Club Coaching Philosophy
Our coaching philosophy for all age groups is centred around providing a fun and safe environment for the kids whilst ensuring an equal opportunity to participate in a team environment. In response to this, we insist that players show a duty of care to their teammates and opposition and also show respect, commitment and care to coaches, team officials and umpires.
SMJFL grades each team into divisions at the start of the season, and again after round 4. Grading decisions reflect observed match results as well as club input, and we seek grading that should enable each to team to maximize player development – ie: roughly mid-table so the players enjoy some wins….and learn from losses.
Head coaches shall appoint between one and three assistant coaches to ensure every player gets appropriate attention (eg: more assistants in younger age groups).
Head coaches are ideally limited to a tenure of three consecutive years in the lead role with the same team.
Team managers, coaches and umpires shall establish rapport with their counterparts before each game, to ensure philosophical alignment and be in a position to deal with any issues arising during the game.
Coaches are required to maintain team discipline and instruct players to play within the spirit and rules of the game.
Teams are limited to a maximum of 24 players on match day.
Teams usually play with 18 players on the field (see SMJFL By Laws), but can play with lower numbers. If one team only is short of players then the other side shall field a matching number of players, unless the larger team loans a player in which case they may field one more player. See SMJFL by laws for clarification.
Each player shall get at least two quarters (half a game) playing time on the day (unless precluded by injury, safety, or disciplinary action or if too tired if playing their second game for the day).
U8, U9 and U10 players are required to be rotated forward, mid, back and interchange evenly throughout the year - although discretion is granted if coaches want certain players spending more time down the spine.
From U11 onwards coaches may begin to develop some players into specialist positions or zones, whilst still ensuring a reasonable mix of time for every kid playing forward, mid and back.
Player positions and rotations during the game shall be managed by an assistant coach or helper in conjunction with head coach, using the coaching panel's plan for that game.
We encourage our teams to be competitive at all levels and expect coaches to manage game day rotations and coaching plan's to give teams every chance of success.
SMJFL official winning margins are limited to 10 goals, so coaches shall seek to rotate and bench players if their team looks like exceeding such threshold in U11 and above matches.
Any player executing a dangerous tackle, unduly rough play or unsportsmanlike behaviour will be taken straight off the ground for positive counseling and education, and allowed to return immediately if accidental or minor, after one quarter if careless or moderate and sit out the rest of the game if malicious or severe. This is a self-assessment initiative that places the onus on coaches, not umpires to prevent, detect and address player behaviour.
The umpire(s) of each match formally rate player, team officials and crowd behavior from each team as ‘good’, ‘fair’ or ‘poor’ at the end of each match – and the club expects good behavior from our teams at every match. Any ‘fair’ or ‘poor’ behavior ratings will require explanation to the committee, and ‘poor’ behavior ratings will be considered for disciplinary action by the club.
Player milestones (50 / 100 / 150 games) are acknowledged by running through a pre-game banner. Parents and players make their own banner.
Singing of club songs must not occur on the ground, and shall only take place in the clubrooms (or away from the ground if no clubrooms provided).
Team managers and coaches from each team shall provide a summary of how they’ll manage player positions and rotations to executive committee for endorsement and to families for signature of acceptance.
Finals
- All players of the team shall have right of first selection for finals games subject to playing the minimum 4 games of the home and away season.
- Players that have assisted the team during the year shall also have the ability to play in the finals if the team player numbers are less than 21.
- Assisting players shall be selected based upon the number of games they have participated in during the home and away season.
- No assisting player shall play more game time than a team player.
- There is no guaranteed game time in Finals although we recommend a minimum of 1/4 - coaches will rotate players as required to ensure the best outcome on the day.