You will have a base of players moving from the Development Centre but you will probably want to expand the number of players. It is usual to have 50-60 players to support a number of teams.

A few things to consider when you look to expand the number of players and teams:
- the size of the match day squad will increase as you get into older age groups from 7 a-side to 9 (U11-12) and then 11 (U13 onwards)
- how many players (subs) will you take to games
- how many will you rest each week
- will you have enough players in the squad to cover unavailability
- certain leagues only allow players to play for their registered team
- "fair playing" time across the games and throughout the season
- as we have both mixed and girls only teams, when you get to older age groups, you may find that some girls have a preference to play with a girls only team. This may be either down to physicality or social aspects. If you have a player that can play for both the girls and mixed teams, they may have a conflict when it comes to match timings.
- moving to secondary school, will players have other commitments on Saturdays

It is important that you have enough coaches to support the number of players and teams. You should aim to have at least 2 coaches per team - please approach the Exec committee or CWO if you have any issues. This is from a safeguarding (the FA strongly advise against having one coach) as well as workload perspective. You will find parental involvement reduces as you move into older age groups, so this is to protect coaches and ensure they have support.

So please encourage parents to get involved - it is a very rewarding experience. Even coaches have a life outside of football so you can enjoy a weekend off every now and then!

It is usual to have a team or age group admin at this stage to assist. If you have a parent that wants to help out but not coach this is a great role.

Also take into account the possible impact of coach distribution when you stream players.

To get players, advertise. The club has an advert that can be tweaked. Facebook groups for the local schools work if you target the right age groups.

When you get to a number of players that feels unmanageable you’ll need to start a wait-list. Do manage expectations that it could be a while before a place becomes available. Ensure you manage the wait list fairly, longest on the list should get offered first.

Registering players and getting payment
You’ll need to register all players into Pitchero. Please see our subscriptions page for more details.

To add new players to your team:
You will first need to ask the club Registration officer or an existing Team Admin to set your role in Pitchero to a Team Admin role. When you have a new player, you will need to do the following: Find your team on the left hand navigation, then select 'The Team'. Click on the 'Membership Database link' and then '+ Add a member'.

Choose the 'Player' option, and then you will need to add the information about the player. The minimum required is name and date of birth, but its worth capturing additional info such as the Player's school.

Once the Player has been added, you will also need to add the parent. Click again on '+Add a member', but this time select 'Parent'. Find the 'Player' again where prompted, and click 'Next'. Again there is a minimum information required - the name and Email address. Please ensure you enter the email address against the Parent and NOT the Player. Click the 'Add a member' button and follow through the prompts to invite the Parent to join the website. Once joined, they will be prompted for Payment, but you may need to follow this up with the parent, and see through the relevant link from the website.

To invite players to games at Goals:

You have a choice of applications to use. See what works best for you and your team.

The Pitchero Manager App allows you to manage your team membership as well as invitation to events and games. Help on using the app can be found here.

Navigate to https://teamer.net. Click on the link to Create New Team. Once you have created the Team, you will then be able to Add Members. Its fairly intuitive from here, but ensure you add both the player and the parent, and the correct email address for the Parent.

To then create a game and send out invites: Click on your team, and click 'Add Event'. Enter the details of the game and save. Click on 'Notifications/Lineup'. Locate on the player you want to pick and the 'Add to lineup' icon. Once this is done, there is an option 'Send Notification'. This will send an email out to the parent, and a notification if they have the Teamer App installed. The parent should then accept/decline.

For further information please see their FAQs.