Commish vs coach

This is one of the reasons LL requires that a commissioner for a division NOT coach or have a DD in that division. It is a change you should seriously consider next season.

Obvious mistakes I see -

The commissioner role is above your coach role. It is not equal. As commissioner you have a duty to ALL the girls in the division. By saying it is equal you have created an environment which openly favors your team.

As commissioner you didn't follow or join in the league All Star process all the other teams did. That legitimately looks awful. I wouldn't be happy either if I was another coach/parent. As commissioner you can't do this, especially since you had the opportunity to change it (which you didn't) and then you decided to do something different entirely with your group of players. Part of being commissioner for a division is to make sure the league goals are met - and all-stars were clearly part of it. Basically you said "I messed up, but I can fix it for my team. All the other players and coaches can deal with it"

Your league's team selection process is set up for rampant team stacking. Of course your team was stacked intentionally - it may not have been you who set it up this way - but just by the nature of the selection process someone has clearly done so and you were happy to take advantage of it. I'd be stunned if there isn't a couple of teams in every division who are full of newbies with a newbie coach who get their butts kicked weekly (except when they played each other - which will be used by other coaches to justify this "Oh, isn't it nice one of these teams are going to get a win. Hahaha..."). If there is - your league is failing every single girl on those teams.

As commissioner you can't say 'Oh it benefited me but what was I to do'. That sounds like BS because it basically is.

You can't have even teams, but you have to have 'fair' teams.

This may be harsh... but I have been there, and ran a large softball league for quite a few years before I burnt out of it. I didn't delegate a whole lot (except in the division where my DD was playing) and ran it pretty much as a 'benevolent dictator'. But our retention rate was close to 90% and we grew 20% in size most years.

[edit:] your email reply is a good start in fixing this

marriard said:

Basically you said "I messed up, but I can fix it for my team. All the other players and coaches can deal with it"

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It appears that way, admittedly, but it was the other way around as far as timing went. We decided to do our thing before I screwed it up.

marriard said:

Your league's team selection process is set up for rampant team stacking. Of course your team was stacked intentionally - it may not have been you who set it up this way - but just by the nature of the selection process someone has clearly done so and you were happy to take advantage of it...As commissioner you can't say 'Oh it benefited me but what was I to do'. That sounds like BS because it basically is.

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Near as I can tell, the league has been this way for at least 10 years. I've been at the 1-11 end of the spectrum. So tell me what I should have done (outside of not coaching because that horse is out of the barn).

marriard said:

You can't have even teams, but you have to have 'fair' teams.

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Couldn't agree more. We didn't have time for evals and a draft this season, and considering the pushback I received when I asked for interest in pitching/catching, it probably would have blown up the league. Next season.

marriard said:

This may be harsh... but I have been there, and ran a large softball league for quite a few years before I burnt out of it. I didn't delegate a whole lot (except in the division where my DD was playing) and ran it pretty much as a 'benevolent dictator'. But our retention rate was close to 90% and we grew 20% in size most years.

[edit:] your email reply is a good start in fixing this

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Not harsh, just open and honest and blunt and appreciated. Too many people pussy-foot around what they really want to say these days. Thanks!

Most TB teams are REC all star teams that decide to "take the plunge" and give travel ball a try....most never look back!

Even without this issue, 2 All-Star teams with 17-18 players each seems like a nightmare scenario! Just wondering if there aren't issues re how the players are divided into those teams and whether there are minimum playing time requirements? Regardless, seems like its long overdue to revamp the system, but I agree that the Commish and a Head Coach's responsibilities and priorities differ such that there are inherent conflicts if one were to occupy both positions!

Good luck moving forward!

ya, if I'm a coach or parent of one of the other teams, I'm pissed and I'm sending a much harsher letter to you (and the rest of the board) than the one you received. I know this response isn't very helpful, but I think a lot of others have covered most of the things in a way which I (if I were a parent/coach in this situation) would not put as eloquently.

Osric said:

ya, if I'm a coach or parent of one of the other teams, I'm pissed and I'm sending a much harsher letter to you (and the rest of the board) than the one you received. I know this response isn't very helpful, but I think a lot of others have covered most of the things in a way which I (if I were a parent/coach in this situation) would not put as eloquently.

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Well, to be honest I'd probably ignore a communication harsher than the one received. If you're taking rec that seriously, it's time to move on. But let me ask this: would you be as pissed if I weren't commish?

Greenmonsters said:

Even without this issue, 2 All-Star teams with 17-18 players each seems like a nightmare scenario! Just wondering if there aren't issues re how the players are divided into those teams and whether there are minimum playing time requirements? Regardless, seems like its long overdue to revamp the system, but I agree that the Commish and a Head Coach's responsibilities and priorities differ such that there are inherent conflicts if one were to occupy both positions!

Good luck moving forward!

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It is. No one in the league except the old commish likes our All Star setup. We don't have official minimum play time requirements, but it's expected that everyone get at least 3 defensive outs, and we bat the roster.

Revamp is coming.

First off, got to give you credit for being open-minded and hearing feedback objectively. That's rare. Can't say I'd be better at that.

There are a couple of issues here, both similar but wanted to make sure that you consider both.

One is that some feel that you've undermined the all-star teams. That's been discussed.

Another is that you're taking a group of players and families that the league provided to you and you're breaking off on your own without the league's input. Many who help run this rec league might see that as exploiting your position as head coach. Not saying this is what you're doing. But those who run rec leagues do not appreciate coaches who are using the league to find players for their own travel-ball goals. So when something resembles that, people in the league will not be happy.

CoogansBluff said:

Another is that you're taking a group of players and families that the league provided to you and you're breaking off on your own without the league's input. Many who help run this rec league might see that as exploiting your position as head coach. Not saying this is what you're doing. But those who run rec leagues do not appreciate coaches who are using the league to find players for their own travel-ball goals. So when something resembles that, people in the league will not be happy.

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Hadn't really thought about that, I guess because that's not what I'm doing. I can see how it would look that way, though.

You guys are the best - there's so much experience here to draw from. Thanks!

BuckeyeGuy said:

Well, to be honest I'd probably ignore a communication harsher than the one received. If you're taking rec that seriously, it's time to move on. But let me ask this: would you be as pissed if I weren't commish?

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Not sure what you mean. Would I be that upset if you were just a coach who did this? Ya...I'd still be mad because when a single coach goes rogue, it usually ends up hurting the program as a whole. It sounds like your program is large enough to survive this, but we had a coach take his own kids out of all stars and then go off on their own and it took 3 years for us to rebuild the post-season program. So, we were all pissed at the coach, but he took "his" girls, left and we never saw him again. (well, until he got appointed the jr. high coach and then recently the varsity coach)

But a commish has a special priority. The commish's job is supposed to be to look out for the entire program and not just a team or a group of girls. If the program is big enough, I think it best if the Commish is someone who is NOT also a coach. But in small organizations that isn't really feasible. As a commish, it seems to me that you severely hurt the kids. You may not have done it knowingly or maliciously, but the damage was done just the same and since you are the commish, there is precious little recourse parents have to take.

Now, you may say I'm over reacting because it is rec. I'd say that because it is rec that it is MORE important. These aren't kids who paid 300 or 3,000 bucks to be on a team. These are kids who want to play the game and want to have an honest chance against teams that are bigger and badder than they are. It is MORE important to these kids because they are the underdogs; they are the ones who didn't have either the parents, the connections, the $$$ or the skill to make a "real travel" team. These are kids that are MORE important and by going off on your own with your own team, you hurt the collective.

I'd be pissed and raising hell not because I take rec ball too seriously, but because I strongly believe that the rec kids deserve to be led by people who are looking out for their collective interests and not by someone who is looking to a select group of kids or their own agenda (not saying you have a personal agenda here, but I've seen it happen a couple times where a coach is trying to relive his glory days in the form of 12 year old girls).

Sorry if this comes off as harsh...I tend to be a long-winded rear when I get going. But you have a job as commish (I've been in this position myself for several years). By the way you describe things here, you were not acting as a commish and the kids as a whole have suffered because of it. IMO, you have some serious damage control to do and should step down permanently as either commish or coach. After this, you will not be able to get people's trust if you try to do both.