This question came up on my Twitter feed today.
“How do you avoid coaches and the committee doing everything while the parents of the kids you coach are bystanders?”
The problem comes when you try to measure the contribution of the members of your group. Who scores more points? The parents who run the cake stall at the club’s annual fete. Or the parent who cuts the grass for games each week.
Football might be a team game but some players are worth more than others. In 1979 Nottingham Forest paid £1 million pounds for striker Trevor Francis. But it took a full 10 years before a club would the same amount for a goalkeeper. It was 1989 when Crystal Palace bought goalkeeper, Nigel Martin for £1millon pounds.
And this is my point. Your club, association, or team needs to be organised around a common goal. When that becomes clear, then the roles and their value also become clear. Be clear on your intent.
If you need to raise money the cake stall might just be more important than the length of the grass. For now at least.