Hey Kegdrinker,
1. In Australia we have set up the offsite forum
https://buzzerbeateraustrali.freeforums.net/ to give Australian managers the opportunity to get a big sneak peek into both the u21 and the NT. Deano (current NT coach) and myself update players skills on there as much as we can to give managers a chance to compare players and have their say on both teams. There is also a section i have added which has a record of all our previous best players in every position, to try and educate our managers on what a player of each position could strive to look like. Then there is a weekly chat about upcoming games, scouting, future plans, and roster changes. This is for the keen manager who wants to be apart of the NT and know as much as we do about the team.
In terms of addressing engagement, ive noticed managers pretty much come and go in u21 as their players are selected, and im ok with that. I try and bbmail all managers with personalised messages to suit their player and situation. There is certainly a level of engagement in the program that is not seen in the public eye, where communication between myself and the managers of the current or prospective players are in contact with training plans or advice on gameshape/player builds. If a manager does reply, it usually sparks conversation with more questions about the game deeper than the specific player and im happy to pass on any experience i know of the game to help. The more a manager is open to wanting more info and help in the game, the more time i will spend with them. It is hard because not everyone wants to be coached in the game, some want to work it out for themselves while others are seeking as much info as you can give, so getting that right for each manager requires attention.
Not to say it cant get more active though and it is something I have called out for in each of my 14 speeches is the offer for assistants/scouts/media journalists, or whatever flair you can bring to the team. So i try and keep engagement of the u21 with writeups and updates of the season to the whole of the community so the average manager can check in from time to time to follow our journey.
In every season since i started in season 28 ive also kept an accurate MVP season count for managers as an extra to increase current players managers to join in the season. The list is available on the u21 team page
https://www.buzzerbeater.com/country/17/jnt/overview.aspx. This idea has been grabbed by several other NT managers that have contacted me saying how they like it and would like to adapt it to their nation. The idea of an mvp is nothing new, but the time to sit down each week and work through a box score and keep a season count is something i can say i've done now for the entire 28 seasons. This has been something i beleieve has captured managers to follow the team, once again possibly not in a way youd see them active, but following the team. Ive had several bbmails in the past questioning an mvp vote after a game or two, which is a telling sign that people are following it!