| Course | MT242 Managing Sport Programs |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 5 |
| Paper type | Staffing and volunteer plan |
| Length | About 1,130 words, 7 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MT242 Unit 5
Seventeen Coaches Short on December 1: A Unit 5 Staffing and Volunteer Plan for a Youth Basketball Winter
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
MT242: Managing Sport Programs
Unit 5 Staffing and Volunteer Plan
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Linden Valley Youth Basketball, its rosters, volunteers and figures are composite and illustrative; the screening and training choices are presented as league rules, not as legal requirements; the sources cited are real.
The Commitments
Linden Valley Youth Basketball's registration page makes four staffing promises to the families of its 612 players. Each team will have a head coach and an assistant, both background-checked and trained. Each game will have two referees. Each gym will have a paid site supervisor whenever league activity is under way. And each game will have a two-person table crew keeping the clock and the scorebook. This plan converts each promise into positions and hours, compares them with the people the league has, and sets out how to close the gaps before the first practice on December 8.
The Requirements Table
Coaches: 48 teams with two coaches each, 96 positions; current roster 79; gap 17
Referees: 216 games with two referees each, 432 assignments; the assignor's list has 18 referees, each willing to work an average of about 26 games across the season, roughly 468 assignments; no gap, but thin on Saturdays when several are unavailable
Site supervisors: about 536 paid hours across Saturdays and weeknight practices; six supervisors on the list, each available for about 95 hours, roughly 570 hours; no gap, with little room for illness
Table crews: 216 games with two volunteers each, 432 shifts; drawn from team parents on a rota, about nine shifts per team across the season; no gap if every team fills its rota
Where the Gap Sits
The coaching gap is concentrated. Fourteen of the seventeen open positions are assistant coaches, and nine of them are on grades 3-4 teams, where parents are often new to the league and unsure whether they know enough basketball to help. Three teams have no head coach at all, two in the grades 7-8 girls' division and one in grades 5-6 boys.
Cuskelly et al. (2006) found that clubs keep volunteers longer when they plan for recruitment, provide orientation and support, and recognize volunteers' work, rather than relying on whoever steps forward. Linden Valley has relied on the second approach. The coaches' committee sends one email in October and waits.
Closing the Coaching Gap
The plan sets four steps with dates.
By November 10, the coordinator will ask every family on a team without a full staff, by email and a phone call, whether a parent could serve as assistant coach. The ask will be specific: two hours a week for practice, Saturday games and a three-hour orientation, with all drills provided.
By November 17, the coaching committee will hold a one-evening clinic for new assistant coaches, showing a ready-made practice plan for each age group so a parent with no coaching experience can run a practice.
By November 24, the committee will ask the three high schools' varsity coaches to recommend older players who could serve as assistant coaches for grades 3-4 teams, paired with a parent head coach. Players under 18 may assist but cannot be the only adult with a team.
By December 1, any team still without a head coach will be merged into another team's practice schedule, sharing a head coach for practices, until a coach is found.
A parent who has been asked by name and handed a practice plan says yes far more often than one who reads a general appeal.
Screening and Training
Every coach, assistant coach and team parent who will have regular contact with players must complete a background check before first contact, at a cost of $24 each, paid by the league. The league will not allow anyone to be on the court with players while a check is pending.
The league also adopts two training requirements as its own rules. First, every coach completes the U.S. Center for SafeSport's core training on recognizing and reporting abuse (U.S. Center for SafeSport, n.d.). Linden Valley is a local nonprofit and is not affiliated with a national governing body, so this requirement is a league choice, not a legal obligation, and the plan labels it that way to families. Second, every coach completes HEADS UP, a free federal online course on spotting and responding to concussion in youth sports (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], n.d.). The board has reviewed the state's youth concussion law with its insurer and adopted the course and a removal-from-play rule as league policy regardless of whether the law applies to community leagues.
Referees and Supervisors
The referee and supervisor lists cover the season on paper, but both are thin on bad days. The plan asks the assignor to recruit two more referees, ideally from the high school officials' association, so that Saturdays with several absences can still be covered. For supervisors, the coordinator will keep two board members trained as substitute supervisors, unpaid, for weeknight practices only.
Table Crews
Table crew shifts fall to team parents. Each team's parent volunteer builds a rota at the first practice, and the coordinator checks in mid-December that every team has filled its shifts through January. A team that cannot fill a shift must tell the coordinator by Thursday, and a board member covers it.
What Happens If the Gap Is Not Closed
If fewer than 90 coaching positions are filled by December 8, the board faces a choice it should make now rather than then. It can merge practices for understaffed teams, as described above, which keeps every child playing but puts two teams on one court with one head coach. It can ask a parent to serve as a second adult at practice without the coaching role, which meets the two-adult rule but leaves the team without a trained assistant. Or it can cap registration for next season at the number of teams it can staff. The plan recommends the first two options for this season and asks the board to set a registration cap for next season only if this season's gap is still above ten on January 15.
Recognition and Retention
The plan budgets $600 for recognition: a coaches' appreciation night in March and a league jacket for every coach in their second season. Masteralexis et al. (2019) note that volunteer retention depends on making volunteers feel their time is valued, and coaches who return each year reduce next season's gap.
Measures
The coordinator will report three numbers to the board on December 1 and January 15: coaching positions filled against 96, background checks cleared against volunteers on the court, and referee coverage on the previous two Saturdays.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). HEADS UP to youth sports: Online training. https://www.cdc.gov/heads-up/
Cuskelly, G., Taylor, T., Hoye, R., & Darcy, S. (2006). Volunteer management practices and volunteer retention: A human resource management approach. Sport Management Review, 9(2), 141-163. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1441-3523(06)70023-7
Masteralexis, L. P., Barr, C. A., & Hums, M. A. (2019). Principles and practice of sport management (6th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
U.S. Center for SafeSport. (n.d.). SafeSport trained. https://uscenterforsafesport.org/training-and-education/
Reading the MT 242 Unit 5 instructions
The fifth unit asks students to turn a sport program's commitments into staffing requirements, compare them with the people available and plan to close any gap. List each commitment, count the positions or hours it needs, set the current roster beside it and locate the shortfall by role or division. The prompt also expects screening and training requirements, stated accurately: say whether each is a legal requirement or the program's own policy. Recruitment steps should have dates and owners, and retention deserves a line, since next year's gap starts now. Five pages is common. The reference list, in APA 7, should hold three or more works, usually volunteer management research plus the agencies whose training the program adopts.
How the MT 242 Unit 5 example is put together
The plan begins with the four promises to families and the date the first practice starts. A requirements table converts each into positions and hours, and a margin note explains why counting beats a general sense of scarcity. The gap is located, fourteen assistants and three head coaches, with Cuskelly and colleagues on planned recruitment. Four dated steps follow, and the highlighted line credits a named ask and a practice plan. Screening and training sections set the $24 checks and adopt SafeSport and HEADS UP as league rules, with a second note on labeling choices. Referee and supervisor depth, table crews, a section on what happens if the gap stays open, recognition and three measures complete it.
Where the points sit in the MT242 Unit 5 rubric
Staffing plans earn marks for accurate requirements, a clear gap analysis, practical recruitment steps and correct treatment of screening. A table that converts every commitment into positions and hours earns more than a list of roles. Graders reward a gap located by role and division, since that points to the fix. Recruitment steps score well when they are dated and assigned. Screening and training must be described accurately, distinguishing legal requirements from program policy; overstating the law loses points. A fallback for a gap that stays open, attention to retention and correct citations of the training providers take the rest. Instructors also look for measures the board can check before the first practice, since a staffing plan is only useful if someone knows on December 1 whether it worked.
MT242 Unit 5 help: mistakes that cost points
Many plans state that more volunteers are needed without counting how many or where. Another frequent problem is describing SafeSport or concussion training as legally required for every program, which is not accurate for all organizations. Some students forget that adults need clearance before first contact, not by the first game. Others treat referees and supervisors as covered without checking for bad days. Recruitment by general email rarely closes a gap, because each parent assumes someone else will answer. Send the list of commitments your program makes, and a writer can draft the requirements table and a dated recruitment plan around it.
Get an MT242 Unit 5 example written to your instructions
List what your program commits to participants, coaches per team, officials per game, supervision, medical cover, and the roster you have now or the case describes. Attach whatever Unit 5 directions and rubric your section posted. A free first plan returns in 24-48h, each commitment converted into positions and hours, the gaps named, and screening requirements stated precisely. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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MT242 Unit 5 questions, answered
Does every youth sport program have to follow SafeSport rules?
No. The U.S. Center for SafeSport's requirements apply to national governing bodies, their member organizations and certain amateur sports organizations covered by federal law, typically those in interstate or international competition. A local league outside that structure is not bound by them, though many adopt the Center's training voluntarily. A plan should state which situation applies rather than assume either.
Who should receive a background check in a volunteer-run program?
At minimum, every adult with regular or unsupervised contact with minors, which usually means coaches, assistants and team parents. Many programs extend it to anyone who travels with teams. The plan should also say who reviews results, what disqualifies a volunteer and what happens while a check is pending. Rules vary by state and insurer, so a paper should note its assumptions.
How is volunteer demand calculated for a season?
By converting each commitment into positions or shifts using the actual schedule. Two table volunteers per game across 216 games means 432 shifts, and dividing by the families available shows how many each must cover. Adding a margin for no-shows, often ten percent or more, turns an exact count into one that survives a real Saturday.
Where can I find a free MT242 Unit 5 sample paper?
This page holds the complete MT242 Unit 5 staffing and volunteer plan. It counts what a youth league's four staffing promises require, finds a seventeen-coach gap and sets dated steps, screening and training to close it.
Does the MT242 Unit 5 sample treat SafeSport training as a legal requirement?
No. The league is a local nonprofit with no national governing body, so the plan adopts SafeSport core training and the HEADS UP concussion course as its own rules and tells families so.