Game cancelled: Overreacting if I complain about not rescheduling?

CD+AL

We signed DS up for baseball this spring, and his first game was cancelled due to weather.  The registration form said that, "Cancelled games can be made up if both teams agree to a time and a location."  I asked the coach about rescheduling, and she said that they were not planning to try to reschedule at this point (as in no attempt has been or will be made).

I'm a little irritated about this because it drops the season from 6 1hr games down to 5, which is a pretty short season anyway, and we paid a lot of money for this.  It would be one thing if they had tried to reschedule and for whatever reason it couldn't be arranged, but the fact that they aren't even going to attempt to reschedule bothers me a lot.  When we registered for the league, it was originally supposed to be a practice one night per week (arranged by the coach at a time agreeable to the players) plus a 1hr game per week.  They've already dropped the practice and decided to run the game like a workshop with two teams and two coaches there helping the kids.  (Or at least that's my understanding about what the plan is since we haven't actually done it yet.)

If I call the organization that runs the league (and that took our money) to complain, would I be "that" parent or overreacting?  I'm not talking about calling and raising Holy He!l or anything, but just calling to calmly voice my concerns and suggest that they reconsider.  Or should I just let it go as long as they don't cancel another game and shorten the season from 6 to 4 games?  I just don't feel like we're getting much for our money at this point.

April37

I would complain.  You paid for a practice one night per week plus a 1hr game each week for six weeks.  Your son is not getting that. If I understand correctly, he's getting 5 games... that's less than half of what you paid for!

Temp6313048411121614

April37:

I would complain.  You paid for a practice one night per week plus a 1hr game each week for six weeks.  Your son is not getting that. If I understand correctly, he's getting 5 games... that's less than half of what you paid for!

This.  You essentially paid for 12 "games" (6 being practice) and now your DC will only get to play 5. 

KathrynMD

I think it depends on how much you paid.

howleyshell

-auntie-:

How expensive was the program? Is it run by volunteers?

These are my questions as well.  If you paid for a program and the coaches are PAID to show up and do a job - I'd be the first to complain and loudly.

However... what I now know that I wasn't aware of when first staring out in the whole "kids sports" world is that it's almost always volunteer coaches and it's not like the organizations are making a huge profit off of what they charge you once they're done with admin and field fees.

If it's a volunteer coach I'd probably not say anything and wait to see how the rest of the season goes.

We had a soccer coach last year that SUCKED at coaching soccer but.... my kid ADORED him.  He had SO much fun at soccer practice because this guy was just... FUN!!  They played a lot of silly games like duck, duck, goose and sharks and minnows but did it all with soccer balls.  They didn't really focus on the "game" of soccer so their games were always a joke even though they were having a blast learning basic ball handling skills with fun games.   I went back and forth between asking that he have a different coach vs. staying with the fun one and decided to stick with the fun coach.  My kid LOVES soccer and honesty that's my goal at this point - for him to find a love of the game and really enjoy the concept of a team.  They are laughable on the field during a game but honestly.... they're 4.  The super hard core coaches screaming and yelling and being sticklers about every little nuance of strategy and the game at this point kinda freak me out.  My 5 yr old's league is getting more into that and it seems more age appropriate for that age range.

I'd ride it out before making the call if it's a volunteer coach.  If your over all experience is a negative one then they need to know so that other families are not dealing with the same problems next season.

And FWIW - I personally think it's WAY too young for them to be doing a practice AND a game each week at your son's age.  We don't get to a twice a week schedule around here until they hit 5.  Dropping the "practice" wouldn't even make me blink.  In fact I'd be a bit relieved.  Burn out comes fast and hard at super young ages and it's the main thing you want to avoid when they're young because they may never show an interest in the sport again if it gets ruined for them. 

CD+AL

In terms of expense, it is the most expensive league in the area.  We only chose it because the times that the kids were supposed to play lined up best with DH's work schedule, so it was the best option if DH wanted to be able to see some of them.  Whether or not it's expensive relative to other areas, I don't know, but for here, it wasn't cheap.  He could have done the same thing for about half the cost and with a longer season if it hadn't been for the schedule.

TBH, I was ok with them dropping the practice if they still got the games b/c I felt like "practice" was a little silly at this age, but if they start dropping games from the schedule too it just feels like we're not getting much for our money.  The coaches are volunteers, but there are full time, paid employees that coordinate the leagues too.  

For now, I think I'll wait to see how things go next week when I actually meet the coach and see how things are run.  I might even try to casually mention it to her again.  My ultimate goal is for DS to have fun with this and to learn a little bit about the game.  I just don't want to wind up paying for a really expensive t-shirt at the end of all this.

schnappycat

howleyshell:

-auntie-:

How expensive was the program? Is it run by volunteers?

And FWIW - I personally think it's WAY too young for them to be doing a practice AND a game each week at your son's age.  We don't get to a twice a week schedule around here until they hit 5.  Dropping the "practice" wouldn't even make me blink.  In fact I'd be a bit relieved.  Burn out comes fast and hard at super young ages and it's the main thing you want to avoid when they're young because they may never show an interest in the sport again if it gets ruined for them. 

Not true, Howley. We just signed up DS through the HR Metro Districts for summer tball and he's 4. It's the 4 yo tball league. Coed, I assume. He will have one true practice a week and a game each Saturday (totaling 8 games). It seemed excessive to me, quite honestly, but that is what all of his friends are doing and so I caved to the peer pressure. I am highly doubtful it will go well, so I am fully prepared to skip a game or two or practice if he isn't having fun. But hopefully he'll have some fun and learn something. But I too was surprised it was this involved. I hope I don't regret it!

OP, we paid $68 for the league, FWIW. I actually thought that was fairly reasonable for 8 weeks and 16 practices/games.  

MammaBear81

-auntie-:

CD+AL:

In terms of expense, it is the most expensive league in the area.  We only chose it because the times that the kids were supposed to play lined up best with DH's work schedule, so it was the best option if DH wanted to be able to see some of them.  Whether or not it's expensive relative to other areas, I don't know, but for here, it wasn't cheap.  He could have done the same thing for about half the cost and with a longer season if it hadn't been for the schedule.

How expensive is expensive? What isn't cheap? Dollar amount. Are we talking a $100 tee shirt and trophy or one that's $250?

TBH, I was ok with them dropping the practice if they still got the games b/c I felt like "practice" was a little silly at this age, but if they start dropping games from the schedule too it just feels like we're not getting much for our money.  The coaches are volunteers, but there are full time, paid employees that coordinate the leagues too.  

There are expenses of which you are probably unaware associated with this activity. There are salaries for the league organizers; they're about minimum wage. I have a friend associate with Babe Ruth Baseball, he gets a tiny stipend for his work training refs and attending meetings in Williamsport.They have something like a franchise fee to be part of Little League.  The refs are generally paid minimum wage. I have a couple scouts who aged out and referee games. The refs are paid because they need impartial and trained and they put up with a lot of crap from parents.

Fields usage is not typically free; most communities and school districts rent their fields to cover maintnance and supplies. DS's school recently paid big bucks to turf their football/soccer/lacrosse field which means they can rent it out to the local RC and Quaker high schools as well as host community sports. It's lucrative enough that the six figures it cost have nearly been paid back.

Adminstration costs are high as well. I am on the executive board for DS's marching band parents association which has similar expenses to community sports. We approved our operating budget for next year including fees for tax preparation ($350) and independent auditing ($500)of our treasurer. Insurance liability policy ($1600) to cover any of our activities and to protect us as indivdiuals in a lawsuit. And another $150 to maintain our website. With the exception of the insurance, most of these things are offered by parents associated with the group at actual cost.

For now, I think I'll wait to see how things go next week when I actually meet the coach and see how things are run.  I might even try to casually mention it to her again.  My ultimate goal is for DS to have fun with this and to learn a little bit about the game.  I just don't want to wind up paying for a really expensive t-shirt at the end of all this.

I am one of the coordinators for my sons soccer division and I agree with all of this.  I am a volunteer, we have one small office and ONE person that is on payroll because she has required office hours to take calls and sign up new players.  All of the coaches are parent volunteers, the older kids (and by older I mean 5 years+) have a clinic each week, and that is a paid trainer as well.  We pay for uniforms, rent fields, have end of the year pizza parties etc.

Making up a game isn't that easy.  You have a field for a certain day and time of the week, it's not as easy as saying "hey, lets meet tomorrow" other people rent the fields, you need to get approval to use them at other times, coaches have other kids and commitments.  That being said, if one game gets rained out it's not a big deal, but last fall it rained almost every Saturday so we did our best to do make ups.

Honestly I'd be more ticked about losing the practice than anything else.  It doesn't matter if it's an awesome training, at this age it's all about getting more playing/practice time to be more comfortable in the future.

CD+AL

MammaBear81:

Honestly I'd be more ticked about losing the practice than anything else.  It doesn't matter if it's an awesome training, at this age it's all about getting more playing/practice time to be more comfortable in the future.

I think this is the thing that's starting to get me a little upset.  First, it was the practice, but I was kind of ok with that b/c I really just wanted him to have fun, learn a little, and be excited about doing it again at some point. 

I guess the money part is important too b/c it feels like we're not getting what we signed up and paid for originally as they keep dropping things off the schedule.  Again, I don't expect them to work miracles pulling together a brand new schedule to accommodate rain-outs b/c I know how tough it is to try to coordinate something like this (I've done it), but I think when the actual activity time has already been cut in 1/2 from what we were told we were getting before the season even actually got off the ground they should make at least a minimal effort to reschedule, especially given that all the written materials that we were given state that they would get an hour of practice and an hour of game time per week for the duration of the season and there would be an attempt to reschedule rain-outs.  

Again, I'm going to just go with it for now, but if we have any more rain-outs with no attempt for rescheduling, I think I may just ask for our money back and try another league next time.  As it stands, I don't think we'll be using this particular one again for baseball.  DS is also doing soccer through the same organization, and it's run by entirely different full time staff, which have an entirely different approach.  We've been very happy with that part of the organization, and I feel that they've got their acts together.  

Regardless of where the money goes once we pay them, you should get a reasonably close season to the one they advertised unless something catastrophic happens.  I don't expect for them to be able to reschedule 100% of the time, especially if we have a bunch of rain-outs, but I think it's a little lousy to combine the cancellation of practices and no effort at all on rescheduling.

CD+AL

-auntie-:

CD+AL:

In terms of expense, it is the most expensive league in the area.  We only chose it because the times that the kids were supposed to play lined up best with DH's work schedule, so it was the best option if DH wanted to be able to see some of them.  Whether or not it's expensive relative to other areas, I don't know, but for here, it wasn't cheap.  He could have done the same thing for about half the cost and with a longer season if it hadn't been for the schedule.

How expensive is expensive? What isn't cheap? Dollar amount. Are we talking a $100 tee shirt and trophy or one that's $250?

TBH, I was ok with them dropping the practice if they still got the games b/c I felt like "practice" was a little silly at this age, but if they start dropping games from the schedule too it just feels like we're not getting much for our money.  The coaches are volunteers, but there are full time, paid employees that coordinate the leagues too.  

There are expenses of which you are probably unaware associated with this activity. There are salaries for the league organizers; they're about minimum wage. I have a friend associate with Babe Ruth Baseball, he gets a tiny stipend for his work training refs and attending meetings in Williamsport.They have something like a franchise fee to be part of Little League.  The refs are generally paid minimum wage. I have a couple scouts who aged out and referee games. The refs are paid because they need impartial and trained and they put up with a lot of crap from parents.

Fields usage is not typically free; most communities and school districts rent their fields to cover maintnance and supplies. DS's school recently paid big bucks to turf their football/soccer/lacrosse field which means they can rent it out to the local RC and Quaker high schools as well as host community sports. It's lucrative enough that the six figures it cost have nearly been paid back.

Adminstration costs are high as well. I am on the executive board for DS's marching band parents association which has similar expenses to community sports. We approved our operating budget for next year including fees for tax preparation ($350) and independent auditing ($500)of our treasurer. Insurance liability policy ($1600) to cover any of our activities and to protect us as indivdiuals in a lawsuit. And another $150 to maintain our website. With the exception of the insurance, most of these things are offered by parents associated with the group at actual cost.

For now, I think I'll wait to see how things go next week when I actually meet the coach and see how things are run.  I might even try to casually mention it to her again.  My ultimate goal is for DS to have fun with this and to learn a little bit about the game.  I just don't want to wind up paying for a really expensive t-shirt at the end of all this.

I do get that there are expenses that go into it (liability, t-shirts and such), but at the same time, I feel like they've taken (or should have taken) all that into account when they've figured their fees.  I'm guessing that the other leagues in the area also had such costs too, and I'm not hearing similar issues from parents in the other leagues. I don't think they're personally raking it in hand over fist, but at the same time, if they can't cover the expenses with what they're charging then something needs to change anyway.

FTR, not only did we pay the league fee to the organization running it, but we paid a separate facility fee that covers the expense of the fields.  They are also not using refs/umps for the pee-wees at all in any of the pee-wee sports, and the coaches and parents are just filling in with that.  (For one thing, if baseball is anything like soccer, they aren't really that competitive anyway.  It's more of a learn and have fun atmosphere where the rules are demonstrated and encouraged but they don't actually keep track of the score or anything.  I did also like that aspect of the league when we were looking into it.)