If you’ve ever thought: “I can’t keep this pace up forever,” you’re not alone. Leading a small club is hard work, and the pressure can pile up quickly. The good news is that there are simple yet effective ways to protect yourself from burnout:
Stop trying to make everyone happy. Part of what leads to burnout for club leaders is this overwhelming need to please everyone around them. When you’re in a small club environment, your level of visibility is often much higher, so you know each member of the club - be it parent, player, or staff - very well. This can make you feel like you need to make them happy, no matter the cost to you. “One thing I’ve found in 20 years of the game is you can’t make everyone happy. It’s impossible,” says Mark Ryan, Chief Executive Officer at Loudoun Soccer.
Cochran shares that sentiment. “There are going to be times when you have to be able to lay your head down at night and just accept that not everyone is going to be happy. Not everyone is going to like you or the club, and that’s okay.”
Find your niche and stick to it. It’s important to do things well, but you don’t need to boil the ocean. Overextending yourself by trying to take on too much and perfect everything can lead you down the path to crashing quickly.
Take it from Beach FC Executive Director Steve Danbusky: “Start small and scale small. Don’t try to implement a million things at once. Pick one or two things that you think you can make incremental progress on.”
Stop worrying about what everyone else is doing. It’s easy to get caught up in the game of “they’re doing this, so I should be doing that too.” But if every single club looked exactly the same, there’s no way to differentiate yourself or attract players to yours.
“I can’t say it enough: stop looking around at what other clubs are doing. Set yourself apart by doing something different that you believe in and don’t deviate from it,” says Matt Barry, Director of Coaching at Highland FC.
Fuzzy Steeno, Executive Director at Indiana Impact SC, agrees. “If you’re just keeping up with the Joneses, it almost becomes like a square peg, round hole situation. You might push yourself into a position you’re not ready for.”
Don’t be afraid to seek advice from others. Start inside your local market and connect with other leaders who may be dealing with the same problems you are. “The youth sports community in our area is certainly on the smaller side, so we communicate with other clubs pretty regularly,” says Shelley Forrest, Head of Administration & Director of Operations at Far Post Soccer Club. “Regardless of size, we all have similar issues, so we trade ideas on how to keep kids who want to play multiple sports interested in the game, as well as other stuff too.”
If your local market is too competitive, look outside to other regions where you’re not competing for coaches or players to build a mentor network, as these are the people who may be more likely to want to help. Adds Forrest: “Making connections outside your market and building a network of individuals you can lean on who will be honest with you can really help. It’s also a good reminder that you’re not alone.”
Find your work/life balance. One of the fastest ways to burnout is not allowing room for work/life balance. Leaders don’t need to be available every hour of every day; instead, communicate clearly about availability and don’t be afraid to take vacation time.
“We tell our staff to take the vacation time when they need it. We want everyone to feel fresh and you can’t feel fresh if you’re constantly going with no break,” says Matt Tunis, Partner & Director of Operations at Chicago Empire FC. He also emphasizes that taking mental health breaks matters, saying: “If you need a night mentally and you need someone to cover your practice? We got it. We support our coaches in that aspect.”
Steeno takes this approach with his own team. “I constantly tell my team: go take a break; take two weeks off. Nothing is that important that it can’t wait until you return and return refreshed.”
Another part of building a good work/life balance is letting yourself step away from email during those vacations and/or off-hours to allow for rest and recovery.
Forrest encourages leaders not to check email while on vacation or during certain hours and to use simple things like vacation or out-of-office responders. “This will help set expectations with families so they understand why you’re not getting back to them right away.”
Christian Hamm, Admin Director of Club Operations at Indy Eleven Academy, echoes this, noting that balance is essential. “The quickest way to burn out is being on 24/7/365,” he says. “With the right tools in place and the ability to bring on parent volunteers, leaders can take a lot off their plates.”
Don’t shy away from delegation. Part of finding balance is actually learning to delegate some core responsibilities to other trusted members of your staff. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you have to touch everything, especially if your club is just starting out.
Tunis reflects on a time when he was first starting out: “When my partners and I first started our organization, we felt like we had to do everything ourselves. We couldn’t delegate. We realized pretty quickly that we needed help, and that was okay.”
Ryan had a similar experience, sharing that as a young Director of Coaching, he purposely made sure he involved himself in everything. “I would never reach out for help because I was afraid someone might think I was in over my head or not qualified for my role.” He warns that this sets a dangerous precedent of over-involvement, making it harder to step back later.
Delegating from the start also helps avoid those challenges in the future, while also giving you the mental break you deserve. As Ryan puts it: “Find the right people that you can trust to handle things while you step back. Let them know you’ll still be there if they need you, but that you trust they can take care of everything so you don’t have to look over their shoulders.”
Remember why you’re doing this. Avoiding burnout often comes down to reconnecting with the passion that brought you here in the first place. When the administrative work piles up, step back and remember your “why” - what brought you to this industry in the first place and why you’re passionate about it. Holding onto that passion keeps you energized and grounded, even during challenging seasons.
“Definitely find ways to remind yourself why you’re running a club,” says Cochran. “Hopefully, you’re doing it because you want to see the game grow. You want to help kids succeed and provide them opportunities to have fun as well.”
Cory Munro, Chief Business Officer at Charlotte Independence, says she reminds herself with a plaque on her wall: “It says, ‘When you feel like quitting, remember why you started.’” She describes the simple joy of “stepping out on the field, playing with the five-year-olds, and just seeing the kids that just love to run around and kick a ball that’s the size of their leg.” For her, that joy is the antidote to the frustration of the spreadsheets, balance sheets, and reports that pile up when you’re a leader.
Maintain solid boundaries with staff and parents. Remember to set expectations early on with everyone you communicate with, and don’t be afraid to reset them if needed. Clear communication and consistent boundaries help to build trust, reduce stress, and allow leaders to stay focused on their most important task: supporting athletes’ growth.
“I believe that 90% of burnout comes from dealing with parents and overworking,” says Tunis. “I think you can save yourself from emotional burnout by having consistent, clear lines of communication with parents. This way, you can avoid those moments of someone coming up to you after the game and yelling that their kid didn’t get enough playing time.”
This goes hand-in-hand with knowing what your non-negotiables are. Says Ryan: “Setting boundaries up front is important. Know when you’re not going to take a phone call or write an email. Know when you’re not going to respond immediately to a parent that’s upset, or even one that’s really happy, and communicate those boundaries.”
More often than not, anyone sending you an email past normal working hours likely isn’t expecting you to respond right away. People understand that club leaders have other responsibilities and, especially for those in a small club setting, other jobs.
Don’t ignore your mental or physical fatigue. It’s easy to continue running at full steam and to compartmentalize your exhaustion in pursuit of greatness. Nipping your fatigue in the bud early on will save you a lot of headaches - both literally and figuratively.
“If you’re not your best physically and mentally, that will affect you not only on the field, but off the field as well,” cautions Ryan. “Be careful not to push yourself to the point of breaking down. Always look after yourself first.”
The bottom line is: running a small club will always come with its share of challenges. The trick is remembering that you don’t have to do it all on your own. Lean on your network, set boundaries that protect your time, and give yourself permission to step back when you need to. Most importantly, try not to lose sight of the joy that brought you here in the first place. If you can hold onto that, the tough moments won’t feel quite as heavy, and you’ll be able to keep leading with energy and purpose.
Note: This post is part of a larger series called “Small Clubs, Big Wins” where top youth sports leaders share their wisdom with smaller clubs. For this purpose, smaller clubs are defined as organizations with 100 players or fewer.
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