My Rant

I got talked into being on our youth baseball board of directors this last year. What a mistake that was.

Unorganized and no direction given. First year I get thrown into the toughest league to manage and given no direction. Find out after being assigned it that I have to be at the baseball fields for every league game. So Tuesday and Thursday are gone for working on my golf game.

I'm down to playing 18 holes a week if I'm lucky. 9 during league on Wed and 9 on the weekend. My games going to pot. I'm getting burned out on golf because of my scores, all due to this dang baseball.

I was active in baseball as a youth, and thought I'd give back. It's turning into a lot more work than I was led on.

I have no kids and never will. So I have no vested interest in it, besides my commitment to being on the board.

Before baseball I could take off for 2 hours a couple times a week and get some golf in. Now I'm making baseball calls during that time.

GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!

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Take a stand Danny.

Why to you have to be at each and every game?

Unless you signed up to be Coach (in which case perhaps you should have realised ) then explain, firmly but politely, that no one had explained the level of commitment required before you agreed to be on the Board.

State that you are willing to attend 1 game a week but that if more is required then, reluctantly you will have to resign.

I'd risk a small wager that you were talked into this because of a shortage of willing Board members (I wonder why ) so go further and suggest a rota for Board members game attendance.


BDBL, Agony Aunt to the Stars

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I firmly believe that we should try to experience all that life affords, except, perhaps, bestiality and of course Morris Dancing.

Thanks for the advice. Basically I'm supposed to be at every game to resolve any coaches disputes, and let the parents know when they are getting out of line. I've had to deal with one obnoxious parent so far this year.

I wish you luck then; if your kids' base ball is going the same was our kids' football (soccer ) then it must be a nightmare for officials and administrators.

Over here the kids mimic their ill disciplined foul mouthed playing heros and unfortunately many of the parents are worse.

This organization needs a change of attitude IMMEDIATELY!!! If you’re on the Board of Directors, maybe you can "give back" by helping to fix it.

The COACHES should be policing their players and their parents. The UMPIRES should have ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY over the game, the coaches, parents and other spectators, including the authority remove ANYONE from the premises. If they need backup, the other responsible and reasonable parents and coaches need to STEP UP and support their authority PERIOD. YOU and the board should be available to resolve disputes and address appeals at your regularly scheduled meetings.

Maybe I’m not telling you anything you don’t already, know. I know it’s not "the good days" of Little League either. Having been involved in youth athletic associations all my life, as a player, umpire, coach, and fan, I realize things will not always go as outlined but what you’ve got is a serious problem waiting to happen.
If you can’t affect some change, maybe you should consider resigning. As the "sole" authority, you are going to be the lightning rod and you may find yourself involved in some serious personal and maybe even legal predicaments.

Most of the kids are pretty good. The parents have been well behaved, but most of them are unwilling to help. They don't do concessions when they're supposed to and they just don't help out. In one work. LAZY

You must have some potential and something to give if you were asked to take on this responsibility.

May I suggest just let things ride at this stage. Take on board your surrounds.

At the next board meeting discuss any issues arising. Explain your concerns and your time contraints. See if the board are prepared to change or fix the problems. If not, politely resign from the board.

Good luck.

As a Minor Ball umpire for 6 years, I can tell you that your umpires have the power to deal with obnoxious parents. If a fan is getting rowdy, the ump simply mentions to the coach that they have to contain/remove the parent, or they default. As for coaches disputes - report them after the game to the league convenor, and let the convenor hash it out. (Unless this is you - in which case you setup a quick meeting, and resolve).

Thanks for all the replies.

I'll probably ride out the rest of the season with current status, as we really don't have board meetings during the season unless some major issue comes up.

I think I ended up with more than the normal share of duties as I'm one of the few board members that has actually done the stuff thats needed to be done. 2 other board members have had way more than their share of responsibilities and now that they have another board member that is willing to actually work, they unloaded some of their extra on me.

Now we just need to switch out the other 4 board members with ones that will take on their responsibility.

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Make the four board members more accountable big fella - move 'em on!!!