After 4 or 5 weeks, you’ll no doubt have a feel for who are the players that you can rely on to show up every week, those that enjoy a game but can’t always make it and those that should be relegated to the back-up list. This is when you can go about making life a whole lot easier for yourself and letting technology do the work of arranging the game for you.
Teamer
Teamer is both web-based and available as an app and can be used for a whole range of sports. Like the others, you can set up your team and add players, notifying them via email or text message. You can even vote for your man-of-the match every week.
However, there are two things that make this service stand out for me.
The first is the simple function of including directions to the venue to all of your players. As I mentioned earlier, if players know where they’re going then there are no excuses for arriving late.
However, it’s the Team Payments function that really makes this a great service. It allows you to collect payments for the booking from each of your players, directly through the site or app. No longer will you be left out of pocket when players don’t show up, as they will already have transferred the money to you when they confirm that they are playing. It is more likely that will show in the first place, given that they have already paid. Check out the video below on how it works.
Facebook Groups
If Teamer is a bit too gimmicky for you, then maybe you would prefer just to use Facebook. After all, most people are on Facebook multiple times a day, so there’s more chance of them responding to you and checking out updates about the game ahead.
Setting up and managing a group couldn’t be more straightforward and they can be very effective. Just login to your Facebook account and select the ‘Groups’ option in your left sidebar. From within the pop-up you can set-up your 5-a-side group and invite all of your players in minutes.
Just remember to make the group private if you want to restrict it to players that you have invited.
Also, you can now download the Facebook Groups app to your phone so you can manage your group on the go.
Choose a good competition provider
If you're joining a league then look for an organisation who has a system in place to make it easy for players to check fixtures and results. Online fixture lists and tables is a must but some providers such as KIKOFF Soccer Centres also send an email to all registered players the day before the game, letting you know what time and what pitch you are playing on.
Summary
So why bother?
Because you love it.
The sweat, tears, playing till you puke, the goals, the blocks, the arguments, the celebrations, the little black rubber bits in your socks, the retro footballs shirts, and most of all the good laughs you have with your mates, makes it all worth it.
But armed with these tactics, you’ll never have a problem getting enough friends (or even enemies) to turn up and kick a ball about with you. And with a little bit of work up front and the use of some clever technology life will be so much easier.
Rather than getting stressed trying to arrange your game, with the help of this guide you can start to enjoy it.
Want to get your hands on a free checklist and squad selector template to help you arrange your game? CLICK HERE
You’ll also receive the free Five-A-Side Football Coach Performance Workout guide and a whole heap of other goodies.
Arrange Your 5-a-side
Part 1 - Finding Players | Part 2 - Getting them to Play | Part 3 - Automating Everything
