St. Mary's Pigskin Football

[crabcake]

Originally posted by sunnydaze
I agree it is crazy that the cheerleaders have not received their pom-poms yet, but on the same token how can you compare pigskin football to the NFL. That is the parents problems now they think that this league is the mini-NFL. We don't have referees like the NFL because our referees are volunteer-not paid. The Kemp's have been running this league for 20 years I doubt some whining parents even bother them.

my point is "organization" and the lack of it is what keeps parents from volunteering. My coach and other moms on the team have said this from experience with previous years.

personally, I think it's sad that they've been doing this for 20 years, yet still keep facing the same problems year after year, apparently. Maybe it's time for someone else to take it over. If I could, I would. I'd volunteer to help though. But not under the current circumstances.

 

[sunnydaze]

My point exactly....don't complain

 

[Dymphna]

I don't know anything about the football league in St. M's but my brothers played as kids for the Waldorf Wildcats, starting about 28 years ago. They always were very organized. They always knew were and when all their games were at the beginning of the season. The only thing they didn't know was about the bowl games.

If the problem is getting people to volunteer as referees, why can't high school kids do it? It would count towards their community service and I bet the high school football players would love to do their service with a game they enjoy. They understand the game and the rules as well or better than parents do and would make the best refs. There are 3 high schools. I assume each has a varsity and junior varsity team, each with about 20-30 players, that's about 120 kids who know the rules and can be refs. All they need to do is recruit these kids.

 

[crabcake]

Originally posted by sunnydaze
My point exactly....don't complain

I paid for it, and I offered to volunteer. I'll complain as much as my heart desires.

 

[sunnydaze]

Crabby Patty...do you play in the South, Central or North?

 

[Christy]

Originally posted by sunnydaze
My point exactly....don't complain

I would complain if my girl didn't have pom poms. That's the coolest part of the cheerleading experience. I think the point that crabby is trying to make and what I've witnessed in my three years of being involved in it, is that there are some things that simply shouldn't be so screwed up. I don't think lack of volunteers have much to do with not ordering pom poms. You have the kids signed up and farmed out to a squad at least a month before opening day. You can also set a date for central weigh in, uniform issue etc... more than a few days in advance of it actually happening.

 

[crabcake]

We practice at L.M.D. and have played there and Dorsey. Couldn't tell ya when or where else we're gonna play because we don't have a schedule.

Are you one of the organizers SD? You seem to take my criticism of the league management quite personally. If they are providing a service to the country residents, the only way problems get addressed and solved is for people to bring 'em up. Maybe then they'll get more volunteers. Maybe they should hold a participants meeting instead of just coaches to get things back on track. Our team has discussed a lot of things that could be easy fixes to the problems. But the league leadership just turned a blind eye when we addressed them. :shrug:

 

[crabcake]

Originally posted by Christy
I would complain if my girl didn't have pom poms. That's the coolest part of the cheerleading experience. I think the point that crabby is trying to make and what I've witnessed in my three years of being involved in it, is that there are some things that simply shouldn't be so screwed up

thank you Christy. i'd like the league managers to come down and explain to the five year old girls who cheer their hearts out why they don't have 'em but the other girls do.

 

[sunnydaze]

I find it hard to believe that you volunteered to coach and were rejected. Not even the biggest rejects get rejected in this league.
I am not an official I have just been around for 6 years and like I said, I agree that the girls should have definetly received their pom-poms by now, and I know that this league is far from perfect...I also have a 7 year old daughter cheering, but she does not cry about the pom-poms, because we don't allow the parents to complain around the girls or it will rub off on them,
and then it will effect their team. We are having fun with or without pom-poms.

 

[Pete]

MM corn?

 

[Christy]

Originally posted by sunnydaze
I find it hard to believe that you volunteered to coach and were rejected. Not even the biggest rejects get rejected in this league.
I am not an official I have just been around for 6 years and like I said, I agree that the girls should have definetly received their pom-poms by now, and I know that this league is far from perfect...I also have a 7 year old daughter cheering, but she does not cry about the pom-poms, because we don't allow the parents to complain around the girls or it will rub off on them,
and then it will effect their team. We are having fun with or without pom-poms.

Sunny, believe it. She's not the only one who's experienced being completely blown off by the league. Last year a friend of mine signed her daughter up for cheerleading, then the cheerleading coach bailed, so her and another mother took the course to lead the squad, but the league disbanded the squad with no discussion whatsoever, which left about 10 little girls out in the cold. My daughter has yet to hear from her cheerleading coach. She's obviously not cheering this year (although they have an extra $50 they don't have to spend on a kid). The league needs to be more responsive to the parents who do wish to volunteer.

 

[Christy]

Oh! I forgot to add, I don't think Crabby complains to her daughter. My complaints aren't around my kid, just to the deaf ears of the league Godfather (and other parents).

 

[crabcake]

No, I don't complain to my daughter. Gripes go up the chain, not down, just like the old days.

I didn't volunteer immediately when I signed her up because this is the first time I've been involved with sports since I was my daughter's age. I would have no clue what to do or how to do it or anything. Once our team was established, and our coach was demonstrating a lot of frustration with the management of the league, I and another mom volunteered to help her out and fill in for her since she didn't have an assistant. The training was the next night. The other mom was able to make it; I couldn't because I didn't have time to line up a sitter for my daughter till 10 p.m. on a school night.

And whether I volunteer or not makes no difference. The point was (and still is) it's disorganized and communication sucks. I didn't screw up the league. It's been in place for 20 years, and from what I've heard in talking to other parents at the games, the same problems have been recurring yearly. No schedules, lack of communication, late-forming squads, etc. Those are things that can only be fixed from the top, and unless they are going to let me step in at the helm, there's not much I can do in that respect except go to the meeting and ##### them out for it. Then, I'll be dismissed as a coach, and what'll that do? :shrug:

So, I'm doing what I need to do. I'm letting my daughter finish the season, and we'll do a different sport under different management/direction from now on. It's hard enough as a single parent to finagle getting to practices and games. I don't need additional aggravation from a mismanaged league that I've paid to let my daughter participate in.

 

[huntr1]

CC,
Like I said yesterday, have her play soccer. We have not had any problems this year (our first) with getting info or schedules. The kids seem to have fun on our team.

 

[crabcake]

Originally posted by huntr1
CC,
Like I said yesterday, have her play soccer. We have not had any problems this year (our first) with getting info or schedules. The kids seem to have fun on our team.

definately gonna look into soccer. She likes running anyway, so it's probably more suitable to her athletically.

 

[huntr1]

One nice thing about the 5-6 soccer is that they only play on 2 fields. So if you can't remember where your game is, you only have to check 1 field to find out where you are supposed to be.

 

[crabcake]

are the fields both at Dent (or one other location)? I don't mind driving to a different place each week, so long as I know in advance and not while the game is being played where we miss the first half.

 

[huntr1]

Both at Dent. Practice at Dent also.

 

[crabcake]

i'll keep an eye out for spring registration then. Thx!

 

[Christy]

Originally posted by huntr1
Both at Dent. Practice at Dent also.

What time is your game this Saturday? Maybe we can hook up for a "meet and greet" if our schedules match up. I won't find out for certain what time my kids game is until tonight, but I'll wager it's at noon.

Same with you Sunny, we can meet and brag about our future NFL stars.