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| WAKA makes me happy. |
- We have zero ambition to create a "social sports empire". We have no full-time staff because this was always meant to be something we did for fun after our normal (boring) work was done for the day. We simply want to bring the joy and fun of adult kickball to as many people as possible in our local area.
This was one of the reasons listed for why you should play in their leagues. Set aside the hypocrisy of claiming you have 'zero ambition to create a social sports empire' while rapidly expanding each season. The part that I found weird was the knock against WAKA employing full time staff. That struck me as counter intuitive. Why wouldn't you want to play for a league that has the support of someone full time?
As many of you know, I was recently hired by WAKA as a full time Market Sales Manager. Previously I'd been volunteering and working for WAKA for over 7 years while working full time for a large bank. During this period of time, I've made many great friendships, shared countless memories, and even met the love of my life, Dottie. We'll be expecting our first child, a baby boy, on February 20th of this year. Everyday, I am thankful to WAKA for helping bring us together, because if it wasn't for these leagues, we'd have never met. WAKA has given me way more than I could ever repay.
This is what drives me. Not only do I want to continue giving back to an organization that has given me so much, but I find it incredibly fulfilling to see other people brought together, playing sports, having fun, being happy. Being a full time employee of WAKA allows me to devote much more energy in achieving that.
Put all that aside though. Even if I wasn't as passionate about WAKA as I am, it's now my career. My scorecard is based on growth, customer service scores, and retention. Which means that I'm focused on supporting our amazing community coordinators and ensuring our leagues continue to have the absolute best customer service and experience possible. My new family depends on this, so I will work my hardest to achieve these goals.
Can someone tell me why this is a negative?
Brent, I hadn't ever read that on the other league's site. It does sound self righteous and is a bit hypocritical given the size of said league. As someone who plays on both sides of the water, there are good qualities about both leagues, but the thing they self agrandize about is one of the best parts about VA Penninsula, and WAKA in general. There is a level of proffessionalism and organization that I appreciate and respect. I have only been back for one season but everything operates amootgly, the tournament was well run, and the add ons like GMOT are icing on the cake. 3Up-3Down and other "social" aspects make this a great league and the fact there are open practices speak to the community.
ReplyDeleteKeep doing what you're doing. The quality of the league and the organization behind it is a selling point in my mind.
Blackwell! Thanks for the kind words. I'm so hyped that you came up last season. Really loved catching up with you on Wednesdays.
ReplyDeleteI definitely am not knocking them for what they do. I just read through that page and shook my head at a few items. They definitely engage in more negative marketing of their competitors than I would. But I guess it's been working for them. To each their own.