Our goal with WAKA is to create an environment where people engage with each other, be active, and have a great time. Basically, we care if you have fun or not. I promise you all that I will always be honest and transparent with you all because it doesn’t really make sense not to be. So, with that in mind, I'd like to share some survey info with you all.
First of all, thank you to everyone who took the time to take the survey. We had 21 responses. Of the 21 responses, only 19.05% of them said they were ‘extremely satisfied’ with the experience. And while, no one rated their experience below a 5, it’s clear we have some work to do. We’re not content with having people be down the middle. We want people to be amped up about WAKA and kickball.
Let’s look at some of the anonymous comments and discuss the feedback. In some cases, I will share what we will do to make it better. In other cases, I will clarify why we make the decisions we do.
I enjoy the party more when there are other beverages besides beer available.
For our parties, we generally purchase kegs because we find that we get the most value out of them. More drinks for the money spent. However, understanding that some people don’t prefer beer, we will definitely look at alternatives for one of the parties this season. Whether it is drink tickets, tabs, etc. If we can find something comparable that we can stretch the dollar for, we can make that happen. We hear you, non-beer drinkers!
It would be nice to have a double header scheduled each week. If the players are available on a certain date, they usually are available for both games. Sometime one game only takes 30 minutes, and it would be nice to play for little longer every time players gather.
We always schedule as many games as possible, but due to time and field restraints, we can’t go with double headers each week. I can suggest that when you have a game that lasts only 30 minutes, there is nothing that would prevent both teams from continuing to play for fun until it’s time for the next scheduled match. We have the fields, bases, and balls. Why not?
I would like to see more social participation from the WAKA team/staff. I know there are many competing demands but it was rare they would make it to the bar afterwards and it's hard to get our team members to buy in when there aren't other folks present. This is just one way to have a guaranteed crowd. Also, personally, I don't think that everything has to have a theme..Can't we just have a midseason party without the requirement to dress up? Overall, I think it was a great season and I hope the league is able to continue in Williamsburg with some of the same processes, particularly the modified bunting rule.
I apologize personally for my lack of attendance at Brickhouse. I definitely wasn’t present as often as I’d have liked to have been. I just had a baby in February and I live in Newport News so it was tough for me to make it out. Which sucked! When I did make it Brickhouse, it was a lot of fun, even if I did suck at trivia.
Themes are something that are always optional and never required. Some people (Fagel) LOVE themes. Others don’t particularly care for them. While participation is encouraged, if you don’t want to, no one is going to kick you out of the party. J
We will plan on keeping the modified bunting rule, unless the captains decide otherwise. I get the sense from talking with them that they are on board #RealMenDontBunt
No different than the WAAR league. Could easily go back there and play the same game for cheaper. Need big improvements to make this league different. Stephanie did a good job running the league generally, but much more attention and promoting is needed to make this league stick.
I think this is a concerning comment. We realize that our price is $13 more expensive than WAAR was. Our goal is to provide way more value than that through the customer service, parties, social events, etc. With anything in life, you’re going to get out of it what you put into it. If you just want to come, play a game of kickball, and go home each week then you’re probably going to have a good time. But to truly get the full experience, be sure to connect with not only teammates but with opponents too. Build relationships and be engaged. Part of that is letting us know when you see opportunities to improve too. Not just on the survey, but throughout the season. Stephanie and I aren’t just open to feedback. We yearn for it!
Tournaments should not be on a weeknight due to darkness! It's sad when you can't even finish your championship game due to park lights going off.
As for the "championship" game - how can a trophy or tilte be awarded when the game was not finished? There should have been a request ahead of time for the lights to be on later than normal. What if the game went in overtime?
I absolutely take the ownership for this. There was a miscommunication with the city and we thought we had until 10 PM. Turns out it was only until 9:45 PM. I feel very badly about the mix-up. For the Fall season, we will host the playoffs on two consecutive Wednesdays to ensure we have plenty of time. Unless we get 8 or more teams. In that case, we will host the playoff tournament on Saturday, November 5th.
I won't play again with volunteer refs! After hearing someone say they didn't call an out because it helped my team I was very disappointed. An out is an out and the call should be made no matter what team is on the field.
If we are paying all this money, umpires/referees should be provided.
It would be really great if we could get paid refs.
Ah, reffing. You didn’t think I would dodge this question, did you? I understand this concern. When I started playing back in 2005 (I’m old), I had the exact concern. But after getting some experience and confidence reffing, and as the leagues progressed, it became less of a concern.
As I understand it, many people came from a league that had paid refs, but the quality was so poor that it was a dissatisfier. The reason being is that there frankly isn’t a large pool of adult kickball refs out there available to hire. It’s not like softball, flag football, or soccer where there are professional umpiring associations. In reality, the best kickball refs are the ones playing the game. So instead of paying money to crappy umps, we spend that money on parties.
Another reason we do player refs is that it increases the social interaction. If you’re reffing a team, then you’re sticking around to watch a game that you might otherwise not. You get to meet more people and the interactions are generally more cordial. It’s harder to yell at someone you know and will see each week than a random contractor.
Now that isn’t to say that there aren’t real opportunities with the process. I think we can do a much better job of preparing our volunteers and making people feel more comfortable behind the plate. I think the league has a lot of very good refs (Drew, Steve, Scott, and Erin are a few that pop out as ones that I thought did a good job reffing RPF games) but it isn’t always consistent. This season we’re going to host a reffing clinic before the first games. We will ask that each team send representatives to learn. We’ll also be looking for ways to recognize refs who do a great job and step up. I think we can also do some educational stuff throughout the season too. Maybe a weekly rules discussion or tips in the Facebook page would be helpful. Certainly, we are open to suggestions. If you’re interested in helping out then please reach out to Stephanie. Together, we can all improve this area.
Overall I enjoyed the league. However, having to play the 5 o'clockers is a nightmare and incredibly stressful. A number of girls in the league have been injured or nearly injured when the 5oc players slam into them or slide into their legs with cleats. I've had to dodge cleats myself. At the playoffs I spoke to several women on other teams who have had the same experience and after each incident the 5oc team members shouted the same basic thing "Shouldn't have been standing in the baseline!" "You deserve it for standing in the baseline!" Etc. as if that justifies their actions (which I believe they sometimes do purposefully from overhearing their sideline conversations while playing third base)
First off, I will say that unsportsmanlike conduct is absolutely not tolerated. We even removed a person from the league early in the season for tripping a player intentionally.
With that said, I personally didn’t witness the 5 O’Clockers (or any other team) intentionally try to hurt someone. Do they play hard? No question. Sometimes, there are collisions that happen, and it’s unavoidable. I think where the breakdown comes is that there isn’t a connection with each other, so it’s easy to look at the 5OC as ‘the enemy’ and mistrust their motives. Many members of the Clockers began playing in Hampton several years ago, so I’ve come to know them well. Jeffrey and Kristen Pauley were guests at my wedding (4 years ago today!). I only share this to say that I know them and their character and can testify that they aren’t out there intentionally looking to cripple girls on the other teams!
What I want to do is challenge the Clockers and everyone else to get to know each other. Reach across the ‘enemy lines’ and chat about the games over a few beers at Brickhouse or on the Facebook page. Get to know each other and I'm sure hearts will change.
Let’s end it on a positive note.
I have been playing kickball in the Williamsburg and Newport News area since 2008, with all of my previous seasons with WAAR. Both leagues promise the same things. A specific number of games, mid and end of season parties,...etc. However, based on my experience after 1 season in this league, only WAKA delivers. Stephanie and Brent handled the league as 2 professionals, while managing to never lose sight of the the true "social league" aspect. I now know why WAKA continues to flourish every year. I look forward to many seasons of WAKA. Along with new teammates, and friends.
I LOVE reading comments like this one. Our goal is to strive to make more players feel this way after the fall season, so PLEASE be sure to continue sharing your feedback. Be engaged on social media. Don’t be afraid to make suggestions. This is YOUR league and your help is needed to make it the league you love to look forward to Wednesdays for!
Thank you all for a great first season and here’s to an even better second one.
(Don’t forget to sign up at kickball.com/vaadmiral)
Yours in kickball,
Brent
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