HOW CAN PARENTS/CAREGIVERS HELP?

We have four parent-led groups that help to organise our major sports within the school (Football, Hockey, Netball, Rowing).

We are always looking for coaches and managers for our sports teams.

PARENT-LED GROUPS​​​​​​​

Marsden Friends of Football (MFOF)

Chairperson - Sarah George

Email - friendsoffootballmarsden@gmail.com


Marsden Friends of Hockey (MFOH)

Chairperson - Pippa Player

Email - marsdenfriendsofhockey@gmail.com


Marsden Friends of Netball (MFON)

Chairperson - Keila Guiney

Email - mfonsecretary@gmail.com (Caitlin O'Sullivan - Secretary)


Marsden Friends of Rowing (MFOR)

Chairperson - Jane Parker

Email - jane.parker@minterellison.co.nz


If you would like to get involved with any of the groups, you can email the chairperson directly to receive more information.


COACHING

Coaches are volunteer roles and come from many different backgrounds and with many different experiences. As a coach at Marsden we expect that you:

  • Be a role model for the school
    • Display high standards in your language, manner, punctuality, and preparation
    • Treat all players including the opposition, officials, parents, and spectators, with dignity and respect
    • Encourage your team members to demonstrate the same qualities
    • Understand all students are deserving of equal attention and opportunities to play
    • Ensure there is full participation and inclusion
    • Be professional and accept responsibility for your actions
    • Assume responsibility for players’ behaviour on and off the field
    • Instill a sense of pride and respect in players’ performance
  • Maintain high standards of integrity
    • Operate within the rules of the sport and in the spirit of fair play
    • Always demonstrate positive examples of sportsmanship
    • Respect and accept the judgement and decisions of officials without objection and encourage players to do the same
  • Provide a safe environment for training and competition
    • Refrain from any form of verbal, physical, or emotional abuse towards students
    • Ensure training is appropriate for the age, experience, and ability of the girls. Marsden believes that we should promote quality not quantity
    • Show concern for sick or injured players and encourage them to seek medical advice if required
  • Respect the school values
    • Only play registered team members
    • Ensure all team members wear the approved uniform and represent the school with pride
    • Encourage students to play multiple Sports for School
    • Look after the equipment issued to you and return it at the end of the season
    • Recognise that students have an increase in commitment to their schooling as well as a number of extracurricular activities as they get older
    • To provide a high-quality experience for all in order to allow players to fall and stay in love with the sport of their choice
  • Practice Visible Wellbeing
    • Visible Wellbeing (VWB) is a whole school, integrated and evidence-informed approach to developing and sustaining student and staff wellbeing through positive education. The Search framework, developed by Professor Waters, has prioritised the following domains of wellbeing:
      • Strengths
      • Emotional Management
      • Attention and Awareness
      • Relationships
      • Coping
      • Habits and Goals
    • More information on Visible Wellbeing, and how you can practice it, can be found here.


MANAGING

The role of the manager is to help the coach by providing organisational support, enabling the coach to focus on coaching.

  • General - Specific tasks for which the manager is responsible for
    • Ensure all girls turn up to all trainings. If they are unable to make it they need to advise you or the coach so that the coach knows in advance of holding the training
    • Notify all-girls (and confirming with the coach) if the training needs to be delayed or postponed/cancelled
    • Team contact details: you will be supplied with home contact details for your team. Request student/parent permission to share phone numbers, which may be helpful if students who live close to each other want to coordinate transport arrangements
    • Liaise with the sports director to confirm times of the teams' weekly games if clarification is needed
    • Advise all girls/parents and coach of the time for each fixture giving them as much notice as possible
    • Remind all girls about the correct uniform, short fingernails, no jewellery etc
    • Confirm with the sports office that there is an experienced umpire available for each game
    • Ensure a complete team is available for each game and ensure the coach is able to make early decisions about requesting additional players if need be
    • Contact coaches from lower teams to request their girl/s assist if required
  • At the game
    • ​​​​​​​Register the team for each game, if required. (Check starting line up with coach first)
    • Uniform: Students must wear the correct uniform for their team for every game. Uniform skirts and tops can be purchased from the Uniform Office at school. Students may not represent the school in incorrect uniform
    • Look after the team gear bag – ensuring that the first aid box is always fully stocked. (The coach may choose to do this due to needing the bag for trainings etc)
    • Count and check that all equipment is returned after every game
    • Bring a cold ice pack to each game
    • Bring the drink bottle rack to all games
    • Attend games; liaise with the coach as required. Keep score during the game for the coach
    • Look after any girls who have to come off due to injury etc
    • Assign tasks amongst parents – eg scoring/timekeeping, statistics were required
  • After the game
    • Email the sports department with the score and the MPV for the week.
  • Logistics
    • Ensure practice times and venues are communicated effectively. Do not rely on the players to pass on messages
    • If you are unable to attend a game please ensure that there is always an adult in attendance at each match to manage the team. It is a good idea to have a backup plan in advance
    • If you need to “borrow” players from another team please ask the coach of that team – do not approach players directly. You are not permitted to borrow from a team that is in a higher grade than yours. If you are unsure about which teams you are able to borrow from, or need contact details, please contact the sports office
  • Injuries
    • No player can play with blood on their person or on their uniform. If there is a bleed it is your responsibility to ensure they are clean before returning to the court. This may require changing their uniform and wetting any blood spots on the court/field/turf ect.