One of the things I never really appreciated before running an adult soccer team was just how difficult it can be to get a group of grown adults to complete relatively simple tasks.
- Update your availability for Saturday's game.
- Confirm whether you're coming to practice.
- Complete your league registration.
- Pay your player fee.
- Download the team app.
- Respond to a poll.
- Read the message that explains where you need to be and when.
None of these things are particularly difficult, yet somehow they can become some of the biggest challenges involved in running a team.
Sometimes organizing the soccer is the easy part. Getting everyone to tell you whether they're actually going to be there can be considerably harder.
With youth soccer, much of the administration is handled by parents. Registration gets completed, fees get paid, schedules are checked, and someone makes sure the player gets where they need to be. When those players become adults, that responsibility shifts directly to them.
That sounds obvious, but the transition doesn't always happen as smoothly as you might expect.
Adult players have jobs, college, families, relationships, travel, and plenty of other commitments competing for their attention. I completely understand that. Soccer isn't always going to be the most important thing happening in someone's life.
The problem isn't having other commitments. The problem is not communicating about them.
If a coach asks 30 players whether they are available for a game and 12 people respond, we don't know whether we have 12 players or 30. If half the team hasn't updated practice availability, we don't know whether to plan a session for 10 players or 25. If league registration closes Friday and players wait until Friday night to start registering, suddenly something that should have taken five minutes becomes an emergency.
And usually someone else has to solve that emergency.
The Small Tasks Actually Matter
It is easy for players to look at these requests as administration that has very little to do with soccer. But they directly affect soccer. Coaches need attendance numbers to plan practices. We need availability to select game rosters. Leagues require players to be properly registered before they can compete. Fields need to be rented. Officials need to be scheduled. Game locations need to be secured. Player dues help pay for those things.
When players don't complete the small tasks, someone behind the scenes has to chase them. Then chase them again. And probably send another reminder.
The five minutes a player doesn't spend completing a task can easily become hours of work for the people trying to organize an entire team.
That becomes exhausting, particularly when coaches and administrators are already giving significant amounts of their own time to create the opportunity for everyone else to play.
Stop Making Every Message Optional
One thing I have learned is that you have to make it very clear when something actually requires a response.
- A message saying, "Practice Wednesday at 8 PM" provides information.
- A message saying, "Update your availability in TeamSnap by Monday at 8 PM" requires an action.
Those are different messages, and players need to recognize the difference. As coaches and administrators, we can help by making requests short, specific, and actionable. Tell players exactly what needs to be done, where they need to do it, and when it needs to be completed. Don't bury the action somewhere in six paragraphs of information.
- If you need availability, ask for availability.
- If you need registration completed, provide the link.
- If payment is due, provide the amount, deadline, and payment options.
Give Tasks a Deadline
"Please update your availability" is surprisingly easy to ignore. "Update your availability by Tuesday at 6 PM because the roster will be selected Tuesday night" gives the task a reason and a deadline. This has probably been one of the biggest lessons for me. If something needs to happen, give it a date.
The same applies to league registration. Don't simply tell players they need to register eventually. Give them a deadline several days before the league's actual deadline. That gives you time to identify problems without spending the final evening trying to fix everyone's registration.
Use One Place for the Important Stuff
Another challenge is communication spread across too many places.
- WhatsApp.
- TeamSnap.
- Text messages.
- Instagram.
- Email.
- Individual conversations at practice.
Before long, someone says, "I didn't see that," and they may genuinely be telling the truth. Pick one system as the official source for things such as schedules, availability, registration, and roster information. Other channels can still be useful for reminders and conversation, but players should know where they are responsible for checking.
For us, that means increasingly putting the important operational information into TeamSnap and expecting players to keep it updated.
Don't Chase Forever
This is probably the hardest one. At some point, you have to stop chasing people. If someone has been reminded repeatedly to register, update availability, pay their dues, or complete league registration, there eventually needs to be a consequence for not doing it. That doesn't need to be personal or confrontational. It can simply mean:
- No availability means you aren't considered available.
- No league registration means you can't play.
- Outstanding required payments mean you aren't in good standing.
- Repeatedly missing practice affects roster consideration.
The important thing is consistency. If you repeatedly tell players something is required and then allow them to participate without doing it anyway, you have unintentionally taught everyone that the requirement wasn't really a requirement.
Expectations only work when everyone knows they actually mean something.
Explain Why You Are Asking
Players are much more likely to complete something when they understand why it matters.
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We don't ask for practice attendance because we enjoy looking at attendance numbers. Coaches need to know who is coming so they can plan a useful session.
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We don't ask for game availability because we want another poll completed. We need to build a roster, determine positions, arrange transportation, and know whether we actually have enough players.
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We don't ask players to register with the league because we enjoy paperwork. Without registration, they aren't eligible to play.
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We don't ask for dues because someone wants to collect money. Fields, leagues, insurance, officials, equipment, and facilities cost money.
When players understand the connection between the task and the opportunity they want, the request makes considerably more sense.
Make Accountability Part of Team Culture
Ultimately, this is bigger than TeamSnap, polls, payments, or registrations.
It is about accountability.
If you want to play competitive adult soccer, being part of a team has to mean more than showing up when there is a game you want to play in. Commitment includes the boring stuff too.
It means responding when the team needs information. It means telling coaches when you can't attend. It means completing registration before the deadline. It means keeping your payments current. It means updating availability even when the answer is "No."
Sometimes No is actually a perfectly good answer. Silence is the problem.
A coach can plan around a player who says they cannot attend. It is considerably harder to plan around someone who doesn't respond and then either appears unexpectedly or doesn't show up at all.
We Can Make It Easier Too
This isn't entirely on the players. Clubs and coaches need to look at their own processes as well.
- Are we sending too many messages?
- Are we using too many apps?
- Are instructions clear?
- Are deadlines obvious?
- Are we asking for information we already have?
- Are we making players complete unnecessary steps?
If 30 people consistently struggle with the same process, perhaps the process needs improving. The goal shouldn't be to create more administration. It should be to make the necessary administration as simple as possible.
One link. One action. One deadline. Done.
The Team Behind the Team
The reality is that every competitive soccer team has another team operating behind it. Coaches plan sessions. Administrators register players. Someone rents the fields. Someone schedules games. Someone communicates with the league. Someone handles insurance. Someone organizes kits. Someone manages payments. Someone updates schedules.
Players completing their small part makes all of those jobs considerably easier. And when those jobs become easier, everyone gets to spend more time focusing on what we actually came here to do.
Play soccer.
So the next time your coach asks you to update a poll, confirm your availability, register for the league, or complete some other five-minute task, don't assume someone will remind you six more times.
Just do it.
- Your coaches will appreciate it.
- Your administrators will definitely appreciate it.
- And your team will function considerably better because of it.
WORK HARD. PLAY LOUD. BUILD TOGETHER.