Team management

It’s always a nightmare managing a team for adult leagues. After doing it twice in the past, I said I would never do it again. Yet here I stand experiencing many of the same problems. At least this time I have a partner in the process. Troy and I are making a good team for running this thing, even if it is frustrating at times.

The frustration comes from the lack of communication and the lack of responsibility by some players. I have no problem with people being out for vacations and sickness and what not. What gets under my skin is when you don’t hear anything and 4-5 players just don’t show up. We played with 11 players yesterday and 12 the Sunday before. We couldn’t pull enough of our own players for a mid-week scrimmage last week and had to borrow some stand-ins just to play. Two players actually told us they would be there yesterday and then were nowhere to be found. This all comes from a team roster of 21 players.

The good news is that money has been almost a non-issue. In the past I stupidly paid the team fee up front and tried to collect money after the fact. Let me tell you something, that doesn’t work. This time we had enough money to pay the team fee and get jerseys. Problem is I have overage I need to return, but can’t fully because there are a couple more players to collect money from. At least I’m not the only one out of pocket on this one. In the summers past I was out a couple hundred bucks each time – part of the reason I said never again.

When we do play and I am able to enjoy it, it’s great. I had a couple good looks yesterday and it’s exciting to be a part of it. I had one shot from about 22 yards out that went inches over the crossbar. A second great opportunity came from some passing with Franz. I made a looping run after passing him the ball and he played a ball over the defense, into space, for me to run on to for a chance (one-on-one with the keeper). I was a step or two too slow and the goalie rushed out to knock it away at the last second. So close! We would have had many more of those if I was in better shape and we had some substitutes. I’m hoping for better turn out and better results this coming week before the one week holiday break. We’ll see.