ownership and volunteer their time for various activities that need to be done. A lot of volunteer coaches and stat keepers are over the age of 40. Other coaches take the time to talk to volunteers and make them feel like they are a vital part of the whole operation.
—Eric Gohlke,
Saint Joseph High School, South Bend, Ind.
We used to have a consistent set of workers that did everything as a group, but most of them are retired. Now we have it so they get paid a little bit, but the consistency is not there and the dependability of the workers has declined. We are cur- rently looking at younger teachers that may need to get more involved or just need a little extra money, but along with that comes the reality that they may or may not be back during the next school year. It’s hard to maintain good, knowledge- able workers.
—Matt Maher, Park High School, Cottage Grove, Minn.
We look for people who have an interest in sports along with some connection to the program—a child on one of the teams or a former coach. We train them on the clock, book and other jobs and then try to give them a monetary “thank you” of $5 to $10 for each contest— “Starbucks money.”
Some choose to have the time count toward volunteer hours at the school rather than take the cash, which helps reduce the tuition they pay for their student to attend since we are a private school. If you try to value the contribution they make, they tend to perform well and desire to return. It helps both the volunteer and the program in the long run.
—Dave Sills, Desert Chapel Middle School/High School, Palm Springs, Calif.
coachad.com
It’s always difficult to find good volunteers for events. I find that you must appeal to their interests and that makes it easier to get them on board. Target the areas that af- fect their own children so they can either watch them play while work- ing or feel like they have owner- ship in what is going on. I also target parents who are his- torically the busiest anyway. They know better how to manage time and appreciate what it takes to get something done right.
—Rita Harrell,
Spartanburg Day School, Spartanburg, S.C.
We entice people to come back and work at our events by having “team parents” for each grade help us to organize. In addition, we have a biannual dinner for just the par- ents and friends of the program that is an adult-only event with a silent auction, allowing the parents to get to know each other and mingle. This year we are planning to do a bus trip to the casino for a night out for the parents. They pay $40 to $50 and they get back $15 in bet coupons and $20 off on the buffet. It’s a great time for everyone and helps the parents get to know each other outside of the program. It’s a win-win for everyone. —Frank Marcucio III, Westhill High School, Stamford, Conn.
We have many teachers and staff volunteer to work at all contests. They do all kinds of jobs from run- ning the press box hospitality to collecting tickets at the gate and opening locker rooms for the visi- tors. Our staff understands that put- ting on a first-class contest helps our community as much as the vis- iting community. We first make sure all workers enjoy a modest meal prior to go- ing to their assigned area. We also pay them for their service. The amount is set by our county and the
funds come from our gate. They have access to the hospitality room throughout the game. We rotate the staff so they don’t get stuck at the same spot, unless they want that same job.
As the head football coach, I provide each worker with a football shirt they can proudly wear even when not working at the games. We have a great athletic program and a real family feeling among our staff who volunteer at our games. —Frank Hepler, West Forsyth High School, Cumming, Ga.
Recruiting and retaining quality volunteers is the key to success at our events. We seek to draw them into volunteering at our events by communicating how it will benefit them. We advertise the opportu- nity for volunteers to learn how to run events, work in college athlet- ics, have an opportunity to support their campus community and get job experience if they hope to pur- sue a career in sports. Two things we do to entice peo- ple to come back are giving their roles a sense of importance and making a personal investment in our volunteers. It’s important to make sure our volunteers under- stand that their job is important and makes a difference for us at events. We do this by having very struc- tured roles for volunteers that come along with clear job descriptions that we hand out. As we hand these out, we explain to the volunteers how their specific role impacts the event as a whole and why it makes a difference. Additionally, we try to make a personal investment in our volun- teers by getting to know them. By doing this, we try to show that we care not only about the job being filled but that we also appreciate the person doing that job enough to spend a few minutes getting to know them.
—Tim Sceggel, Covenant College, Lookout Mountain, Ga.
May/June 2013 21
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