Commish vs coach

Like I said in an earlier thread, the only way a girl can get to be on your team should be if she played for you last year. Otherwise, she goes into the rating system and gets placed on the team by point rating, with no name attached. If you have 5 returners who all rate a 5, you get 5 who are 1 star (or whatever it would have to be depending on talent level to have all teams be equal on average points.

As far as the all stars....please consider this...please get away from the coaches making selections. Yes, this is the way most leagues do it. Coaches select and everyone votes. It's always jacked up. And for the love of God, move selections until the end of the season. By doing it early, all you are doing is proving people are going in with preconceived notions. This would take moving the all star season after the regular season, but that's the way I have always seen it done. Anyway, get a couple middle school athletic directors who are local and pay them a nominal fee to watch two games of each team in each age group and have them select the girls. You will get a far more unbiased selection, stronger teams, and no one has the headache of having to explain why all the coaches' daughters get picked (I know you didn't last year with your DD, but that is the exception). Don't tell anyone who is doing the picking. Just say it is an outside evaluator that is doing it. There may be 5 girls on one team...so be it...

But to echo everyone else, yes, you screwed the pooch this year.

CJ D said:

But to echo everyone else, yes, you screwed the pooch this year.

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Yep, getting more heat today.

Sparky Guy said:

Your opening line of the meeting needs to set the tone. It should be something like "Hello Everyone, here is what we are doing next year." and then go from there. Everyone will have "suggestions" or you'll get the "We've always done it this way." from a few. Always listen, just don't commit to anything until you've had time to digest it. Often you'll find ulterior motives for exceptions.
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I'll add a few things

1) The league is bigger than any one person or small group of people. You will likely get threats to 'leave' if 'X' happens. Honestly few ever follow through on this threat and the ones that do, you will be glad they are gone. Losing these people makes the experience better for the less experienced players & families and there is NO doubt that rec is a numbers game

2) The DECISIONS must sit with you. You can take input, feedback, suggestions, etc, but in the end authority must sit somewhere definite. I said in my previous post that I was a 'benevolent dictator' - I have found this is truly the best model. I delegated some things - but not the decision authority. The buck stopped with me good or bad.

3) Document things. Write it down so there is NO dispute on what happens.

4) Name rule amendments after the person who was responsible for forcing it to happen. You will have 'rule loophole' coach who will find the grey area... When you send out the email that calls it "Rob's Rule Clarification on Coach Pitching" this stops REAL quick. Ours was on one coach who decided in Coach Pitch that his catcher didn't need to provide the coach pitcher a target to throw to but instead had her stand up off the plate...

5) Find something to measure the league on that makes sense for the league goals. We measured ours on retention % from season to season and % growth of player numbers. These are great indicators of league health and you should have the info for the past couple of seasons on hand to set a baseline.

Lastly, the position when run right can be both really rewarding but also a real pain. You will burn out and/or your DD will move on. I messed up the succession plan - maybe you can get it right. It is someone coming into the league in t-ball or 8u because when your DD is gone from rec, they'll be at the point you are today.

marriard said:

I'll add a few things

1) The league is bigger than any one person or small group of people. You will likely get threats to 'leave' if 'X' happens. Honestly few ever follow through on this threat and the ones that do, you will be glad they are gone. Losing these people makes the experience better for the less experienced players & families and there is NO doubt that rec is a numbers game

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May I add a "1a)" to this?

Listen to the KIDS. Closely.
Their opinions/needs usually differ from what the parents want, and you can usually be sure what they're telling you is honest, without ulterior motives or a master plan in mind.
Listen to them, and do right by them, and you'll be fine.