Volunteering

Welcome to the Berkshire Rattlers Youth Hockey Organization! As an organization, we pride ourselves on having the lowest fees in the area and an incredible sense of community among our members. We achieve both of those through club-wide volunteering. Every family is required to volunteer throughout the season at regular weekend games, the Thanksgiving Mite Jamboree, and our annual Jimmy Welch Tournament. 

Throughout the regular season, each family on every team (Mites through Bantams) is required to volunteer their time in the concession stand, keeping score or running the clock during games. The concession stand is stocked with donated items, and staffed by family volunteers, and those weekly concession stand profits help us keep our registration fees low. By having volunteers keep score and run the game clock, we eliminate the need to pay individuals to do these tasks, thus keeping our costs low. During the season we host two big events, the Thanksgiving Mite Jamboree and Jimmy Welch Tournament, and all families volunteer their time to make those events successful and enjoyable for all teams.

While these volunteer roles assist the club with its fundraising efforts to keep our registration fees low, they also help build an incredible sense of community among our members. Every shift in the concession stand or scorebox is an opportunity to meet new people, forge new friendships, and facilitate a true sense of community and family within our club. 

For individuals who want to do more than the required shifts in concession stand or score box, there are a variety of ways to get more involved in the program:

Be a Team Manager

• Team Managers assist the coaches by sending emails, and coordinating volunteers for concession stand and score box. Team Managers can also be called upon to assist coaches in finding tournaments or to secure hotels for away tournaments. The Team Manager acts as a liaison between the team and the Board, to share team news with the Board and to share club information from the Board to the team. If you think you may be interested in being a Team Manager, reach out to the board for more information or select "I want to be a Team Manager" during registration.

Be a Coach (Head or Assistant)

• Being a youth hockey coach is an incredibly rewarding experience. Head and Assistant coaches are individuals who can commit time to be at practices and games, and communicate regularly with players and parents throughout the season. If you are interested in volunteering your time as a coach for one of our teams, please contact a board member. Please also review the coaching requirements under the Resources tab above.

Be a Practice Assistant

• Being a youth hockey coach is an incredibly rewarding experience, but not every individual has a schedule that permits them to attend every practice or every game. If you want to be involved but not necessarily in a leadership role as a coach, consider becoming a Practice Assistant. Practice Assistants support coaches by running stations or other drills set out in the coach's practice plan. If you are interested in volunteering as a practice assistant for one of our teams, please contact a board member. Please also review the coaching requirements under the Resources tab above.

Be a Scheduler

• Scheduling games is an essential part of any successful hockey season. Support your team by scheduling games with comparable teams around the area. Even if you are new to the program or the sport, you can be a scheduler! Schedulers start with the previous season's schedule of games to contact teams from our league and surrounding area that we play regularly to set up home and away games for the upcoming/current season. If you are interested in volunteering as a team scheduler, please contact a board member.

Be a Board Member

• The Board is always looking for new volunteers! We welcome individuals from all team levels and members of the greater community who might not have children in our program, but want to volunteer their time to make our incredible program even better. If you are interested in joining our program as a Board member, please do not hesitate to contact us.