1: INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Helping Hoops team. Your role as a coach is one of the most important ones in the entire organisation and has a profound impact on the lives of hundreds of children across Melbourne. This guide will provide you with useful information about working at Helping Hoops, and about our organisation, participants and programs to help you understand your role.

1.1 About Helping Hoops

As a new member of our community, we encourage you to familiarise yourself with Helping Hoops.

Helping Hoops is an independent charity running free weekly basketball programs for over 800 children and young people who face barriers participating in sport. Over 450 sessions per year benefit children and young people of all abilities aged 7 to 21. As a charity, Helping Hoops is not solely focused on improving skills, but also uses basketball to instil values that benefit children in their lives outside of sport.

Children attending Helping Hoops programs are from a refugee or migrant background, have an intellectual disability, are living on inner-city, high-rise public housing estates, or are asylum seekers.

Helping Hoops focuses on building self-esteem, providing a sense of belonging and community, aiding social cohesion, instilling discipline, developing goal setting
and leadership skills,
and promoting a
healthy and active 
lifestyle.

Currently Helping Hoops programs are:

  • Fitzroy (public housing/migrant/refugee background)
  • Broadmeadows (intellectual disability/special needs)
  • Dandenong (migrant/refugee background)
  • Future Dandenong (upper-secondary aged migrant/refugee background)
  • Croxton (intellectual disability/special needs)
  • Richmond (public housing/migrant/refugee background)
  • North Melbourne (public housing/migrant/refugee background)
  • Kensington (public housing/migrant/refugee background)
  • Kensington Power (girls only)
  • Werribee (migrant/refugee background)
  • Future Werribee (upper-secondary aged migrant/refugee background)
  • Future Footscray (upper-secondary aged migrant/refugee background)
  • Future Braybrook (upper-secondary aged migrant/refugee background)
  • Prahran (public housing/migrant/refugee background)
  • Fawkner Power (girls only)
  • Power Werribee (girls/women only)

Full program schedule and locations are available at helpinghoops.com.au/programs. Note – not all programs are on the website.

2: GETTING READY TO START

Before commencing work with Helping Hoops, please:

  • Provide your personal details by completing a New Employee Form online at www.helpinghoops.com.au/start.
  • Complete a Helping Hoops Employment Agreement provided by Helping Hoops.
  • Complete a Tax File Number Declaration Form provided by Helping Hoops.
  • Provide copies of all other relevant qualifications and certificates. Please notify Helping Hoops should any of your personal details change. (should follow up with Steve and everyone for change of address etc).

2.1 Working With Children Check

All staff are required to hold a current Working With Children Check (WWC) prior to commencing work with Helping Hoops. Information on how to obtain a Working With Children Check is available at workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au. Please nominate Helping Hoops as the organisation you are volunteering for as this will ensure a copy of your WWC is automatically mailed to us once approved.

Once you have received your card, please forward a copy (clear photo acceptable) to info@helpinghoops.com.au as soon as possible. A WWC obtained through another employer or organisation is acceptable.

2.2 Email Address 

All correspondence, including weekly payslips and event invitations, will be sent to your Helping Hoops email address, which is your-first-name@helpinghoops.com.au unless otherwise specified. Your initial password is set as Hoops2010, but you may change this at any time. Access to email is through the Helping Hoops Start Page at www.helpinghoops.com.au/start, or simply through gmail.com. We ask that you check your email regularly to ensure messages are received and responded to in a timely manner.

2.3 Dress code

All coaches are supplied with a Helping Hoops Coach T-shirt and Jumper. Additional apparel may be provided where appropriate.

2.4 Calendar – (calendar is being developed and not live, yet)

All program sessions and events are updated in the Helping Hoops Calendar. We encouraged you to regularly check the calendar which is available online at helpinghoops.com.au/calendar. Invitations to events specific to your program will be emailed to you, with dates, times and relevant details listed in the invitation. Please accept or decline these event invites to ensure the organisers can plan effectively in the lead up to the event.

2.5 Internal Communications

Each program has a WhatsApp group that is used for internal communications between yourself, assistant coaches and administrators. We use this space to share program specific information, particularly if there is anything special about an upcoming session. Please use this space to communicate with your team, who have been instructed to message their group when they cannot make it to a session or if they are running late. If you do not already have WhatsApp on your phone, please download it. Add Teuila via 0418 353 314 and you will be added to your program group.

2.6 Key Contacts

Your primary contact is Hanna Cruz. Should you have any issues you would like to raise independently of Hanna, Teuila Reid is available and happy to assist in his role as Executive Director.

Please find contact details below for all key contact people.

  • Teuila Reid – Executive Director: 0418 353 314, teuila@helpinghoops.com.au
  • Hanna Cruz – Programs & Operations Manager: 0404 708 681, hanna@helpinghoops.com.au
  • Erin Wallace – President: 0438 328 821, erin@helpinghoops.com.au
  • Omar Coles – Coach: 0457 777 395, omar@helpinghoops.com.au
  • Renee Clarke – Coach: 0407 201 868, renee@helpinghoops.com.au
  • Tom White  – Coach: 0400 403 330, tom@helpinghoops.com.au
  • Kelvin Bowers – Coach: 0409 226 717, kb@helpinghoops.com.au
  • Nyidier Riak – Coach: 0481 459 616
  • Matt Roseby – Coach: 0423 718 940

3: PROGRAMS

Each Helping Hoops program is staffed by a program coach and volunteer assistant coaches. You, as coach, are in charge of supplying all equipment at programs and engaging with volunteers.

3.1 Values & Social Outcomes

Program coaches ensure activities are chosen in accordance with the age and ability of the group attending. All activities are linked to at least one of the below key social outcomes:

  • Fitness & Health: Teach participants to embrace a healthy and active lifestyle through sporting activities. Basketball-related drills, as well as stretching, warming up, and other appropriate activities.
  • Self Esteem: Provide an encouraging, affirming environment in which participants set and achieve goals, and embrace a positive self image. Activities that show participants a progression in their skills and abilities, as well as activities that challenge and reward children when they attempt something difficult or for the first time.
  • Sense of Belonging & Community: Provide an environment where participants feel they are valued and supported. Activities that rely on team work, working together to achieve a common goal, and enjoying a common activity as a group.
  • Social Cohesion: Provide an environment where participants from different cultural backgrounds are encouraged to play together and form friendships. Activities that mix participants and see them gain an understanding of their similarities and differencing while enjoying a common exercise or game.
  • Discipline: Instil positive habits and good work ethic while challenging participants. Activities with a clearly defined goals that require participants to challenge themselves and step out of their comfort zone.
  • Goal Setting: Teach participants the value of setting goals, and the required strategies for achieving these goals. A drill or activity with a clear number or outcome set to ensure participants know what to aim for and what is expected of them.
  • Leadership: Place participants in a position that requires them to lead their peers and develop good leadership and communication skills. Activities that require participants to lead by example, keep their group focussed and on track, or encourage and teach their peers.

3.2 Enrolment

Enrolment of new participants is conducted online via a form that can be accessed by parents and guardians.

In order for any child (under 18) to participate in a Helping Hoops program, a parent/guardian must consent by completing an enrolment form online prior to participation.

Participants with special needs also require consent from parent/guardian in order to join.

Participants over 18 years of age can enrol without consent using the same enrolment process.

To enrol participants, guide parents/guardians to enrol online at: helpinghoops.com.au/enrol

Provide participants, parents/guardian’s with the enrolment flyer. This has instructions on how to enrol.

To check if participants at the program are enrolled:

1: Go to the bio of your program WhatsApp group. Click the link for enrolments.

3.3 Participant Database

All enrolled participants are automatically placed into a participant database that is secure and only accessible through Smartsheets or Google Sheets.

In order to keep all information on participant current all participants are required to enrol once a year.

**Please note – that we are currently updating the ‘participant database’ so this information may change.**

3.4 MVP awards

At the conclusion of each session, an MVP is selected by you and in collaboration with your volunteer assistant coaches. The MVP of the session is not the participant who displays the best skills or performs well athletically, but instead is someone who exhibits the values and lessons taught, or has shown improvement in attitude or effort.

Please take note of who you select as MVP during each session. At the end of each month, coaches place the names of all MVP’s for the month and draw them at random from a hat. The MVP who wins gets a prize. Each coach can collect prizes from HQ prior to the session in which you will award it. Please let the Hanna Cruz know in advance if you need prizes at any stage.

3.5 Child Safety

Child Safety is a top priority at Helping Hoops. If you witness or are involved in an incident that threatens the safety of a participant or participants, you must report it to Teuila by phone or SMS and complete an incident report within 24 hours.

Incidents classified as high risk include:

  • Any injury requiring first aid.
  • Verbal abuse (this includes but is not limited too any racial, sexist or derogatory comments)
  • Physical abuse (this includes aggressive, violent or threatening behaviour)
  • Sexual abuse (this includes but is not limited too any, inappropriate touching or contact with a child, grooming behaviour, any contact with children that is in appropriate or if a child mentions abuse outside of the program)
  • The presence of threatening or intimidating individuals or unwanted third parties.

Please familiarise yourself with the Helping Hoops Child Safety Policy.This policy is a guidebook and expands on how to recognise, act on and report any incident that may be harmful to a child.

You are responsible for the safety of our participants, but must also avoid putting yourself in harms way. Your safety and that of our volunteers must be protected. If you feel threatened or identify a potential risk to your safety or the safety of your volunteers, please report it to Teuila or Adam.

If a coach, volunteer assistant coach, staff members or anyone with Helping Hoops is found to have compromised the safety of a participant, he or she will be immediately suspended while the incident is investigated and, if found to be true, will be dismissed and reported to the relevant authorities.

For more information, please see the Helping Hoops Child Safety Policy.

3.6 First Aid

First aid falls under the responsibility of you as program coach, and you must be adequately accredited and carry a first aid kit at all times. A current CPR & First Aid certificate or higher is required before you commence working. If you do not hold a current CPR & First Aid certificate or higher, please notify us and we can assist in booking you into a course.

Should a child require first aid, please prioritise this over all other duties. Should an incident be classed as high, you must complete an incident report. Please see section 3.8. 

3.7 KEY COMPETENCIES

Coaches, including volunteer assistant coaches, must ensure they are aware of, and commit to the following key competencies:

  • Equality: ensure all participants are given an environment in which they feel they belong, no matter their gender, ethnic background, ability, disability, or other.
  • Communicate Effectively; ensure you develop the skills to communicate with children 1 on 1 and also to communicate with everyone in the group. Bringing the group together at least once during the session is required. This should normally be conducted at the start of your session.
  • Appropriate Level: ensure Helping Hoops sessions are pitched at a level appropriate to the group participating, but still challenging for the majority of participants.
  • Organisation & Planning: prepare ahead for all your sessions. Know what activities you have planned for the session and where possible share this with your volunteers before hand.
  • Flexibility: behavioural flexibility is essential. You must have the flexibility to change what you had planned if it’s not working.
  • Rules and Boundaries: set clear rules and expectation for your participants and communicate these clearly and effectively so they know what is required of them.
  • Behaviour Management: as the coach, you are the authority on the court. Children and volunteers look to you for guidance so ensure you instil appropriate levels of discipline and accountability to children and their actions.
  • Role Model: embody the values and principles you set to instil in your participants and lead by example.
  • Self Reflection: develop an attitude that can ride the wave of ups and downs. Some sessions will ‘flow’ better than others. Ensure that you appropriately reflect on each session. Be patient with yourself and with the children. Know that your sessions are not all about ‘winning’ but teaching the children based on the key social outcomes and prepare them for life off the court as well.
  • Be on Time: arrive early and ensure your session is ready to start on time. High standards on time must be upheld with program participants as well. If a participant is late this must be acknowledged and responded to accordingly. For example, first give the participant the opportunity to explain why they were late then teach the key social outcome of ‘discipline’ and have them run around the court to catch up.
  • Model Behaviour: treat all participants, volunteers, parents, facility staff, and other people you come into contact with respect and model the behaviour you expect from your participants.
  • Community Basketball Comprehension: maintain and update your qualifications. Constantly look to up-skill and be aware of innovations in the coaching field. Ensure your coaching style is adapted to an environment that focuses on developing skills on and off the court. This is different from coaching a team to win a championship.
  • Build relationships: Develop patience with yourself and with the children. Provide the children with opportunities to learn and teach trust you and each other. At times you will need to persevere with children and build your resilience to challenging situations that may occur.
  • Social media: use social media in a positive manner and encourage participants to connect with you, but only in an open platform where all communication is documented should it be called upon. If posting any content on personal social media accounts, please ensure that the child is not identified by name, you tag Helping Hoops on the social platform you are posting on, and no location or geo-tagging is enabled in your post. 

3.8 Reporting Incidents

Any incident classed as high risk must be reported within 24 hours by the program coach using an Incident Report Form, which is available at www.helpinghoops.com.au/start. If you witness, or become aware of, an incident warranting reporting, please gather all relevant information from those affected, including witnesses or your assistant coaches. Incidents classed as high risk include:

  • Any injury requiring first aid.
  • Any instance of abuse including verbal, (racist, sexist or derogatory comments) physical or sexual abuse.
  • The presence of threatening or intimidating individuals or unwanted third parties.
  • Any incidents involving violent, anti-social behaviour that occurs within the surrounding area of your program location, that you witness.
  • Significant damage to facilities.
  • Stolen property.
  • Any incident whereby a participant is verbally or physically abusive towards yourself (coach) or a volunteer

3.9 Session Format

You are responsible for planning and facilitating each session and ensuring Helping Hoops’ key values and social outcomes are delivered through fun and inclusive basketball activities. Please familiarise yourself with the below sample breakdown of a typical two-hour Helping Hoops session. Note that activities should change regularly and should follow an adequate period of warm up.

  • 5 minutes: Introduction– welcome participants and outline activities for the session.
  • 15 minutes: Warm Up– light warm up activity to prevent injury and have participants working together.
  • 15 minutes: Activity One– linked to at least one of the Helping Hoops key social outcomes.
  • 15 minutes: Activity Two– linked to at least one of the Helping Hoops key social outcomes.
  • 15 minutes: Activity Three– linked to at least one of the Helping Hoops key social outcomes.
  • 15 minutes: Activity Four– linked to at least one of the Helping Hoops key social outcomes.
  • 30 minutes: Game– finish with a fun game as a reward-for-effort.
  • 10 minutes: Huddle– review key lessons for the session, present MVP certificate, give overview of next week’s session, and finish with a Helping Hoops break.

We are currently working on sourcing a play-book that can provide guidance on different drills and activities.

3.10 Participants

Helping Hoops participants primarily fall into four categories:

  • Migrant, refugee or culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD)
  • Special needs/intellectual disability
  • Residents of public housing
  • Girls

Helping Hoops participants range in age from 7 to 21, but the main age of influence is 7 to 15. The majority of participants fall into this 7 to 15 year age range.

3.11 Participant-to-Coach Ratio

To ensure participants receive adequate attention, and are able to have their individual needs met at all Helping Hoops programs, there needs to be at least one coach or volunteer for every 10 participants present at a Helping Hoops program.

Please ensure that you talk to Hanna as soon as you require more volunteers. Helping Hoops has a volunteer waiting list so there are always people ready to help.

Your Programs & Operations Manager will recruit, facilitate a trial/observation and introduce you to any new volunteers.

Ensuring we find the right match of volunteer for your programs is a team effort. We rely on your professional feedback on each volunteer that supports your program.

3.12 Key Indicators

There are certain quantitative measures that indicate the health of a Helping Hoops program. It is the responsibility of you, as a coach, to work together with Helping Hoops management to ensure the below are met as a minimum requirement:

  • A minimum and maximum attendance as set in consultation with Helping Hoops management.
  • A minimum female participate rate of 25% unless otherwise specified.

Other key indicators, such as social outcomes, are of a qualitative nature and are measured anecdotally through consultation with Helping Hoops management. Independent surveys of participants are conducted periodically to measure such qualitative indicators.

4: YOUR ROLE

As the program coach, you are responsible for planning each session, delivering the activities at each program, guiding your volunteers and keeping up to date with your reporting requirements.

As the coach overseeing the session as a whole, you may be unable to service the needs of each individual. This responsibility falls to assistant coaches, who are instructed to ensure each participant understands what is required of them and is given any extra help if needed.

4.1 Responsibilities

The responsibilities of you as a coach are:

  • To set up and packing up the venue (sweeping, setting up of equipment and ensuring the environment is safe and ready for use).
  • To demonstrate activities and provide a good example to participants.
  • To assist individuals who require additional instruction.
  • To assist with behaviour management, including ensuring participants line up correctly, listen, do not use offensive language and do not engage in physical or verbal abuse.
  • To encourage and affirm the good behaviour and effort of participants.
  • To guide and mentor volunteers.
  • To complete session reports in a timely manner following the completion of each session.
  • To ensure all participants are enrolled and activated.

4.2 Volunteers 

Helping Hoops is primarily a volunteer-based organisation. The relationships we have with our volunteers determine the success of each child’s experience within Helping Hoops. Volunteers apply online to join a program, and are vetted for their suitability by the Program & Operations Manager. We may call on you to give input as to whether a volunteer is suitable for a program at the early stages of the recruitment process.

Coaches are responsible for ensuring that, during program times, each volunteer assistant coach is supported in the following ways:

  • Give clear instructions on what tasks you wish volunteers to undertake during the session. This is especially important for new volunteers.
  • Welcome and thank your volunteers at the start and end of each session.
  • Ask for help. Volunteers want certainty around what is required of them for the time they give. If you need help, ask for it directly. Your proactivity teaches volunteers to use their initiative
  • Delegate to another more experienced volunteer. You may deem it necessary to ask a more experienced volunteer to help with instructing other newer volunteers so you can focus on coaching participants.
  • Communicate your expectations clearly to all your volunteers. Praise and acknowledge volunteers for jobs well done. Use positively framed language when providing any feedback to a volunteer to improve their performance.
  • Report volunteer attendance in your weekly session report.

Please ensure that you direct any questions, suggestions on how to best guide volunteers, or issues regarding volunteers directly to your Operations Coordinator, Teuila or Adam as soon as they arise.

4.3 Session Reports

Each session must be documented through a session report. Session reports not only provide Helping Hoops management with an insight into the progress of programs, they are also forwarded to program funders as evidence of how their financial contribution to each program has been spent. Session reports are completed online via the link in your program WhatsApp group bio.

Session reports detail the following:

  • Session date.
  • Activities conducted.
  • Social outcomes achieved through each activity.
  • Game played (optional)
  • Head count of male and female participants.
  • Volunteers who were present.

It is required that all session reports be completed by the following Thursday of the end of each week.
Please make a note of the number of male and female attendees for each session. Assistant coaches may assist with this and notify you via WhatsApp so you have the figures and date accessible when you come to complete your session report.

5: REMUNERATION & EMPLOYMENT STATUS

Your employment status as a Helping Hoops coach is casual, we remunerate you for your contact hours spent coaching. The below is a brief summary of when and how coaches are remunerated. Specific details of conditions and entitlements can be found in the employment agreement supplied at the commencement of your role with Helping Hoops.

5.1 Rate of Pay & Contact Hours

Helping Hoops coaches are paid $50 per hour for all program sessions, events, meetings or other engagements. A minimum call out time of three hours is in effect, meaning coaches receive three paid hours for any events or meetings that finish in less than three hours. For example, a one-hour event incurs three hours pay. The exception is where meetings or other engagements are conducted immediately before or after program session, in which case the total hours are grouped together.

5.2 Payment Method & Cycle

Electronic funds transfer makes payment to an account nominated by you when completing your new employee form. Pay runs occur every Thursday and cover the previous week’s contact hours (Monday to Sunday). For example, any contact hours for a week starting on Monday the 1st and ending on Sunday the 7th will be paid on Thursday the 11th.

5.3 Superannuation

Superannuation is paid quarterly into a fund nominated by you when completing your new employee form at the current rate of 11%. This rate will increase in accordance with any changes in law. Should you fail to provide a superannuation fund, one will be set up on your behalf with the default Helping Hoops fund – currently NGS Super. Details will be provided to you in due course should this occur.

5.4 Payslips & PAYG Payment Summary

A payslip, detailing contact hours, rate of pay and superannuation accrued, is sent to your Helping Hoops email address every Thursday as part of the pay run. PAYG payment summaries are compiled and supplied via email in July of each year, and provide a summary of the tax Helping Hoops has paid on your behalf over the course of the financial year. This PAYG summary can be used when completing your tax return to the Australian Taxation Office.