90+ Days to Gay Bowl: Planning
for Success
With Gay Bowl XVIII approximately three months away, teams
from across North America are readying for the competition in Denver. Most importantly, team captains/travel team
coordinators are beginning preparations for their teams.
We’ve asked several former Gay Bowl team captains or coaches
to share their best practices and important points to remember as you get ready
for Denver:
Team Formation:
·
Establish clear responsibilities for what you as
a team captain/coach are accountable for with your local league’s board and
leadership.
o
Determine how team members will be
selected—draft or open registration, deadlines, if/how will additional players
be added post-deadline (injury or drop outs)
·
Decide if you are going to delegate any of your
duties.
o
Will there be offensive and defensive
captains/assistant coaches? If so, what are their specific responsibilities?
o
Will travel arrangements and other duties be
handled by a travel coordinator? If so, what are their specific
responsibilities?
·
Determine player responsibilities once selected
for Gay Bowl team.
o
Will a registration fee be due to secure spot on
team? Is it non-refundable?
o
Will players be expected to assist in
fundraising?
o
Any consequences for missing practices or other
events?
·
Decide on a team philosophy.
o
Will only the best players on the team get
playing time? Or will every team member have equal playing time?
o
Going to Denver to compete for championship or
going to have a good time?
o
Are all players aware of the philosophy and
expectations?
·
Establish reliable communication channels to
keep all team members informed of practices and other events.
o
Consider utilizing the GroupMe app or a private
FB group (or both to ensure messages are properly relayed to all)
o
You may also want to utilize other social media
platforms to keep non-player supporters up to date as to the team’s progress
Weeks Leading to Tournament:
·
Decide on a team name.
o
Will you use the name of prior years’ teams? Or
will you do a new name?
§
Make this decision sooner than later as other
elements (logos, uniforms, other merchandise) depends on this decision
o
What logo will you use?
§
Confirm with stakeholders (NGFFL Gay Bowl
Liaison and Denver Host Committee) that they have your proper team logo
·
Create a budget and determine fundraising
options.
o
Determine what the team will pay, what the local
league will pay and what individual players will pay (you may have to back into
this number after adding up all of the costs)
o
Costs to consider:
§
Airfare to/from Denver
§
Hotels
§
Tournament registration fee
§
Transportation around Denver
§
Uniforms
§
Equipment
§
Team dinner
§
Other team swag (t-shirts, bags, etc.)
o
Look for fundraiser/sponsorship opportunities:
§
Local businesses being the title sponsor of the
team, the uniforms or equipment
§
Consider doing Gay Bowl-specific fundraiser
events (pool parties, shot boys at local bars or beer busts, car washes, etc.)
o
Depending upon budget decisions, determine who
will make the following reservations/arrangements and make them sooner than
later:
§
Airfare for players
§
Host hotel rooms
§
Local rental cars (if necessary)
§
If the league won’t make reservations for
airfare and hotel, how will you confirm that the players have made them?
o
If budgeted, determine who will be responsible
for getting new uniforms, additional equipment (flags, balls), other team swag
items.
§
Ordering new uniforms take time to produce, so make sure you order them with
plenty of production time—you’ll have to know sizes and numbers of all your
players (so your roster should be finalized before you do this step).
§
For uniforms, consult the Gay Bowl rules for the
requirements
.
§
Determine who will transport all the equipment
to Denver and the fields.
·
Determine where and when to hold team practices
o
Will it conflict with local league play?
o
Will you leverage local league teams to
scrimmage against?
o
Will each practice focus on offense or defense
or both?
o
Will players have a specific position to play?
o
Will you have enough back up players for
possible injuries at the tournament?
·
Confirm that all players have been formally
registered for the tournament
At the Tournament:
·
Ensure that you or another representative
attends the Captains Meeting held on the afternoon of Thursday, September 13.
·
Confirm that all players have completed check-in
at the tournament
·
Encourage all players to attend the Opening
Ceremonies so you know when and who you’ll be playing on Friday, September 14.
o
Still communicate to all team members when first
games will be held and when/where to meet
·
Develop a good relationship with the
referees—make sure you are part of the introductions at the beginning of the
game
o
You
are responsible to manage team members during the games so working with
the referees help tremendously.
·
Utilize social media channels to keep sponsors
and supporters up to date on your team’s progress
o
Suggest all players use similar hashtag for all
social media posts for the team
·
If budgeted, make arrangements for a team dinner
on either Friday or Saturday night of the tournament
o
Then encourage players to attend other social
events on those evenings
·
Encourage all team members to attend the Closing
Ceremonies on Sunday, September 16.
After the Tournament:
·
Collect all equipment and uniforms that will be
used for other tournaments
·
Hold a team dinner or closing social to
celebrate success and fun
·
Write down (for future reference) any lessons
learned for either yourself or next year’s coach/captain so you don’t make the
same mistakes again next year!
