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IAFL
GOAL POST©:
This
month we have an article aimed at
new teams who would like to join the
IAFL by Cillian Smith of the IAFL.
New Teams
- What does it take to join the IAFL?
by Cillian Smith
Introduction:
At a recent league meeting,
a representative of a new team said
that when they were forming their
team, they did not know exactly what
would be required in order to get
the team ready to play in the Irish
American Football League. This article
is based on my experience of setting
up a team (Dublin Lightning in 1995)
& I hope it will be useful to
anyone who is thinking about setting
up a new team.
Players:
A team is going to need a squad of
at least 30-35 players to complete
a full league season. During the season,
there will always be players missing
through injury and other absences
(work/family), so out of a squad of
35, you will probably only have about
25 fully fit players in kit per game.
As you can see, this only barely covers
the 22 starting positions on a football
team. While most players will have
a preference for one position, all
players should be trained to cover
at least one other position (on the
opposite side of the ball e.g. a receiver
would also train as a defensive back)
as they will probably be required
to play that position at some stage
during the season. Linemen are always
in short supply, so recruit as many
as you can. It’s also useful
to have a couple of experienced players
who can be “jack of all trades”
and can rotate in & out of the
game in a variety of positions when
required.
With regard to newly
recruited rookies, the vast majority
who start training camp will not make
the team. If you have 25 rookies on
the first day of training, you will
probably only end up with around 5
making the squad. About half of all
players who try out for a team will
quit after a week or two as most people
don’t realise how demanding
the sport is. Of the remainder, less
than half will be there by mid season.
Expect this to happen & always
recruit 4-5 players for every open
spot on your squad. Don’t be
lured into a false sense of security
when 50 rookies turn up for try-outs
– the majority won’t stick
it out.
Coaches:
The most important decision you will
make is who to appoint as Head Coach.
A new team should always have an experienced
Head Coach. Put a premium on finding
someone who has considerable experience
in the sport, and has coached before.
Someone who has no kitted football
experience cannot effectively coach
a team regardless of how long they’ve
follow the sport – armchair
coaches do not work. You’ll
need at least 2 assistant coaches.
Recently retired players who want
to enter the coaching ranks and who
are willing to study for coaching
qualifications can often make very
good assistant coaches. The Head Coach
will need to be the most dedicated
person in the organisation as he needs
to attend every game & practice.
Think about logistics/travel arrangements
very carefully if you intend to appoint
a coach who does not live in your
immediate area. For new teams, it’s
also useful to have some extra coaching
help in pre-season – inviting
some experienced coaches to visit
your team for a couple of coaching
clinics during the pre-season is a
very useful exercise. Please note
that from 2004 onwards, all IAFL coaches
may be required to have completed
a recognised coaching course.
Support Staff:
To start with, every team needs a
General Manager/Team Manager. Someone,
who will take responsibility for running
the team from an administrative point
of view. The General Manager will
need to ensure that the team has a
home venue, training ground, equipment,
uniforms, publicity, sufficient funds
& that travel arrangements are
in place for away games. Due to the
volume of work involved, it is necessary
for the General Manager to be assisted
by at least 3 or 4 other people. It
is also a good idea to have a designated
Assistant Manager who will take charge
if the General Manager is unavailable.
On game days, teams will also need
to have a few people available for
various tasks such as chain crew,
ball boys etc.
Training:
The IAFL is an amateur league, so
most players have jobs, families,
college and other responsibilities
in their lives. Therefore there is
a limit to the number of practice
sessions a team can have. Most teams
train twice per week throughout the
season. Practice sessions are usually
about 3 hours in duration. Players
should do fitness and conditioning
in their own time as due to time constraints
(only c. 6 hours practice per week),
the formal practice sessions must
concentrate on football drills and
teamwork. Coaches normally insist
that their players are fully conditioned
before allowing them to take part
in contact drills at practice sessions.
During the pre-season, extra practice
sessions may need to be arranged to
provide more intensive instruction
to rookies.
Equipment:
All players who play in the IAFL have
to be fully kitted out in accordance
with the NCAA rules. Even though a
lot of experienced players in Ireland
own their own equipment, it is advisable
for a team to build up its own stock.
Rookies will have to be supplied with
equipment when they first start playing.
Equipment cannot be bought in Ireland;
however the league can put teams in
contact with equipment manufacturers
in American & Europe who will
supply Irish teams. Ideally, if a
team purchases 5 or 6 full sets of
equipment per year and look after
it, they should be able to kit out
their squad indefinitely. Team uniforms
will also have to be purchased. Players
should never be allowed to wear game
uniforms in practice as this very
significantly reduces their lifespan.
It is vital that uniforms are kept
in good condition as the image of
the team can depend so much on how
a team presents itself. Teams should
take into account the ability to purchase
replacement uniforms when choosing
a uniform manufacturer.
Home Venue:
Teams need a home venue to play their
home match fixtures. The IAFL requires
home venues to meet certain minimum
criteria. They include (1) playing
surface of at least 110 yards between
goalposts and 160 feet wide. (2) Dressing
rooms/showers for both teams and officials.
(3) Parking for visiting team bus
& officials. (4) Adequate room
for spectators. (5) Pitch must allow
ambulance access. For all league fixtures,
the home team has to ensure that an
ambulance crew is present (e.g. Red
Cross, Order of Malta) and that they
have at least 5 people available for
chain crew & ballboy duties. Irish
teams generally hire their home venues
from large rugby/GAA/soccer clubs,
community sports centres, high schools
or universities.
Away Matches:
The IAFL has teams in various parts
of Ireland, so travel arrangements
will have to be made for away fixtures.
Teams usually hire a bus (53 seat
is standard) for away fixtures. Travelling
teams usually plan to arrive at the
venue c.2 hours before kick-off. Most
away fixtures are daytrips –
the team travel from their hometown
on the morning of the game & returns
home in the evening. For some teams
(e.g. Cork & Belfast), it may
be necessary to stay overnight for
one or two games per year if they
are playing at the opposite end of
the country.
League Requirements:
To fully participate in the league,
your team will be required to play
at least 8 regular season games and
possibly up to two play-off games.
The league season runs from March/April
to August/September. In addition to
the regular season games, the league
may require your teams cooperation
with a number of league wide events
such as the All-Star game, representative
games and special events. Most teams
also try to arrange 1 or 2 pre-season
games/scrimmages. Therefore, taking
everything into account, teams generally
play 10-12 times per year and some
players may play an additional 2 or
3 games if the are chosen for representative
fixtures. The league also likes team
managements and coaches to help out
as much as possible with representative
games. From an administrative point
of view, teams are required to pay
a league fee (most of which goes towards
insurance), send representatives to
the AGM plus 4 quarterly meetings
and do a certain amount of paperwork
as required (play registration, team
rosters etc.). The league obtains
insurance on behalf of all its members
so it is not necessary for your team
to have its own individual insurance
policy. It’s also worth noting
that the league will do it’s
best to accommodate developing teams
who do not believe they have the players/resources
to survive a full season e.g. 8-a-side
games, arranging fixtures against
league teams etc.
Funding:
American football is an expensive
sport, so teams have to ensure they
have the financial resources to survive.
The total cost of running a team in
the IAFL will run into €1,000s.
Teams are generally self financing.
To start with, most teams charge a
membership fee to players. Many teams
also organise fund raising events
in their local community to raise
additional money. Some teams have
sponsorship, but generally it would
not be enough to cover all the teams
expenses for the year. If you are
setting up a new team, it is best
to budget for no sponsorship as it
is difficult for a new team to attract
significant sponsorship deals.
Timetable:
Here’s a rough annual timetable
for teams in the IAFL:
January: Put in place
final administrative preparations
for start of season. Publicise trials
for new players.
February: Trials for
new players & start of training.
March: Pre-season games.
Start of regular season
April/May/June/July:
League fixtures.
August: Play-offs
September/October: Post
Season representative games.
November/December: Fund
raising, preparations for next season,
sourcing new equipment.
For
more information, please contact:
info@irish-american-football.org
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