Buying players,What it does for teams,players,parents

[okiedad1961]

How has this affeted your team? Speaking of this as when players offered no fees to play for them.Have been offered this ourselves but declined due to quality of team.

 

[HITTER23]

I have had the opposite in the past happen where the parent has said "oh, we wont pay fees, we'll just fill in every week somewhere. "

 

[okiedad1961]

I have had the opposite in the past happen where the parent has said "oh, we wont pay fees, we'll just fill in every week somewhere. "[/QUOTEThat sounds like a rental , not a purchase.

 

[Bekah24]

I have had the opposite in the past happen where the parent has said "oh, we wont pay fees, we'll just fill in every week somewhere. "

I don't get this mentality. Part of the great experience of playing travel ball is developing relationships! If you are just a sub for a bunch of different teams you will lose some of the biggest life lessons softball gives. Learning how to be a good teammate! Playing not just for yourself, but for your team!

 

[okiedad1961]

These would be some of my thoughts
As a parent
1.On the receiving end,This player better bring it since we're covering her ride.
2.I'm hoping theses parents haven't let this go to there head and are premidonas
3.Wonder when thell leave for the next better deal

 

[SOFTBALLS14]

But the biggest Question is..... Are we violating any NCAA reg. with paying for that player ??. .....Better know the NCAA rules! Just be careful! Is all I'm saying..

 

[Captain_Thunder]

But the biggest Question is..... Are we violating any NCAA reg. with paying for that player ??. .....Better know the NCAA rules! Just be careful! Is all I'm saying..

I think it violates 501c3 policy..........

 

[snoman76]

How would offering a player to play on your team for free violate anything? Maybe if there were a governing body that regulated what ALL organizations did and set guidelines for all to follow then possibly there may an issue but I can't see where there are any problems with that...... other than the other families finding out and you not having a team any more..

 

[coachjwb]

Oversimplification but essentially you're OK as long as you're only covering costs and not "paying" anything and above ...

 

[init4all]

Sometimes coaches get Desperate and start to scramble ...like if you lose your entire pitching staff,#1 catcher and short stop, they get Desperate and do whatever it takes to win again..... The families that were on the team before will over look it because they want to win as well.
When winning comes into play Morals go out the window....

 

[CARDS]

I remember at 16U we had a player join our team after having a solid tryout. She was a very strong pitcher and we all thought she would make our curret staff stronger.
That fall we had a strong fall showcase schedule and won a fall state so everyone was excited going into winter.

In early January mom called me to say they had an offer from another organization for her DD to come and pitch for them with all their summer expenses including lodging at a couple major events would be paid.

I asked her what happened to the commitment you made to us in August? Mom said they have never had an offer like this before and did not want to pass it up but liked our parents, team schedule and the quality of players and coaching so they would prefer to stay if we would match the offer.

Since the player in question was one of the top pitchers available I said let me talk to the other parents and get their feedback since these parents would need to pay your expenses.
100% of players and parents said let them go. Mom was shocked when I called her back and said good luck but the decision was no.

They ended up taking the offer from the other club and as luck would have it we played team X the second game of ASA States in June.
Needless to say our ladies were fired up and ready to play. The ball must have looked like a pumpkin as we won a run rule game and had the same success that summer as we did in the fall without her.
As things go parents talk...After the contest several of team X parens were surprised to find out they paid additional fees to cover the fees of the player in question.
This I think, is more of an issue than a parent asking to have fees paid than where a coach keeping there parents in the dark about side deals...

 

[okiedad1961]

Good post Cards ,Wonder if bigger orgs build in the cost of this just in case?So they have it covered so they don't have to tell us parents.

 

[Grammysoftball]

IMO the only time any team should pick up the fees is in a case of hardship. There are families out there whose dd loves the sport and is a good player, but they just can't afford to pay the fees some teams require. I have no problem with a team that picks up the team fee to help out, but the family still has to provide travel expenses for this player. I do not however support paying fees and travel monies just to pick up a talented player so a team can have an advantage. This is still travel ball, not college ball where scholarship monies (or what ever they are called) come into play. CARDS, good for your team to choose not to match that offer.

 

[KillingMeSmalls]

I think the OHSAA would take great interest in this if brought to their attention. If the players fees were published and you offered a select player a free spot you are getting into a grey area. Perhaps it could fall under sponsorship for expenses only, but I don't think sponsorship can come from the organization. It would be interesting to know their position on a situation like this.

 

[Softball Dad]

The NCAA eligibility questionnaire has questions about on it that pertain to this so if the questionnaire is completed honestly or if an upset parent who paid your fees drops a dime you might have a problem if DD makes it to the college level.

We had a player brought on for free last summer and it killed the chemistry of the team.

 

[DougL]

I think it violates 501c3 policy..........

It does, a 501 org has to have a 'base fee' that everyone must pay, we call it the player participation fee - it has to be applied evenly to all players in the organization and have a defined list of items that the player receives for it. ie, Insurance, uniforms, helmet, org operating expenses etc.

 

[FastBat]

Sometimes coaches get Desperate and start to scramble...

I agree, but think it's almost desperate on both sides.

 

[CARDS]

Good post Cards ,Wonder if bigger orgs build in the cost of this just in case?So they have it covered so they don't have to tell us parents.

The situation I was talking about happened in 2009 so not much has changed over the past 5/6 years.
We had 7 teams in our organization that year and each team pretty much did their own thing as far as schedule and fees.

I do know of organizations that have had a flat fee from 10 to 18U.
The organization provided uniforms, insurance, tournament schedule and practice facilities.
Parents / coaches bought equipment and spirit wear through a central vendor that had connections with the organization.
The 10s/12s/14s pretty much got hand me down uniforms but the cost was kept low and we played in good events. That was back in 2005…
Since there is a lot more cash involved in the game in all areas now I would bet today’s clubs have a slush fund that could be tapped into for families that fall on hardship or to get that needed piece of the puzzle.

 

[SonicMojo]

I think it violates 501c3 policy..........

It does, a 501 org has to have a 'base fee' that everyone must pay, we call it the player participation fee - it has to be applied evenly to all players in the organization and have a defined list of items that the player receives for it. ie, Insurance, uniforms, helmet, org operating expenses etc.

This is not true at all. Ignoring the fact that there are many organizations which claim to be 501(c)(3) organizations that actually aren't (it's easy to check, by the way -- go here to search: http://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/ -- you might be surprised by who's fibbing), there is absolutely nothing wrong with a 501(c)(3) organization allowing a player to participate without the payment of fees. In fact, that's exactly the type of thing that's consistent with the stated exempt purpose of many of the legitimate organizations. Potential NCAA ramifications, of course, are a completely different story.