Nov 10 2008
Why I do it
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Long hours, no pay, lost weekends, the occasional irrate coach-in-your-face. Ahhh, you must be a baseball director! |
What does it take to be a BABA director? First of all, thick skin! You do get yelled at by folks that forget that you are a volunteer working for them. Second, a tireless desire to serve. BABA is highly focused on providing superior service to you, our customers. (We have to balance this service with our “real” jobs, so be patient if we don’t respond right away!) Third, a love of the game and knowledge of how it works within the Nations Baseball system. The rules can be confusing. We do our best to sort out the wheat from the chaff for you. Finally, a personal selfish reason. Mine is my son. I want him to have good tournaments and leagues to play in in our area—so I provide them.
A little history
When I started with BABA over three years ago, I just wanted to be a part of it. I was the Communications Director, and I worked on the website. About a year after I started, both the president and the treasurer/secretary just got too burned out and resigned, leaving BABA leaderless. They offered me the position of President, and I turned it down, knowing how much work it would be. They put the position out to the members of BABA, sending a few mass emails out and posting the position on the website. There were no takers.
So that was it then. It was take over the reins or watch BABA die. We had just finished refurbishing Bobby Beach to the tune of over $30,000. BABA tournament and league registrations were at an all-time high. Hundreds and hundreds of players from all over Texas and neighboring states were counting on BABA to bring them quality events at quality venues. I just couldn’t let that end.
What has come with the post? I’m now President, Secretary, and Treasurer of BABA. My first act in the job was to incorporate BABA and prepare the 501(c)(3) application documentation to secure BABA’s nonprofit status. I revamped the website, added a forum so that anyone can post commentary, and moved all of our books into QuickBooks, which I maintain. I recruited new directors to help me run BABA. Pat Farrell, Greg Ramsey, and John Serrano are the greatest assets this organization has! I, along with the other BABA directors, are also Nations Baseball directors. We direct tournaments and leagues, liason with umpires and field owners, and interface with team managers.
Are there ever times when I have regretted agreeing to head up BABA? Not really, no. There are times when the job is overwhelming along with the other things going on in my life, and I am definitely looking to a time in the future when I can resign and focus on other things, like maybe playing some golf every now and then. But one of the greatest pleasures I have is passing out trophies and seeing the smiles on the players’ faces when they get their hardware. And getting the occasional email from a coach or a parent telling me how much they appreciated the help or advice or enjoyed the tournament. Or after a tournament when I count how many players we served and realize that without us, that many players would not have been playing baseball that weekend—it is all worth it.
The opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not necessarily represent Bay Area Baseball Association’s opinion or position.
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