To commemorate the "End of Season", Soccer Classroom is writing an article that reviews gift ideas for coaches and end of season parties. We asked our Soccer Classroom Facebook fans and got 39 responses (you can see them if you want) and ideas - they were awesome! I thought I would tap into this resource for more ideas and a few more in-depth questions: Coaching Gifts What are the best/most clever/useful/heartfelt gifts for a coach? How much would you expect players to contribute? Should it be based around level of play? Or how about time spent on the field (ie rec is on field 1-2/week whereas club is on field 3-6/week)? Should paid coaches receive end of year gifts? Or is their pay "good enough"? Should Assistant Coaches receive gifts? Team "Mom" or Team Manager? End of Season Party What are the best / most fun ideas for end of year parties? Should players receive trophies // recognition at end of year? What are your thoughts about parent/player games? Who should pay for the party? We invite any and all feedback you have for us (in addition to the prompting questions). I think people would find it helpful to know the parameters of what other teams are doing out there. Thanks!
I get a lot of hand made cards. I wish they were gift cards or just straight up cash money. I'm not gonna lie. I love soccer but I also love cash. I'm a volunteer coach, so even if they gave me a gas gift card I'd be happy. edit: btw, this is mostly a sarcastic post. I'm not some secret money grubber.
I'm a volunteer coach and I do like getting the gift cards to restaurants/sports stores, the personal gifts are what I like the best. I have a t-Shirt hanging in my closet from when my son was 8 (he's now 17). It was the first tournament I had ever coached and we made it to the finals. Each player printed their names on the back. I love it. Same with a signed ball from a team a few years ago.
In the past I've received soccer.com gift cards from parents and I appreciate them. The best ones I have are two AdiPure balls autographed by my U8 players. Got them on top of my bookshelf proudly displayed. In my U10 rec girls division they only hand out trophies to the first place team. I'm not an "everyone deserves a trophy for showing up" kind of person, but this season my girls have worked hard and improved immensely from the start. They've also played their guts out and played the right way. It doesn't show up in the won-loss record (we're almost at .500 and have lost some really close games) but I feel they deserve it, so they're all getting medals engraved with our team name and season on them after our last game Saturday, and tonight they're going to be ball girls at a local college women's game.
I think that's awesome. I agree with you that after the kids are above 6 or 7, trophies should be earned and not just given out for participation. Sounds like you did just that. I coach girls (now U-15) and I can tell you that things like being ball girls or just having an 'away from soccer' get together will stay with them long after the seasons end.
Got me a $5 gift card to Dunkin Donuts last night from one of the kids on my rec team. On the travel side, parents usually hook me up very well. Usually a dinner and a gift certificate to the local soccer store (which I usually reinvest in the program). I am looking at the portable bench for next year. The past two travel seasons for my U-8's and now U-10's, I have had specially designed t-shirts made for the kids.
I coach 3 rec teams U17 girls, U14 girls and U7 coed (assistant coach). In recent history the teams gave me U17s-- gift card to the best local steak place U15s-- gift card to my favorite live music venue In the spring the U7s gave the head coach a ball signed by all the kids. For the U7s, this season the kids are going to get action pictures of them taken during one of the games. My U14s will probablly do a t-shirt of some kind again. We don't do gifts for the U17s
On one of my daughters teams (whose season ends with the same tournament every year) the coach finds a song for each kid (with their name in it- he manages every year- my daughter has an unusual name and he found a song I had never heard of) records it on his ipod and during one of the breaks between games the coach plays the song and the team sings. The coach says a quick (usually irreverent rather than serious) word about each kid- the kid sits in the middle of the group etc. I know this sounds cheesey but my daughter LOVED it (so much so she insisted that I write it here!) Not the greatest team, nor greatest coach nor greatest overall soccer experience but this had her end the season with a smile and a great feeling about things
Once I got a soccer ball that I know costs over a $100 with Freddy Adu's autograph and, also, signed by every member of my team. I've never had the nerve to use the ball. But, why the hell do you spend that much on a ball and then give it for decorative purposes? I only get gift cards now. I like the gift card for the hardware store the most. I'm going to be spending my money there anyway. Gift cards to a nice restaurant benefits the me and the wife (kids can stay home.) I almost always use gift cards to stores as gifts for holidays or birthdays. My wife can thank the team for her new flat screen monitor.
Nice! Love that place. On a separate note I got my end of season present today: Gift card for a sporting goods store and a gift certificate for a massage<--- pretty cool and unexpected gift. I wonder if it's a veiled hint that I need to chill out.
just as I was about to start a thread on this too: this is my first year as a volunteer, non-travel coach for U7 (including my little guy). the equipment bag they gave me had beat up cones and two raggedy balls. i went out and bought four Size 3s and goalie gloves. i could care less if i get reimbursed. i've enjoyed doing this to the fullest. as for the end-of-the-season party, i'm thinking of asking my local italian pizzeria & restaurant to set aside a room for us to have our "ceremony" --with pizza, a small buffet and wine for parents--and was just thinking of handing out certificates that i'll look for online to each of my players for different categories--"most improved" and things of that nature although i'll have to really think about making up equally-important categories so the little dudes don't get "offended." as for me getting something in return----hopefully my son turns pro before 14. is that asking too much?
Sidequestion: What does "non travelling coach" mean? When do you travel in the US and when not? Where do you travel to?
I wanted to personally thank everyone for your feedback. We've created this customizable end-of-year certificate that you can print out for your players. I hope you enjoy it! http://bit.ly/year-end-certificates
We have different levels of youth soccer, that is more or less different levels of commitment. Using my club as an example we have: Recreation program - this is where "non-travel" coaches fall. Basically it is a town-run league or in our case a private club running a program within our local area. Coaches are not trained (or don't need to be). Volunteers. This is where the youngest players start playing at age 4. Biggest emphasis in on fun. If they learn skills great. Our rec league goes from ages 3-14. Our travel league is the next step. Instead of all games being "in-house", they play in a regional league versus other teams in an area. Most travel is within one hour of our town. Rarely, if ever are there overnights involved. Commitment is more and training is much more technical in nature. Training is done in academy format, despite having several teams in the same age group. We also have older travel teams, they may travel further away for games, up to four hours away and some overnights are possible, including trips to national tournaments.
@cleansheetbsc Thanks for the info. In Germany all teams have home and away games, even the youngest play in full jourseys against the clup next town, some only in friendly games, some with real leagues. Recreational teams are not wide spread.
A couple of more gift/party things. My daughter (11th grade) coaches 1st graders. A parent took "action shots" of each kid on the team during the season. Each player got "their" picture as a gift and my daughter got a book of all the pictures. For my U14s, I gave them old jerseys and sharpies to write on them. In addition, we sat them down and my co-coach and I each said something about their performance this season. This year they returned the favor and when we were done talking, they each said something about us and/or what they liked about being on the team. My U17s gave me another gift certificate to Rays the Steaks
I've received gift cards and dinners, but what I treasure most are the two balls that have the team picture on them and are signed by my girls.