Volunteer Opportunities each Season
As a volunteer run community League we are powered by the volunteer help provided each Season as we launch and operate a seasonal program. Running a league for 1600+ players and operating two primary Seasons of the Soring & Fall requires the help of many hands. We are fortunate that that help is provided by you each year. Here is a run down of the main volunteer roles we fill each year.
- Coaches & Assistant Coaches
- Team Manager
- Referees & Junior Refs
- Division Directors (Age group coordinators)
- Field Helpers
- Festival volunteers
- Photo Day volunteers
Below are the descriptions of each role in details so you can decide the best opportunity for you to sign up for this year.
Coaching Staff - Each team needs at least 1 coach & preferably a coach and assistant coach that mentor & instruct the team during the Season. Coaches plan and supervise training sessions to develop general fitness and specific soccer skills for the players in their teams. Coaches are required to take some training. (see the training summary here) . For the younger ages U5, U6, U7, U8 coaches follow our training to teach age specific skills. As the players get older the coaches will also tech field awareness, specific positions on the field and game tactics. If you are interested in learning more about being a coach please email us here.
Team Manager - Having a team manager assigned each Season is very helpful for the Coaching staff so they can focus on training the team and have the support of the team manager with team communications, sending out schedules, notifying parents of any schedule changes , helping to facilitate scrimmages with other teams, organizing the team snack at games, ordering a team banner, helping to facilitate the end of season party.
Referees - Each team for the U10 (2012-2013) Division and above needs to nominate a referee or have junior referees (typically high school age kids) to help cover the recreational games during the Season. We ask our referees to cover at least 4-5 games in a Season. A referee does more than just administer the Laws of the Game. They are there to ensure the game is safe for all the players.
Division Directors - Each Season we recruit Division Directors who are the age group coordinators for each Division ie The GU10 (2012-2013) Division may have 6-8 teams in the Fall. The Division Director helps to support the Coaches for that Division, with items like place assignments, updates to rules for the Division and generally quarter-backing the plays for the Division during the Season. If you are interested in learning more about this volunteer role please email us here.
Field Helpers - For those volunteers that can donate just 1-2 hours a Season we ask our field helpers to help with field setup, lining a grass field, putting up Banners at a field, collecting equipment and placing it back in a locker. This role is very easy and does not take much time at all during the Season.
School Liaison - As a School Liaison we ask you to talk about your experiences with the LNYSA programs with parents at the schools your kids attend. Help to promote the programs and get feedback from parents and schools on the LNYSA youth programs.
Festival Volunteers - Each Fall Season we host a Fall Festival during the first week of November for all players in the U5 through U8 Divisions. The Festival typically starts at 9am and runs until 2pm. We ask the volunteers to donate 1-2 hours on the Saturday to help at the Festival. We send out a list of activities such as helping on the BBQ, manning the info booth, monitoring bouncy castle or giant slide, field setup to being a field marshal. Volunteers can choose any of these roles.
Photo Day Volunteers - Each Fall Season we run Photo Day on a Sunday morning a couple of weeks after the Fall Season has begun. The Photo volunteers are asked to donate 1-2 hours during the Sunday morning to help with the teams that arrive for team photos and answer any questions. Typically we need 15-25 volunteers for this Event in September.