How To Start a Team

PRACTICES

Find a club close to the school and contact them about costs and times available for your team to practice.
Schedule at least one practice a week and consider doing at least two practices a week before the season starts
If you are limiting the size of your team or trying to arrange your players, you may want to consider using a Challenge Ladder to determine your final roster and seeding
Use the practices as an opportunity to teach the kids how to referee as well as play. The League Director has Referee Certification tests you can request if you need additional resources. Checkout the ‘Rulebook’ link on www.usaracquetball.com.

TEAMS

If you are new to the league you may want to ask to be a Junior Varsity team your first year. You want the kids to have a positive/competitive experience.
Consider keeping extra ‘new kids’ on your team and using subs. Try to avoid making cuts, our goal is to get as many kids as possible into the program. Consider using additional JV1 or JV2 teams or entering extra new players into the JV3 League. There is also a Middle School Program to help develop players for your program.

COMMUNICATION

Establish contacts at the school to get messages to the kids. Attend ‘Activities Nights’ and try to get the matches mentioned in the school announcements. Support from the school helps immensely when organizing a team
Utilize e-mail as much as is possible to communicate with the players and/or their parents. Also use e-mail to direct all questions to the League Director. Never hesitate to ask questions.

FEES

Determine the cost of the League with the cost of practice time. Also factor in costs of team uniforms or t-shirts. Combine all of your costs and divide by the number of kids on your team. Collecting all of your fees and forms from the kids at once is much as easier than requesting payments at several different points in the season.

FORMS

Turn in your team entry form, parent releases/emergency contact forms, coaching ethics form, and submit team rosters and tournament entries on time. Forms and fees must be turned in on time in order for your team to compete.

TOURNAMENTS

Promote the tournaments to your kids. These events are just as important as the league matches and are great team-bonding opportunities. The weekend competition is great experience for the kids and the events really get the players excited about racquetball.

MATCHES

At the matches opposing coaches can be your best resources to running the matches. Talk with them before the match to determine how you will conduct the competition. See how they work with their team. Don’t be afraid to ask them for ideas on how you can do things with your team. Sharing ideas is the best way to make everyone better.

WWW.MOHSRBALL.COM

Use the website as much as you can. Contact Dan Whitley and set up a time that you can go over all the functions of the site. It will save you time and is a simple way to report scores and track team performance. Everything is done through the website. All tournament sign-ups are completed through the website.

HIGH SCHOOL RACQUETBALL GUIDE

The above link leads to the "how-to" manual that was created to start high school teams or programs in any school. It is compiled by the coaches of the Missouri High School Racquetball Association (MOHSRA).

QUESTIONS ????

Call or E-Mail Dan Whitley at 314-842-3111 ext. 1104 or dwhitley@vettasports.com