Campaign planning

Most long-term plans for a high-performance team a viewed across a four-year cycle. However, that is generally broken into a season, campaign or tournament plan and is further divided into pre, during and post certain activities.

The Team’s campaign plan should be developed with the management group and there must be total alignment on the Team’s objectives. Identifying key leaders within the management group but also amongst the players will help you define, test, align and redefine your plans. 

Key to success as a Team Manager is an additional planning document which outlines all of the key responsibilities agreed upon by the Head Coach and your reporting Manager. The document will contain all the relevant information for the Team’s plan for the next 12 to 24 months, along with the detail of the tasks required to fulfil the role. The document should be kept up to date and be available to share, should you be unable to complete your duties for any reason. The planning document should outline the agreed timelines for tasks to ensure that there is adequate time to complete each task without significant overlap. 

Building your budget

Now that you know your plan for the next 12 months or so, it is important to agree a budget. Your Union will, no doubt, have a budget template that you will work with, however, the more detail you can put in at the early stage of budget preparation the better. Do not assume that costs like insurance or national team kit will be covered centrally, instead include a budget line for all the possible items and discuss in detail with team management and Union finance managers. 

Regulatory requirements

The requirements for each match or tournament will be set out in a Terms of Participation (TOP) or Tournament Handbook. Additional information may be provided to you in the form or guides or manuals. They may seem overwhelming at first but can be broken down into smaller sections and reviewed over a week or two. Make sure to note any deadlines (although some TOPs will have a list of deadlines at the front), including deadlines relevant to other members of the team management such as medics. Tournament organisers will turn to you as Team Manager, if they do not receive the required response from other members of the squad.

Also note any questions you might have. No matter how simple the question might seem, ask rather than assume you understand the content. 

The Term of Participation will typically contain:

• A contract between the tournament organiser and your Union that must be signed by a Union Director or Company Secretary. Once returned it will be countersigned by the tournament organiser.
• A contract between the tournament organiser and each squad member who must sign the Participation Agreement which is usually collected just after arrival at a tournament or match. The contract contains amongst others:
  • Confirmation of player eligibility
  • Outlines image rights usage
  • Confirmation that players are medically fit to play
• Confirmation that all squad members will adhere to the code of conduct, anti-doping and discipline rules
• Some key contacts
• An outline of deadlines for both teams and organisers
• Match schedule
• Team information, for example, the size of the squad permitted and how to replace players during the tournament
• Tournament rules including what happens if a match is cancelled, what kit you can wear, who is allowed on the sideline
• Tournament arrangements including your travel, accommodation and catering provisions when in tournament
• Commercial, Broadcast and Media rules
• Information on anti-doping and the disciplinary processes
• Medical provisions in tournament and what is expected from your team medics
• An outline of the forms you must complete. 

Top Tip: If you have a question, it probably means a section is unclear to everyone. Ask it, rather than assume and regret it later!!

For a single match you may receive a Tours Agreement. This is a template that can be used to ensure a clear understanding between Unions of financial, commercial and match management arrangements.