Little League Football Officers' Manual

4B   VOLUNTEERS

Refer to

Volunteers are the most important asset of a league. They need to be attracted, welcomed, encouraged, and looked after in their early days. They need someone to explain what LLF is all about, what they have to do, and how to do it. They need someone to ensure they are enjoying themselves, and if they aren't, then find them something more to their liking.

This is a major task - so why not consider appointing a Volunteer Co-ordinator? If he or she can find (or keep) just one more volunteer, the move has paid off.

Finding them

Most volunteers come initially from the parents of the children. Some will then come from those volunteers' friends. Relatively few come from outside that group.

"To encourage the parents to volunteer" is a daft statement. Nobody volunteers these days. They have to be asked - to their face. Writing letters to parents gets a miserable response - but at least it puts the idea of volunteering in their heads.

Naturally, you need to be sure they will be suitable before inviting them in. If you chat to the parents on the line, it's easy to spot the ones that will be good news, and the ones that just want to win for their own glory. It's also clear that the younger the children, the more likely the parents will help.

Other possible sources of volunteers could include the local volunteer bureau, talking to groups like the PTAs of local schools, local churches or other religious groups, community associations, adverts in local libraries, sports shops, an article in the local paper, web sites.

Recruiting them

All volunteers must be 'vetted' - and all girls' teams must have at least one female manager.

Many Leagues organise an annual meeting specifically for new volunteers - the aim of which is to explain the Little League Concept and the working of the League, and their particular responsibilities. Giving them some LLF leaflets and a rulebook is not enough. Time invested here will pay off in the long run. Just leaving them to get on with it as they think fit will create all sorts of problems. Don't chuck them in the deep end.

Keeping them - and keeping them working

In all voluntary organisations, many volunteers seem to do as little as possible, and a dedicated few do most of the work. So any action that encourages volunteers to take a pride in doing the job well will help your League to flourish.

There will be a need to support them in their early days. Not everything you explained will have sunk in. They will have questions. They will also need to be introduced to and welcomed by the existing group of volunteers.

This is where there is a need to foster good relationships between all volunteers - cliques are damaging. There should be a fun atmosphere. Possibly some event just for the committee could be arranged to encourage camaraderie?

And as with 90% of humans, they will get eventually stale and just go through the motions. At this point, there is an urgent need to encourage them to do some other job or else leave, rather than blocking someone with fresh ideas and enthusiasm.

One off jobs

What do you do with volunteers who can't commit themselves to every Saturday morning? If it's just the occasional absence, no problem. That's one reason why LLF functions best with two managers per team, and, of course, some jobs don't require 100% attendance.

But there are many one-off jobs, where a list of parents who can be called on to assist can be invaluable. This could include helping with fund-raising, painting the goalposts or other maintenance jobs, helping on the café rota, making some posters, being the Sponsor Liaison Officer, occasional reffing, maintaining a web site, writing articles for the local paper, distributing leaflets ...

Skills List

Do you know what skills your parents have? It can sometimes be useful to know a welder, an electrician, a bus driver, an accountant, a journalist ...

Useful Links

www.do-it.org.uk You can post vacancies here

www.navb.org.uk Find your local volunteer bureaux.

www.volunteering.org.uk Info on volunteering issues

0800 363373 Phone to join Sport England's Volunteer Investment Programme and get sent loads of free info, guidance and help.