Volunteer Roles


It takes many volunteers to run this program successfully. Please plan to help out.  We need and want your support!!!

Running a League takes a lot of hard work and commitment from people just like you. We are always in need of volunteers to help with managing and coaching teams. However, there are many other, different, opportunities in which you can help. With the many events that come along throughout the season, an extra helping hand is always welcome. We encourage parents to get involved and help our league stay strong.

This page lists volunteer opportunities, throughout the season, as they become available. Be sure to come back and check often for upcoming volunteer opportunities.

Volunteers for events will include but not be limited to the following:

Team Managers
Team Coaches
Team Mom's



Coaches/ Mangers Role

The Little League® manager and coach must be leaders. All must recognize that they hold a position of trust and responsibility in a program that deals with a sensitive and formative period of a child’s development.

It is required that the manager and coach have understanding, patience and the capacity to work with children. The manager and coach should be able to inspire respect. Above all else, managers and coaches must realize that they are helping to shape the physical, mental and emotional development of young people.

The Little League manager must be something more than just a teacher. Knowledge of the game is essential but it is not the only badge of a Little League coach or manager.

While an adult with training and background in the game is a desirable candidate for manager or coach, league screening committees should look for other important qualities. Screening of managers, coaches and others at the local league level who have contact with children is also important in attempting to discover those with a history of child abuse.

The heart of Little League is what happens between the adult manager/coach and player. It is the manager more than any other individual who controls the situation in which the players may be benefited. Improving the level of leadership in this vital area must be a continuing effort.

Children of Little League age are strongly influenced by adults whose ideals and aspirations are similar to their own. The manager/coach and player share a common interest in the game, a desire to excel, and determination to win. Children often idolize their managers and coaches, not because the adult is the most successful coach or mentor, but because the manager and coach are sources of inspiration.

Managers and coaches must be adults who are sensitive to the mental and physical limitations of children of Little League age and who recognize that the game is a vehicle of training and enjoyment, not an end in itself. It has been stated many times that the program of Little League can only be as good as the quality of leadership in the managing and coaching personnel. New leagues particularly, should make a determined effort to enlist the best adults in the community to serve as managers and coaches.

Anyone interested in being a Little League manager or coach should contact their local league president in person, and be willing to undergo a screening process that may include a background check, as well as interviews of those with personal knowledge of your qualifications.

The best way to train and qualify Little League managers and coaches is through the Little League Education Program for Managers and Coaches. A wide variety of materials are available for players and adults, as well as clinics and seminars led by experienced experts. You can learn more about this program by hitting the "back" button on your browser and clicking on "Education Programs."

Who is responsible for the conduct of the manager and coach? First and foremost, it is the manager or coach themselves. Each of us in Little League must take responsibility for our own actions.

However, as the chief administrator, the president selects and appoints the managers and coaches. As such, no person becomes a manager or coach without the approval of the president. All appointments are subject to final approval by the local league’s board of directors.

Only the local Little League board of directors has the authority to remove or suspend a manager or coach. If a parent or anyone else is dissatisfied with a manager or coach, they must present the issue to the local league president and board of directors. Because the local league president and board of directors are closest to the situation, it would be a disservice if Little League Headquarters became involved in disputes or personality conflicts between managers/coaches and parents.

However, any person who believes that a manager or coach (or any other Little League personnel) is, or has been, violently or sexually abusive to children should report the situation immediately to Little League Baseball International Headquarters as well as to the local police. It is Little League policy that no person who has a history of sexual abuse toward children be given any volunteer responsibilities in Little League. Read more about the Little League Child Protection Program.

Team Mom Role

What Does a Team Mom Do?

By Brooke De Lench

One of the traditional roles a mother has always played in youth sports is that of Team Administrator ("TA"), the politically correct term for what used to be, and is in many places still called the Team Mom. One of the best around is my friend, Suzanne Komorowski, a licensed clinical social worker and mother of two sons from St. Louis, who was a fabulous summer nanny for my sons when they were three.

Having a TA or Team Mom doing all the behind-the-scenes work allows the coach(s) to focus on coaching. Finding a TA or Team Mom with strong organizational skills, like Suzanne, is a plus for any team.

Here are some of the major responsibilities of a team mom, team parent, or TA:

1. Money manager

Administering the financial end of a youth sports team can be a huge responsibility. The TA is often responsible for collecting money from parents for entrance fees for tournaments, equipment, clinics,season-ending gifts for coaches, and the like.

If a coach is responsible for the money, parents may worry that he or she is not paying their fair share. An updated financial statement should be distributed to each player's family on a monthly basis. The TA may also need to look into the need for team insurance. Most larger organizations/leagues require teams to carry insurance in case of injury and the team will have to have proof of insurance for entry into some tournaments.

Money may not be the root of all evil but it often causes problems for a youth sports team. I have seen hard feelings result between parents/coaches because of poorly managed records and unfair fee collection practices.

2. "Answer Person"

The TA is the "go-to" person on all questions regarding team activities, fundraising, tournaments, housing, etc. The TA should know the schedule and where to find the tournament brackets, directions, etc. via the Internet.

3. "Keeper of the list"

A team contact list is an important tool to aid in communication and getting to know team and family members. The contact list should include:

  • player names and jersey numbers
  • parents' or guardians names
  • players' siblings names
  • home address
  • parents' home and work phone numbers, cell phone numbers, and email addresses.

Keep in mind that, if a player has more than one set of involved parents information for both parents needs to be listed. Since text messaging and email is the easiest and preferred method of communication these days, the TA should create a group text/email listing of all team members and use it regularly in communicating with all team members and their parents.

4. Pre-season meeting coordinator

The TA plans the Pre-season meeting attended by at least one member from each family at which the coaching staff presents its goals and expectations for the upcoming season and answer question about their coaching philosophy, and where the TA can discuss fundraising and financial matters. The TA should have each player and his or her parents fill out a Prospective Player/Parents Questionnaire during try-outs to obtain contact information and get a feel for the parents' expectations.

At the pre-season meeting, the TA or Team Mom distributes:

  • Player/Parent Expectations Sheet. An information sheet to the parents of new players so they know what is expected of them as a part of their new team. The information sheet should include 1) Background on the team 2) Club/Player/Family expectations 3) Financial commitments 4) Basic coach contact info.
  • Codes of Conduct: each team member and their parents (all involved parents) should be responsible for reading, understanding and signing a Code of Conduct the coaches, manager and TA have come up with to outline what is expected of the players and the parents. When they sign this document, it shows that they understand the rules. The TA should be responsible for holding on to these documents for future reference.
  • "Hold harmless" waivers: This document is something a team might want to consider having on file for each player in case of injury.

 

5. File clerk

The team mom or TA should have a copy of each player's birth certificate on hand in case there is a discrepancy. Some of the larger tournaments require an officially-sealed birth certificate in order to register a team.

6. Fundraising Coordinator

Fundraising can be a large part of being on a team. Many teams travel or enter large tournaments where fundraising helps to offset the out-of-pocket costs for the parents. Teams can hold fundraising events such as a trivia night or an auction and/or they can solicit sponsorship from resources and businesses in the community. Many teams have banners made displaying the names and logos of their sponsors and hang them in the dugout (or wherever) during their games. This gives the sponsors visibility throughout the season.

7. Volunteer Coordinator

Team Administrators need to be able to delegate responsibilities to other parents. It is a big job being a TA and that person has to be able to ask other parents for help when and if needed, such as car pooling, bringing water/sports drinks to games, etc.

8. Webmaster

Having a team website is a great way to communicate to the team members and have a way for the players to take ownership of their team in another way. Photos, stats,schedules, phone numbers, website links, etc. can be posted for easy access.

9. Travel agent

Making travel arrangements is an important aspect of the team mom or TA's job. Researching the closest facility to the tournament fields, communicating to all the parents the booking requirements for each individual hotel, making sure each family has booked their rooms, keeping a master list of those booked and not booked and canceling the bookings in case there is a problem are all important responsibilities of the TA.

10. Team Pin Buyer

Some of the larger tournaments have a pin trading aspect. The idea is that each team creates a unique team pin (lapel pin) and each player is armed with enough team pins to trade with all the other teams in the tournament. Ideally, each player will come home from the tournament with pins from each opposing team. Not only does this create camaraderie amongst the teams, it is a fun way to meet the other teams' players and have a collection of souvenirs from the tournament. The TA organizes or delegates the job of designing the team pin, finding manufacturers, soliciting bids, and ordering pins. This is actually a fun but time consuming task and one best started months before the pins are needed so you are not rushing at the end and have the pins in plenty of time before the start of the tournament.

Adapted from the book, Home Team Advantage: The CriticalRole of Mothers in Youth Sports (HarperCollins 2006) by Brooke de Lench. 

Updated and revised September 21, 2011 

Read more: http://www.momsteam.com/team-parents/what-does-a-team-mom-or-TA-do#ixzz3raTxOmng

Local Sponsors

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NHHLL, 4000 N Olcott Ave
Norridge, Illinois 60706

Email: [email protected]

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