The start of a new volleyball season can be daunting not only for players but also for coaches. A new season means new names to learn, schedules to adjust and new responsibilities to take on. But it’s all in the name of helping young athletes play, so of course, it’s worth it!

Start this season with ease using these tips from 8 million customers worldwide who use TeamSnap to simplify coaching team sports.

• Use technology to make your job easier

Most people are now comfortable with email and text as the primary method of communication for team info,which can dramatically speed up the job of a coach. However, there are other ways to make your job easier as well. Team management tools automate a lot of time-consuming tasks. In addition to letting you create, update and store a team roster, tools like TeamSnap let you see who can make which games and practices, assign game snack duties and keep track of who has paid their registration or uniform fees.

• Start organizing before the season starts

There’s a lot to do and learn — new players, new parents, new schedules, and the list goes on. Make life easier, and start preparing well in advance of the first practice or team meeting. Create a list of everything that will need to be done and think about what you’ll handle personally and what your assistant coach or team manager will handle, then delegate those responsibilities. Start learning names and faces early to make things easier once practices start (some apps even allow players and parents to upload photos to the roster to help speed up the process). Start planning practices and putting together a list of drills or exercises a few weeks in advance. By managing what you can ahead of time, you won’t be so overwhelmed when things start to pop up when the season starts (and you know they will!).

• Strongly encourage volunteers

Now that you have your list of jobs, it’s time to “strongly encourage” people to volunteer. Many coaches and team managers simply email the list of jobs out and hope parents sign up. Although everyone means well, we all know that email will sit, unread, in the inbox as parents hope someone else volunteers for team duties. This inevitably puts the coach in the position of resident nudge. Consider having a preseason team party and have your list ready. This serves two purposes: you let parents and players get acquainted or reacquainted in a fun setting off the field, and you can make sure every volunteer job is filled before the end of the event. Leave the email for reminders, not sign-ups.

Want more tips and stories from the world of youth sports? Check out the TeamSnap Community page for everything a coach, manager or sports parent needs, or subscribe to blog.teamsnap.com.