At what point do you cancel the season, start talking about refunds

[whiporee]

So far this has only cost us one tourney out of 13, with two more likely to be cancelled because they are within the next three weeks. But at what point -- and I'm not saying we're there yet -- would you as a parent say there's not enough season left to save? We play a fall HS season, so extending into August really isn't possible.

I'm not pushing or complaining, more trying to get a feel for what a general consensus might be. Because of spring snows, we're used to losing tourneys into May. But I am wondering how deep into the summer people are willign to hold out hope, and at what point the lost value becomes too great to justify?

And then, jees, how do you handle that? Uniforms and bags are bought and delivered. Practice spaces have been rented. How much would you refund to parents if he season is cancelled all together? And how would you handle it if the season isn't cancelled, but a half-dozen parents say what we are playing isn't enough?

It's a lot to consider. Man, this thing sucks.

 

[The Man In Blue]

Really good topic @whiporee !

I would say you need to be having frank and honest conversations with your parents. Find out what they think is practical and reasonable. What are their expectations? Keep in mind, everybody is going to be playing a lot of catch-up when the world starts to go back to “normal”.

As part of that conversation, let them know what the sunk costs are up to this point (uniforms and equipment) and what they could realistically expect back (tournament fees, etc.).

Be in regular contact with the tournaments you have booked. Keep in mind many of them are holding in limbo also, but they should be staying in touch. They should not be waiting until the week before to make decisions. (My unpaid consulting advice: they should be working a minimum of 3 weeks out, preferably 4.) If they are dragging their feet, give them your honest expectations for a timetable for making decisions.

As far as the state of ”things” ... we are still in wait and see mode. It could get much worse or it could get much better in a few weeks. The best part of your post is that you are working on the contingencies instead of holding you breath and hoping.

 

[flash277]

I'd say we would be lucky, very lucky here in NY if we could get games by June 1st, most likely later if any. I thought about the same thing as you as far as fees paid. My DD is paid up for the year. Is your DD planning on playing with team next season? If so, any unused fee should go to that. But I know what you mean, how much is enough. Shame on me, but my DD has been on 5 travel teams, (4 different organizations) and not one had an itemized list on what everything costs and what fees go to.

 

[marriard]

So we have already set this up for our org for every team:

1. The first thing was the budget exercise. What has already been spent, what that has been spent on and what is not coming back. Then what is still left to spend in the plan. We are pretty stringent on our teams keeping budgets up to date, so for most teams, they already had this info on hand.
   1. This also included a 'who has paid what' list. Most of our teams are 'pay upfront' or 'pay twice a season'. We fortunately didn't have any teams that had not collected enough that it didn't cover all the sunk costs.
2. - We then helped the head coaches craft the message for each team - which was simple and straightforward.
   1. We will play the moment we can, and we will refund any costs that we don't spend or you can apply it to next season's fees.
   2. If the season doesn't happen then your refund will be everything that is not already spent. Each canceled tournament will add to what your refund will look like.
      1. We also detailed out that some early tournament fees would not be 'in full' due to tournament sunk costs and refund policies. We indicated that we would be transparent about how much we were likely to get refunded or what our action would be in these cases.
   3. Refunds will happen ONCE, and will be given on the week we return to practice/play and we know when our last canceled tournament will be.
   4. We also detailed out any upcoming costs which weren't many - some of our recruiting teams have deposits for Sept/Oct or later tournaments that may need to be paid which parents knew about for the teams in question.
   5. In terms of play - the core message was it doesn't matter how close to the next season it is going to be, everyone will want to get back on the field ASAP
   6. We also heavily suggested to our coaches that the first time they get to play that they do so locally with no hotel stays. They all agreed this is a good idea and that was included in the message; if needed the first tournament back will be local.
   7. We included the budget details in the message for full transparency (but not who paid what of course)
3. We also sent out a board-level message reinforcing the individual team message. This also provided an additional place for them to ask questions or get information.
4. Lastly, our coaches identified a few families that we knew were likely going to be hit hard and fast by everything closing down. We had our coaches privately offer them a quicker path to refund or even full season refund if that was going to help them. None of them have taken up that offer quite yet, but if this stretches on, I expect that some will.

The response to this has been positive. I think we did a reasonable job all things considered.

 

[radness]

Good topic & Great replys already!!!

Some area's pay for the entire season up front or in giant installments.
If this is this case, and have paid that 'investment upfront for the future'.
Pending 4/5 more weeks of sheltering. The bigger picture will come into view.
Would definetly want a refund by end of April if outlook is still shelter.
Imagine families will need the money unfortunetly more than softball.

Many teams in so cal go month to month.
Would already stop paying.
Pending Aprils outcome.

Will be interesting to see if there are any softball venue changes, infastructure in softball so to speak.

Perhaps do to people not as willing to fly?
Or
Peoples incomes cause and effect cost of tournaments and hotel fee's and manadatory stay & pay?
Prices go down or?

Less teams? Do to income...
Hmmmmm?

Like the thinking to plan ahead!

 

[_MIA_]

We have dues that are due April 1st which take into acount 3 months of org fees plus all of the spring/summer tournaments except 1. No idea how we are going to pay this since we typically write a check and hand it to the coach in person. The tournaments have already been paid for (or at least most of them have) by the coach so I have no idea how this is going to work out since that needs to be paid back somehow even if we will be getting refunds as tournaments get cancelled.

 

[BT3100]

Gonna be a hairy web to untangle. Our HS was to go to Myrtle Beach in April. Sounds like they want to withhold $2000 deposit. That seems complexly unethical in light of the situation. I would think $500 would be reasonable but $2K?

 

[joe720]

This is going to be a tough one for sure. We have 9 scheduled tournys which are all paid for, we do a lump payment at the beginning of the year. Probably going to depend on if money is given back by those and how that is all handled. I'm in NY so least of my concerns currently but i'd let things go to April 15th before really worrying about it too much.

 

[radness]

Gonna be a hairy web to untangle. Our HS was to go to Myrtle Beach in April. Sounds like they want to withhold $2000 deposit. That seems complexly unethical in light of the situation. I would think $500 would be reasonable but $2K?

Unethical !
Reasonable heck,
RETURN ALL MONEY

 

[BT3100]

Probably a bigger issue for the 14 and under age groups as of now. Most older girls don't play big tourneys (where HS SB is in spring) until June/July. So maybe a little more time to clear this out. Those big tournaments stand to lose significant revenue if canceled, not to mention the impact on the tax revenue in the areas that host, think Colorado, Huntington Beach.