Problems with league schedule

[twolinepass 0]

I run a team and the league that we play on is suppose to have the majority of the games Sun-Wed. This is stated in the description of the league, looking back at schedules from past seasons this holds true. Problem is that of our first 9 games (two pre-season + 7 reg) have been on or scheduled on Saturday. Two of the players travel a lot on the weekends but would be able to make Sunday evening games but now they keep missing games because they are all on Saturday.

They have made comments about how they wasted money, might not be able to play etc..

What should I do?

[althoma1 574]

I run a team and the league that we play on is suppose to have the majority of the games Sun-Wed. This is stated in the description of the league, looking back at schedules from past seasons this holds true. Problem is that of our first 9 games (two pre-season + 7 reg) have been on or scheduled on Saturday. Two of the players travel a lot on the weekends but would be able to make Sunday evening games but now they keep missing games because they are all on Saturday.

They have made comments about how they wasted money, might not be able to play etc..

What should I do?

Talk to the guy that's managing the league. If your team and players were told most games would be Sun-Wed and most are being scheduled on Saturdays I can understand why the players would be upset. When you have to plan around other events and possibly share cars with other family members having a consistent schedule is important. The nights the games were played on probably played a part for many of them when they decided whether or not they could play.

Personally, I like to have games on the same night each week, that makes it easier to avoid conflicts with other commitments, so anytime between Sun-Wed is already pretty flexible. My Thursday night ice team switched rinks when one year when they gave us about 4 Monday night games (they also started renting out the prime time us and scheduled Thursday league games either very early or very late). Almost everyone on the team was already playing pickup on Monday nights and we'd paid for that in advance so we definitely didn't want Monday games. The guy who organizes the team did talk to the league convenor, but the problem really wasn't solved so we toughed it out for that season, looked into other options for the next season and then voted as a team on a new location.

[ibeck 38]

Ask the guys who travel if when they are able to play on saturday night.When you talk to the manager ask why he has scheduled you for the saturday night games. When he gives you an answer give him your explanation about guys will miss games but we can all be here for this saturday game. It's best to have a potential solution to the problem before you talk to the guy in charge.

[Chadd 916]

You need to talk to the league admin and work it out. It could just be coincidence that you're getting the saturday games, or they could be giving them to you because you haven't complained yet. Just talk to the admin and tell them you don't mind getting your share of those games, but players chose this league because the "majority" of the games would be Sun-Wed. Be polite, but firm and you should get a positive reaction.

[RadioGaGa 162]

No need for a new thread, but we have a similar beef in our Summer League. Not with the day we got...that is perfect. But, the League Admin promised us that after last year where it was a D/E split league in which we got our asses kicked every week that he would make it a true E dividion with teams made up of guys of our age/skill level.

Other than the one 20 year old on our team....I am the baby at 35. Everyone else is older. I think we've even got a few late 50's. The 3 teams we've played so far are made predominantly of 20-something that skate circles around us. We can handle losing...if it's close, but 6-2, 9-0 and 9-2 are not fun games to play. These are NOT "E" division teams!

Last week he said he was going ot split the top 4 teams into D and the bottom 4 into E. Now...he says there are no other teams "bad enough" to go down!

The team is ready to walk...and I doubt the League will offer any money back. I really don't want to lose my $300! I'm thinking of asking the Convenor to put me on another team if our guy does pull us out of the league.

[flaming_june 2]

Funny, because I remember reffing a high division game that was 26-1. The scorekeeper stopped putting up goals once it was 6-0. Some leagues are just ran poorly. A lot of times it's best just to walk away and find a new league. I know that may not be possible for some, so quitting or working it out with the admin would be the only options. Unfortunately, no league would give the money back. However for future reference, you can withhold payment for as long as possible and still play many games. So if you really feel like it's not worth it you can leave. There have been teams in the past who straight up don't pay, still play half the season or more. I remember a couple teams that got wasn't allowed to play playoffs for not paying league fees. Like I said, poorly managed.

[ktang 34]

No need for a new thread, but we have a similar beef in our Summer League. Not with the day we got...that is perfect. But, the League Admin promised us that after last year where it was a D/E split league in which we got our asses kicked every week that he would make it a true E dividion with teams made up of guys of our age/skill level.

Other than the one 20 year old on our team....I am the baby at 35. Everyone else is older. I think we've even got a few late 50's. The 3 teams we've played so far are made predominantly of 20-something that skate circles around us. We can handle losing...if it's close, but 6-2, 9-0 and 9-2 are not fun games to play. These are NOT "E" division teams!

Last week he said he was going ot split the top 4 teams into D and the bottom 4 into E. Now...he says there are no other teams "bad enough" to go down!

The team is ready to walk...and I doubt the League will offer any money back. I really don't want to lose my $300! I'm thinking of asking the Convenor to put me on another team if our guy does pull us out of the league.

Are there 3 other teams in your division that you can be competitive with / are old enough to have kids and grandkids? If so, maybe they just don't want to admit that they're basement teams. If that's the case, maybe if your Convenor names this division "D/E #2" instead of "E", and have occasional games with "D/E #1" crossover-style, the other 3 teams would be OK with it.

[iceNsteel 0]

You're going to have to talk to the league manager. Perhaps it's just an error that occurred. I know the local beer league uses software to generate the schedules, but the schedules need to be checked and tweaked still. End of the day the league made a representation by promising you the majority of your games Sun-Wed. They need to make good on that, or allow your team to drop out with a full refund. If they won't correct the schedule, or refund your team, I would suggest suing in small claims court.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

I have a similar problem (that resolved itself). I was told our games would all be on Saturdays. Turns out, all but one of our games are on Sundays. Sundays don't normally work for me because I'm usually travelling for a client I'm to meet with Monday morning. But I got lucky - I ended up being assigned to a gig for 12 months, and it's local. So no problems for me. Otherwise, I woulda been pissed!

[SouthpawTRK 1]

I would check with the director of hockey in the league you play in to see if things can be resolved; the days your team plays and the idea of refunds. Best of luck with this. Out of curiosity, what league are you playing in?

[RadioGaGa 162]

Are there 3 other teams in your division that you can be competitive with / are old enough to have kids and grandkids? If so, maybe they just don't want to admit that they're basement teams. If that's the case, maybe if your Convenor names this division "D/E #2" instead of "E", and have occasional games with "D/E #1" crossover-style, the other 3 teams would be OK with it.

We haven't played everyone yet. On paper...the team we play next week appears to be more our speed. We'll see.

[RadioGaGa 162]

So, we played a team that was very similar to us in skill, and we won 3-2. And, as it turns out...they are going to re-jig the Division and have a Top 4/D and a Bottom 4/E and we won't have to cross over any more. Hopefullly it helps the competitive balance for everyone...not just us.

[Chadd 916]

Just got the next couple weeks worth of schedule and through 10 games we will have played one team, four times. We then play them again a couple weeks later.