Draft Days

Our draft days are coming up, girls this week, boys next week. The draft is when the managers pick their team. Some age groups don’t draft because there are only enough players to make one team. That means players are stuck with one manager and that manager is stuck with those players. In most divisions there are several teams. After the managers are chosen, they are required to come to the draft and pick their team. While I have them as a captive audience, I first hit them with all the BBA events and activities they have to help promote. This year, they will also be hit over the head with Safety Issues and programs. After some research, I have found that there is an enormous amount of information available about safety. Not only basic first aid but there is also information on how to prevent injuries and dealing with health issues. Our goal this year is to have our managers updated on important safety issues. You will also hear more about this later.

Now, on to the drafting. Each manager has his or her own style and strategies when picking a team. As a manager for many, many years I can tell you some of the variables.
- Pick the best available player at all costs.
- Pick the kids who behave and are team players.
- Pick the kids with the best, most cooperative parents.
- Pick the kids whose parents request you.
- Pick your kid’s friends to make him/her happy.
The opposite holds true on the strategies of not picking certain kids. There are probably also variables I fail to mention because I want to believe our managers focus on what is right and fair. The priority of these variables is at the discretion of the manager based on his/her personality and goals for the season.

Shortly after the draft is over, the managers make the calls and the kids start talking in school, I start getting the phone calls. I will be right up front and say that my patience on getting phone calls from parents not happy about who drafted their child is very, very, very low. We specify on the registration form that we do not guarantee that one’s child will be placed on the team he/she wants. That means making new friends and learning to get along with others will be valuable lessons learned for the year. It is also called growing up.

I hope this year I do not get many calls and parents give their managers a chance. We have very good managers who I believe have the team’s best interest in mind. This is a team sport and children need to learn how to be a contributing part of a team. And when I do get a call from an unhappy parent, I pray for God to give me enough patience to explain why we will not assist in the spoiling of a child, but we will assist in teaching the child about teamwork.