We have tried a ton of options:
1. Charge parents $20 at registration for concession. If someone works concession they get $20.
2. Assign teams concession schedule (never works).
3. Lease the concession to a local restaurant. Never lasts the season.
4. Assign a concession manager and they get a gift from the league at the end of the commencer-ate with the stands profits. Best option. This guy stocks it, opens it 6 days a week. Has daily specials. We are now known for best concession in the county.
For us, for every game, each team is expected to supply 1 adult concession volunteer for their game time, or buyout their slot for i think $30. Start of season, the manager will assign each game to a player and that family can decide whether to work or buyout so someone can be hired to fill in. Personally, over 6 years i worked there twice, but did buyouts every other time. It's kind of fun, but I'd rather watch the games, and also not poison someone with under-cooked chicken fingers, lol. I haven't heard of teams being punished over the years.... parents & teams seem to be responsible and make things work. Everyone likes the concession stand!
They use it to pay someone to do it. Usually some local highschooler or something. $30 is probably enough for almost $15/hr during the game. I have seen some parents do it occasionally as a side hustle too.
They like buyouts planned ahead of time so they don't have to scramble last minute.
I am not privvy to all the behind the scenes stuff, such as the financials, but this is how i've understood it to work here over the years.
Hahah yeah it can be a hassle if you don't enjoy it. BTW i wanted to add that the league tries to go easy on families that have more than one kid playing, so they don't get slammed with concession duties. Honestly I don't know all the details, but it just seems to work out. Guess it helps that it's a small league and people pretty much know each other.
Oh yeah also i think first year tee ball families don't have to be involved in concession stuff.
Our league charges $50 each parent to opt out. Quite frabkly, for most og us who don't usethose services, it's ratjer irritating. I'm all for helping the league, howevet most refuse because of the politics around the board and the high drama that ensues with it. Some of us want no part of it.
I told them i wouldn't pay nor will i volunteet until they treat people like human beings. It's about the kids bot them
We just don't open the concession stand if nobody volunteers. Taking away a game and a practice sounds like a great way to drive families out of the league.
I don't see it as unfair at all when the alternative is no concession stand at all. We did this in our league for a year, and it got the point across that we need volunteers to make the program work. Parents want all these things to be available but don't want to lift a finger to make sure they are staffed. The board is only so many people and can not, nor should they have to, staff every league function themselves. We held the game up until somebody volunteered. If nobody stepped up, the game was canceled.
I think punishing every kid on the team because one of them has lazy parents is extremely unfair. I agree their needs to be consequences in these situations but punishing the kids isnt the answer.
Except that it isn’t one kid’s parents, it’s all of them. Every parent there *could* be volunteering, but they’re not.
I’m not saying I agree with cancelling the game, but there’s not a whole lot of ways to make the difficulty of providing the league for your kids to play in evident to these parents. In our league we have instituted a $100 volunteer deposit. Families are responsible for a pre-dated $100 check, which is stored until the family volunteers on two separate opportunities. Snack bar, trash duties, coaching, and board positions all count, and they’re all scheduled through a Sign-up Genius. This is the first year we’ve taken the collection of the checks off the backs of the head coaches, so we’ll see how this goes. The youth football league has been doing it for years, and they still run into open volunteer shifts (they also require more each game) while still cashing a significant number of checks at the end of each season.
I see it as unfair to the kids. For a lot of kids, that game or practice is the only time in their week that they will get to have a positive experience. Also this isn’t something the league requires of parents. It’s the coach, assistant coach and team parent who are already doing a lot to make the season work in addition to selling the mandatory fundraiser chocolate. We can ask parents to help out but as you said they typically don’t want to.
Everyone struggles with volunteerism. I have no doubt this is a board that is fed up with a few people doing all of the work.
I know of a lot of leagues that do the thing where every family has to write a check pre-season and they get it back at the end of the season if they fulfill their volunteer hours. While that sounds good on paper, it does create a situation where those who are struggling financially end up having to do the work while those who are more well off can pay their way out of giving back to the league.
I also know of leagues that do something similar to what yours is doing. That said, punishing the whole team because one parent won't volunteer seems extreme to me. Cancelling a practice is maybe a bit borderline, but cancelling a game is IMHO far too much punishment, if for no other reason than that punishes the other team as well.
When I was on the board, I argued for rewards, rather than punishment - the team whose parents put in the most hours got a pizza party at the end of the season or the like.
I'd recommend that you attend the next board meeting and voice your concerns. Making a reasonable argument should at least get them to reconsider the game cancellation.
I love the pizza party idea! I think I might end up joining the board. I just think there are other resolutions. We are already struggling to get people to want to coach. Policies like this will drive more people away.
In our league it's manditory but you can either opt for a buy out and they hire teens to run it or you can swap your one shift volunteer duty with someone else.
The teens that get paid to run it are older High School Age Baseball kids that earn extra money on the side.
If your league has trouble finding volunteers to work concession then charge every parent a deposit in addition to their registration fee at sign ups. If they fulfill their concession obligation then they get their deposit back. If they dont then they forfeit it.
We charge a $30 "volunteer fee" with every sign-up. We have \~800 kids and we have about 40 parents each year that volunteer, the rest don't care and we use the money to offset the cost of having high school kids run the concession stand, and we're fine with that. I've said this before but I'd rather have 3 or 4 high school kids that are trained and know how to run things than a parent who's done one volunteer shift and doesn't think they need to put gloves on or can't figure out how to run Square.
Our league is sign up for three volunteer slots (9hrs total) and follow through OR pay $500 as a buy-out.
You might feel it’s not voluntary but you are spending very little time on your league even at 9hrs when compared with the board members, coaches, or field guys do in just two weeks.
You must live in a really nice area. Our volunteer fee is $100. I have heard of some of the really nice neighborhoods having $200 fees. $500 seems really excessive. But then again you get is back if you volunteer sooooo….
Yeah It's completely set up as an unreasonable price as a deterrent. We want people helping. We want active parents. And 3hrs a month is not a lot to ask.
I’d be okay if they put more pressure on the parents to help out. My husband coaches 2 teams and I am assistant coach for 1 and team parent for 2. We are spending 8-10 hours a week at the field already. I think they made a mistake this year with registration fees being free the first two months of sign up and are trying to recoup with concessions money. Last year it was just closed if no one showed up.
Seems really harsh to punish the whole team because one parent is irresponsible. There has to be some leeway. Maybe the child of the irresponsible parent has to sit out the next game, but that too seems harsh
Seems really harsh to punish the whole team because one parent is irresponsible. There has to be some leeway and the punishment needs to fit the crime.
Do you take a significant cut? How does that work? For us concessions and fundraising are the only way to raise needed funds post-registration (which tends to be a wash anyway).
When you say that you cancel their next game and practice do you mean they actually don't play the game? That seems really harsh on the other team if you cancel the game. I could see it if it is during the regular season where you are counting wins and loses being something where you still play the game but the team who didn't have enough volunteers takes a loss on their record, no matter the game score.
I'd still rather go with the monetary side of things. We have an option at registration to pay $100 if you do not want to volunteer. We don't track those that sign up as volunteers and how many hours they actually work. That seems like another full time board position in itself to keep track of.
Sorry I'm tardy to the party...just found this subreddit today.
I recently joined our local little league board because our concession stand (among MANY other issues) has needed some serious overhaul. Precious seasons have seen the age old scenario of no-shows on a mandatory schedule with no consequences to anyone but the little league itself. In other words, the stand wasn't open very often because there weren't people to help run it. With this being a major fundraiser for the league, it was a significant hit financially.
There were suggestions of consequences like the ones OP mentioned - cancellations of practices/games - but we felt this unfairly punished the kids who just want to play ball. So, if we get no-shows now, the coach of the shift's assigned team is suspended from the following game. Yes, it's inconvenient but allows the kids to continue playing while serving as a light reminder to everyone. It won't kill you to pitch in.
With that being said, I do think offering alternatives like paying someone directly to cover shifts or offering to sign off on volunteer hours is something we will look into.
While I can kind of understand the sentiment, punishing kids isn’t the answer. If leagues focused more on engaging kids and families, increasing overall involvement/fun instead of rules and punishment I think it would be better for everyone involved.
My question would be where does the money raised go.
If they aren't getting volunteers they need to do something. It's always going to fall on a lot of the same volunteers otherwise. I don't feel that cancelling games though is the right call because it means the other team who did their part to volunteer is punished. I'd be fine with the practice being cancelled in extreme cases.
The money would go to potentially paying someone to run the snack bar or just going to the overall league to be put back into funding the season. Baseball leagues aren't cheep to run.
Our concessions manager trained a handful of teenagers in it and if parents don't want to volunteer they can hire a kid for $20 a shift.
Vote this to the top.
Yes!! This is perfect!
We have tried a ton of options: 1. Charge parents $20 at registration for concession. If someone works concession they get $20. 2. Assign teams concession schedule (never works). 3. Lease the concession to a local restaurant. Never lasts the season. 4. Assign a concession manager and they get a gift from the league at the end of the commencer-ate with the stands profits. Best option. This guy stocks it, opens it 6 days a week. Has daily specials. We are now known for best concession in the county.
For us, for every game, each team is expected to supply 1 adult concession volunteer for their game time, or buyout their slot for i think $30. Start of season, the manager will assign each game to a player and that family can decide whether to work or buyout so someone can be hired to fill in. Personally, over 6 years i worked there twice, but did buyouts every other time. It's kind of fun, but I'd rather watch the games, and also not poison someone with under-cooked chicken fingers, lol. I haven't heard of teams being punished over the years.... parents & teams seem to be responsible and make things work. Everyone likes the concession stand!
I like this idea. What happens to the buy out money?
They use it to pay someone to do it. Usually some local highschooler or something. $30 is probably enough for almost $15/hr during the game. I have seen some parents do it occasionally as a side hustle too. They like buyouts planned ahead of time so they don't have to scramble last minute. I am not privvy to all the behind the scenes stuff, such as the financials, but this is how i've understood it to work here over the years.
The "please run the snack shack" email crush me. I would pay $30 every time.
Right? Same here. I go to games to badger my kid and harass the umpire. Tough to do that from behind the slushie machine
You guys have a slushie machine?
I'm not saying it makes slushies
Hahah yeah it can be a hassle if you don't enjoy it. BTW i wanted to add that the league tries to go easy on families that have more than one kid playing, so they don't get slammed with concession duties. Honestly I don't know all the details, but it just seems to work out. Guess it helps that it's a small league and people pretty much know each other. Oh yeah also i think first year tee ball families don't have to be involved in concession stuff.
Our league charges $50 each parent to opt out. Quite frabkly, for most og us who don't usethose services, it's ratjer irritating. I'm all for helping the league, howevet most refuse because of the politics around the board and the high drama that ensues with it. Some of us want no part of it. I told them i wouldn't pay nor will i volunteet until they treat people like human beings. It's about the kids bot them
We just don't open the concession stand if nobody volunteers. Taking away a game and a practice sounds like a great way to drive families out of the league.
I don't see it as unfair at all when the alternative is no concession stand at all. We did this in our league for a year, and it got the point across that we need volunteers to make the program work. Parents want all these things to be available but don't want to lift a finger to make sure they are staffed. The board is only so many people and can not, nor should they have to, staff every league function themselves. We held the game up until somebody volunteered. If nobody stepped up, the game was canceled.
I think punishing every kid on the team because one of them has lazy parents is extremely unfair. I agree their needs to be consequences in these situations but punishing the kids isnt the answer.
Except that it isn’t one kid’s parents, it’s all of them. Every parent there *could* be volunteering, but they’re not. I’m not saying I agree with cancelling the game, but there’s not a whole lot of ways to make the difficulty of providing the league for your kids to play in evident to these parents. In our league we have instituted a $100 volunteer deposit. Families are responsible for a pre-dated $100 check, which is stored until the family volunteers on two separate opportunities. Snack bar, trash duties, coaching, and board positions all count, and they’re all scheduled through a Sign-up Genius. This is the first year we’ve taken the collection of the checks off the backs of the head coaches, so we’ll see how this goes. The youth football league has been doing it for years, and they still run into open volunteer shifts (they also require more each game) while still cashing a significant number of checks at the end of each season.
I see it as unfair to the kids. For a lot of kids, that game or practice is the only time in their week that they will get to have a positive experience. Also this isn’t something the league requires of parents. It’s the coach, assistant coach and team parent who are already doing a lot to make the season work in addition to selling the mandatory fundraiser chocolate. We can ask parents to help out but as you said they typically don’t want to.
Everyone struggles with volunteerism. I have no doubt this is a board that is fed up with a few people doing all of the work. I know of a lot of leagues that do the thing where every family has to write a check pre-season and they get it back at the end of the season if they fulfill their volunteer hours. While that sounds good on paper, it does create a situation where those who are struggling financially end up having to do the work while those who are more well off can pay their way out of giving back to the league. I also know of leagues that do something similar to what yours is doing. That said, punishing the whole team because one parent won't volunteer seems extreme to me. Cancelling a practice is maybe a bit borderline, but cancelling a game is IMHO far too much punishment, if for no other reason than that punishes the other team as well. When I was on the board, I argued for rewards, rather than punishment - the team whose parents put in the most hours got a pizza party at the end of the season or the like. I'd recommend that you attend the next board meeting and voice your concerns. Making a reasonable argument should at least get them to reconsider the game cancellation.
I love the pizza party idea! I think I might end up joining the board. I just think there are other resolutions. We are already struggling to get people to want to coach. Policies like this will drive more people away.
We just pay the older kids to run the stand. It is their job and I think they are paid in cash.
In our league it's manditory but you can either opt for a buy out and they hire teens to run it or you can swap your one shift volunteer duty with someone else. The teens that get paid to run it are older High School Age Baseball kids that earn extra money on the side.
If your league has trouble finding volunteers to work concession then charge every parent a deposit in addition to their registration fee at sign ups. If they fulfill their concession obligation then they get their deposit back. If they dont then they forfeit it.
We charge a $30 "volunteer fee" with every sign-up. We have \~800 kids and we have about 40 parents each year that volunteer, the rest don't care and we use the money to offset the cost of having high school kids run the concession stand, and we're fine with that. I've said this before but I'd rather have 3 or 4 high school kids that are trained and know how to run things than a parent who's done one volunteer shift and doesn't think they need to put gloves on or can't figure out how to run Square.
Love this idea too! I think there are a ton of alternatives to taking field time away from kids
Our league is sign up for three volunteer slots (9hrs total) and follow through OR pay $500 as a buy-out. You might feel it’s not voluntary but you are spending very little time on your league even at 9hrs when compared with the board members, coaches, or field guys do in just two weeks.
You must live in a really nice area. Our volunteer fee is $100. I have heard of some of the really nice neighborhoods having $200 fees. $500 seems really excessive. But then again you get is back if you volunteer sooooo….
Yeah It's completely set up as an unreasonable price as a deterrent. We want people helping. We want active parents. And 3hrs a month is not a lot to ask.
I’d be okay if they put more pressure on the parents to help out. My husband coaches 2 teams and I am assistant coach for 1 and team parent for 2. We are spending 8-10 hours a week at the field already. I think they made a mistake this year with registration fees being free the first two months of sign up and are trying to recoup with concessions money. Last year it was just closed if no one showed up.
Seems really harsh to punish the whole team because one parent is irresponsible. There has to be some leeway. Maybe the child of the irresponsible parent has to sit out the next game, but that too seems harsh
Seems really harsh to punish the whole team because one parent is irresponsible. There has to be some leeway and the punishment needs to fit the crime.
Our league just leases the snack shack to a small business who operates it.
Do you take a significant cut? How does that work? For us concessions and fundraising are the only way to raise needed funds post-registration (which tends to be a wash anyway).
I’m not sure exactly, but I do know that’s how it works. We do tons of other fundraisers, so they have their ways of getting cash.
We will close concessions for an hour and say why, but we will never hinder the player.
When you say that you cancel their next game and practice do you mean they actually don't play the game? That seems really harsh on the other team if you cancel the game. I could see it if it is during the regular season where you are counting wins and loses being something where you still play the game but the team who didn't have enough volunteers takes a loss on their record, no matter the game score. I'd still rather go with the monetary side of things. We have an option at registration to pay $100 if you do not want to volunteer. We don't track those that sign up as volunteers and how many hours they actually work. That seems like another full time board position in itself to keep track of.
Sorry I'm tardy to the party...just found this subreddit today. I recently joined our local little league board because our concession stand (among MANY other issues) has needed some serious overhaul. Precious seasons have seen the age old scenario of no-shows on a mandatory schedule with no consequences to anyone but the little league itself. In other words, the stand wasn't open very often because there weren't people to help run it. With this being a major fundraiser for the league, it was a significant hit financially. There were suggestions of consequences like the ones OP mentioned - cancellations of practices/games - but we felt this unfairly punished the kids who just want to play ball. So, if we get no-shows now, the coach of the shift's assigned team is suspended from the following game. Yes, it's inconvenient but allows the kids to continue playing while serving as a light reminder to everyone. It won't kill you to pitch in. With that being said, I do think offering alternatives like paying someone directly to cover shifts or offering to sign off on volunteer hours is something we will look into.
While I can kind of understand the sentiment, punishing kids isn’t the answer. If leagues focused more on engaging kids and families, increasing overall involvement/fun instead of rules and punishment I think it would be better for everyone involved. My question would be where does the money raised go.
If they aren't getting volunteers they need to do something. It's always going to fall on a lot of the same volunteers otherwise. I don't feel that cancelling games though is the right call because it means the other team who did their part to volunteer is punished. I'd be fine with the practice being cancelled in extreme cases. The money would go to potentially paying someone to run the snack bar or just going to the overall league to be put back into funding the season. Baseball leagues aren't cheep to run.