2019 Survey Results

• 75 responses
• For brevity and privacy issues, comments have been communicated as “common themes.”

COMMENTS:

• None

COMMENTS:

• None

COMMENTS:

• None

COMMENTS:

• REGISTRATION PROCESS

  • A lot more details this year. I liked how it helped me determine my player's age and fees.
  • One suggestion I have is to put at least 2 girls on each t-ball team. My daughter was the only girl on our team, and this was the only part she didn't like. She would visit each girl on the other team on the bases.
  • Quick and easy.
  • Good communication. Teamsnap makes communication very easy.

• WEBSITE

  • A great improvement to the website. I especially like the diamond maps and the overall organization of the site. I've used the search tool to find information as well.
  • Excellent changes this year on the website easy to navigate, finally able to use my phone!
  • It would be nice to have the schedule, scores and standings on the NWLL website. [Webmaster - this was available for the 2019 season]
  • I wish there was better visibility of players playing on multiple teams (spring team + interlock) and more accountability around pitch count tracking across those teams.

COMMENTS:

• None

COMMENTS:

• Very well done. Using an app on the phone seemed to make things a lot faster and organized.
• Too many evaluations. One would be sufficient, especially since many kids have played for years and the coaches know them and how they play.
• I still think it's too easy for coaches to stack teams. So ridiculous to stack a team for your child, ruins it for everyone else.
• I would have preferred if we had a j1 and j2 team.
• My concern is with consistency. Especially in the hitting evaluations. It would have been more consistent to have one of the Jr Dinos or Absolute staff do the pitching for the drill so that all kids could have the same quality and opportunity for success or at the very least accurate info for coaches.
• I would like to know what goes into the evaluations on how they score each child, is there a way to publish that?
• My minor player was too nervous to participate in evaluations.
• There is something lacking in the process... always 1 or 2 teams much more dominant...
• Great improvements.
• I think it’s hard to create balanced teams due to coaching bias towards players they know.
• Always very difficult, but the coaches did very well.

COMMENTS:

• My son fell outside of the normal sizes so it did take some time to get him a large enough size.
• We still have his shirt I thought we keep it.
• It was better this year having the coach collect them and picking up at the first practice.
• I liked the fact that it was one person picking up the uniform set for the team. However, it was slightly frustrating that it wasn’t communicated until the Manager’s meeting what day pick up would be and that it fell on the long weekend. Also, that left the managers only a few days to collect cheques from the entire team so that uniforms could be collected.
• The only feedback would be that drop off of uniforms took place closer to season end. As a manager who had summer vacation plans dropping off in July wasn't successful.
• It was very unorganized and I was not allowed to pick up his jersey despite going there to pay the money for it. The first year was way better with showing up to the field and picking it up.
• It seemed like it all fell to managers. Our poor manager had to run around collecting cheques before we even met as a team. It put a lot of stress on her when parents did not supply their cheques.
• Uniforms were just dropped off at our first practice. Need size L/XL for coaches.
• It was much easier this year having the coach/manager be in charge of all of them rather than trying to sort a time for pick up that worked with both the uniform coordinator and myself.

COMMENTS:

• I know the team the best they could with communication-based on the poor level of communication for Little League Alberta. AA appeared to be a second thought for Little League Alberta.
• We found out way too late when we had to travel. Can they not schedule the whole summer? We played the same teams over and over and never played a few teams.
• I don't think it's any secret that communication regarding summer programs is terrible and we are all aware that it is an LLAB issue, which directly impacts schedule and planning.
• My player loved playing All-Star baseball. The coaches and team were excellent! It was Little League Alberta we had issues with. Terrible scheduling and communication.
• Our player did not play summer baseball but did play majors interlock. Majors interlock should be an option on its own, as in other leagues in Calgary. The higher level of baseball will satisfy the kids who want better competition but do not want to commit to the summer.
• The level of travel expected and then not being able to confirm your hotel rooms since the schedule was not finalized, that is stressful. If LL Alberta is not going to have competent people scheduling, they really need to do a better job finding someone who can.
• The location of tournaments could be released sooner especially when out of town.
• We found the schedules being released very late, in addition to the many last-minute game changes, pretty frustrating comparatively to our past 3 years of Summer Ball.
• The lack of visibility into the schedule is very frustrating. Families are putting their summers on hold for baseball, and don’t know until days before where the weekend tournaments will be. If a league is entering a team, they should be required to host a tournament. From there, why is it so difficult to put a schedule together?
• We know LLA is extremely unorganized, we are well aware of that issue. I don't think people mind travelling for summer, just not with minimal notice.
• The biggest disappointment would be the number of times we mercied other teams in 4 innings and the missed opportunities to both play more innings and play “weaker” players more.

COMMENTS:

• "Great job" x4
• Proven umpires should be used for playoffs
• Coaches were pressuring umpires to change calls (X 2)
• New/younger umps should have an adult pared with them to build confidence

COMMENTS:

• The Team Manager did not complete tasks or requests. Parents on the team were not committed and refused to participate Spent most of my time with 4 or fewer players for half the season and practices were constant no shows.
• The diamonds need attention halfway through bases still weren’t repaired. The overall appearance of the diamonds wasn’t good. Is their not someone responsible for diamond maintenance?
• I am picking no because there isn't an "I Don't Know" category. My reason for considering changing leagues is because I feel that as a league, the priority is the needs of the adults, not the players or the sports. The "goal or mission" of NWLL was/is to be the best Division in Calgary, and as they continue to lose players of all skill level, there is a question as to whether there is still a long term commitment?
• Intermediate did not fulfill the level of competition that my player needed. The range in levels was so diverse, and as one of the top players at this level, it was frustrating for him. Also not happy how district 3 cancelled playoffs.
• I think NWLL really needs to consider when or even if to follow the Little League Age Rule for up to Minors and Majors for that matter. If this is a community association and the point is on skill development and to have fun where kids can play with their friends then we should really look at following the same Age Rules we have in Canada that align with our school system NOT the United States.
• I could not register my youngest to play Tball this year even though he is actually basically now ready for Coach pitch (His birthday is Dec 2014). I will be looking for a league that both of my kids can play Coach pitch.
• Honestly, in September, we are not sure. It was only a marginally successful year this year and our kids were not as excited to play as they have been in the past.
• One of my boys will play, he had a great experience. The other one had a very competitive coach that never let him pitch and only played him infield a handful of times all season. It was not fun and he likely will quit. He was in minors where development should be happening for all aspects of the game.
• Unsure of plans for next Summer in regards to ball...might be dependant on where we are in Spring. But regardless of where we end up next Summer, we really enjoyed our Summer with NWLL because of the Coaching and training we received.
• We will play coach pitch again for our youngest son. Our oldest stopped playing this year as he lost interest in the spring season. Found it tough to play with players that have never played before. Maybe in the future, the league would look at a tier system. Experienced and inexperienced so the kids can compete with others at their level like summer ball.
• Comment on volunteering - we volunteer a lot for the team and there are some parents who refuse to volunteer making it difficult for other parents to enjoy watching the games. Their cheques may be cashed but it’s not fair to the other parents to have to take on the extra work. Perhaps the volunteer cheques cashed can be used to pay kids to do field set up or takedown.