Athletic Director approves the budget.
4. Athletic Department plans team transportation. Team parents DO NOT request transportation for any team events.
5. After the coach, AD, and Business Office have signed Form A, the approved expense collection is sent to the Campus Store to create an account.
6. Team parents send out information regarding per player cost and due date for payment and permission forms to all parents.

Optional Apparel and Merchandise

Individual teams may want to order optional team apparel in addition to the standard team uniforms, for example, team T-shirts, hats, or sweatshirts. The Athletics Department discourages using the word “Varsity” or “JV” on any team apparel. The coordination of optional apparel is done for both the Varsity and JV teams by the coaches and team parents working with Jon Fahey of BSN

Senior Day Celebration

• Recognition of seniors at the last regular season home competition has become a tradition for most sports teams. Team parents help coordinate this recognition. The Athletic Department strongly recommends that these celebrations be simple in nature, that expenses are kept at a minimum, and that the focus be directed at thanking our senior players for putting their hearts and souls into their teams. Work with the team coach to plan specifics.
• An example of the event: before the Varsity game starts, the seniors for Menlo and the opposing team are acknowledged and announced by the coach or PA announcer. (Please work with Assistant AD Buffie Ward Williams to get names of seniors on opposing team)
• Some teams have their own tradition of honoring the seniors with some memento (photo, mug, t-shirt) and/or a simple bouquet of flowers.
• If the parent of a senior merits recognition, it should happen at the end-of-season banquet, not on senior day.
• While the Athletics Department does not coordinate these events, please keep them in the loop by emailing the AD and Assistant AD.  If you have logistical questions e.g. you need a PA system and/or tables please contact the Facilities Department at facilitiesticket@menloschool.org.