What a football team needs to track

A youth team typically has 12–16 players, two training sessions per week, and a match every weekend during the season. That means at least three events per week where you need to know who's coming, who's injured, and who can't play the match because they've missed a training session. NFF recommends that everyone on the team gets playing time each match, which requires you to know exactly how many you have available before kick-off.

You also need to track who has paid their fees, which parents are driving to away matches, and what was said at the last parents' meeting. Without a system, this quickly becomes chaotic, especially when the season gets hectic in April and May.

Attendance lists that actually work

An attendance list only works if players or parents actually respond. The most common problem is that you send a message on Monday about Thursday's training, and get replies from four out of fifteen. The rest assume they're signed up, or forget to respond.

The solution is to reverse it: create a rule that everyone must actively sign up before a deadline, for example the evening before training. Those who haven't signed up by 8 PM get a reminder. Then you know at 8:30 PM exactly how many are coming, and can plan the session accordingly. This only works if you stick to the deadline every time – if you let it slide twice, people stop following it.

Communication that doesn't drown

A team chat with 30 people (players plus parents) creates noise. Messages about someone finding a trainer in the changing room mix with important information about match schedules. After a few weeks, people stop reading.

Separate your communication into layers: one channel for practical information (match times, training changes, deadlines), one for social matters. Or keep chat purely social, and send all practical information as structured messages that players must confirm – then you know the message was received. If you use an app, use the notification function actively, but only for things that genuinely need immediate attention.

Playing time distribution through the season

NFF's playing time rule for children and youth states that everyone should get regular playing time. In practice, this means you must track how much each player has played, especially if your team has 16 players and you can only have 11 on the pitch.

A simple method: note the number of minutes each player gets in each match, either on paper or in a spreadsheet. Before the next match, look at the total and adjust who starts and how long they play. If you have someone who has played 40 minutes less than the others over the last four matches, they start next time and stay on longer.

This is easiest if you plan the substitutions before the match: "You start and come off after 20 minutes, you come on then." Then you avoid improvising on the touchline while the match is in progress.

Finance and membership fees

Most teams collect 3,000–6,000 kroner per player annually, for tournaments, equipment and social events. The problem comes when you don't know who has paid and who owes money, or when parents ask what the money is being spent on.

Keep a list with three columns: name, amount paid, date. Update it the same day you receive payment. Send reminders to those who haven't paid by the deadline, and be concrete: "We're missing 4,500 kroner from four families. Without this we can't cover the bus to the tournament in June." People pay faster when they see the consequence.

If the team spends money on equipment or social activities, share a receipt or overview with parents once every six months. It takes ten minutes and prevents questions later.

What MyTeams can help with

MyTeams gathers attendance lists, messages and team overview in one place. Instead of sending messages in a chat and tracking playing time in a spreadsheet, you get everything collected where players and parents already check when the next training is. It doesn't replace all the work, but it removes unnecessary steps – especially around sign-ups and communication that genuinely needs to get through.

Plan the week before it starts

Sundays are the best day to plan the coming week. Set up the training sessions for the week, send out sign-ups, check who can play Saturday's match. If you do this every Sunday, you avoid Wednesday evening chaos where you don't know if you'll have enough for a match.

When players and parents know that information always comes on Sundays, they start checking then. Routine creates predictability, and predictability makes your job easier.