Leadership Stress Management in AYSO: Practical Strategies for Success

2. AYSO should be fun for everyone!

3. Keep Calm and Carry on A Rx for Leadership Stress • Leadership can be a heavy burden. • Volunteer leadership can generate high levels of anxiety and stress. • Let’s identify and define leadership stress. • Offer creative, practical and innovative methods to deal with leadership stress before . . .

4. Who are AYSO’s “Leaders?” Regional Commissioners, Regional Coach/Referee Administrators, Board Members, Coaches, Referees . . .

5. What Qualities Define a Leader?

6. What Qualities Define a Leader?

7. In AYSO, what kinds of situations can cause stress?

8. Stress Triggers • Spectators yelling at referees • Not enough coaches or referees • Difficult parents • Negative Regional board members • Volunteers who don’t do their jobs • Balanced team problems • Procrastination

9. 13 Strategies to Keep Leadership Stress Under Control

10. Prioritize • Identify high priority items first. • Avoid spending too much time on less important items. • Use calendaring skills to budget for larger events. • Develop simple rating system to assess priorities.

11. Pull Out Tools From the AYSO Toolbox • E-newsletters • Manuals • Webinars • On-line courses • Region Toolbox • AYSO.org • RAP AYSO

12. eAYSO Can Help Also • Track registrations of both players and volunteers • Maintains records of volunteer assignments and training • Creates training course rosters • Builds teams • Validates coach credentials

13. More eAYSO Stress Relievers • Assign access rights so volunteers can perform their duties • Accept credit card payments • Manage secondary programs • Facilitates timely volunteer background checks (e-Signature) • AYSO invoice and bank statement tracking • Etc., etc.

14. Sort • Weed out those tasks that are not productive. • Don’t add to your “to-do” list without completing, removing and reducing items on your current list.

15. Remain Positive • Challenge is a key part of leadership; it helps us keep up our creativity and competitiveness. • Thinking positively will do a lot to ward-off stress-producing negativity.

16. Delegate Rules of Thumb for Successful Delegation • Know what to delegate. • Be picky with who you choose. • Check for understanding. • Allow for frequent progress reports. • Support the volunteer.

17. Stay Active Exercise is a great mechanism to control anger, depression and other elements of leadership stress. What are some exercises you think would be effective?

18. Organize Yourself • Clean up your desk/workspace. • Sort and organize computer data files. • Group or classify your email and cell phone contacts.

19. Talk Out Tough Issues • Sharing “war stories” can relieve unwanted tension. • Keep your volunteer responsibilities in perspective. • Try not to “dump” too many stress-related concerns on the home front.

20. Be Honest If someone around you is causing you a lot of stress, stop and talk it over.

21. Give it a Try Scenario 1: An RC talking to an RRA who’s negative and always late. Scenario 2: A coach trying to convince a parent not to yell at the referees. Scenario 3:An RCA dealing with a coach who refuses to attend training.

22. Reflection When leadership stress becomes overwhelming or you are feeling stressed... schedule some time to relax and reflect..

23. Maintain a Balance Don’t overextend yourself! Balance your life with work, AYSO, family, friends and hobbies. What do you do for fun?

24. Control Contact Time Set hours to be on-the-job. Communicate these hours to your Regional board members. Stick to it - and train those around you to respect your “off hours”.

25. Clarity is Key S.M.A.R.T. goals keep volunteers motivated and energized. Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Timely Write down your goals and regularly evaluate them.

26. Have Fun! Humor makes our perspective more positive and help us deal with challenges in a more constructive way. • Laughter: • Connects us with others. • Detracts focus from anger, guilt or stress. • Is contagious and reduces stress levels. IT JUST MIGHT CATCH ON!

27. And NOW… A Customer Service Announcement

28. Customer Service Advice From an Expert “Whatever you do, do it well. Do it so well that when people see you do it they will want to bring others and show them how well you do what you do.” Walt Disney

29. Great AYSO Soccer Starts with Great Communication • Each player and parent should know • how to reach their Region leadership from • a tool provided for them to reference at home Business Card Magnet Brochure Bookmark Flyer

30. Each year, the AYSO National Office receives thousands of calls from concerned families who can not reach their local AYSO Region or do not get replies to questions about… …player registration/VIP program …coach, team, practice time, location …volunteer points, referee points …playoff criteria and participation …refunds, uniform returns, next registration

31. They would rather be communicating with you! Reachable phone and email publicized 800-555-AYSO - region2014@net.net Make sure there is room for messages Website up to date REPLY ASAP

32. Thank you!