direct impact on their child.
You need to call them out! If you are the position of authority (and assume you are not them) you need to ask them to leave. If you are another volunteer or parent and notice their existence, step in!
There is a reoccurring theme here. In order to change our path with all the issues we have in minor hockey, we need to take action. Volunteer #3 is very destructive to the entire system. They are only allowed to exist in this environment because it is a volunteer position and not enough people are prepared to get involved. We need to start embracing the approach of having more people volunteer, and have each of them required to do less. We discussed this earlier – it’s so important that the right volunteers step up and get involved.
Whenever I have conversations about these types of volunteers, people get it. I would be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn't understand that volunteer-based organizations require dedicated people, all serving the cause and doing what is right to make sure that the best processes, the best scheduling, and the best rules and regulations are followed. We have this selfless group of individuals called volunteers that are serving their community. Everyone gets that. Everyone talks about volunteers, and they understand what needs to be provided in order for volunteer organizations to mobilize themselves and provide greatness to communities.
If Hockey Calgary, Hockey Alberta, and Hockey Canada – on all levels of minor hockey in Canada – didn’t have loyal volunteers working hard every week to keep the game afloat, the prices would be prohibitive, and the entire system would collapse on itself. It’s a no-brainer that we need great volunteers. The problem is when we have infestations and outbreaks of volunteers who tend to be like Volunteer #2 and Volunteer #3.
What’s the solution? First of all, we need to continue to have people in the Volunteer #1 category continue to come out to games, support their local kids, and have a great time in minor hockey. Second of all, when volunteers do step up, they need to be properly evaluated, so that they can be placed into a role where their skills and competencies can best be used and appreciated. These volunteers need to say how much time and energy they will be able to commit to their volunteering, so that they don’t turn into Volunteer #2 by design or by mistake.
What the solution should not be, in my opinion, is an attitude that volunteerism should go away from the sport. Many parents simply say, “Let me write a cheque, and you can hire a coach, and we don’t have to have as many volunteers.” The more that attitude exists, and people aren't prepared to go back to the old fashioned basic premise of helping each other and “doing onto others as you want done to yourself,” the more we price ourselves out of the ability to have our children participate in the sport. Would you enroll your kid if it cost $3,000 or $4,000 per year?
No, the answer really is that people have to get involved, they got to step up, say, “Here is what I'm able to do, and here’s what I have the skills to do.” In fact, it doesn’t matter if we have 4,500 volunteers in Hockey Calgary or 4,000. If all 4,000 volunteers are like Volunteer #1, quite literally, having more people doing less is the solution, or in this case, fewer people (the right people) doing less. We also need to do a better job of adequately filtering and educating the volunteers, so that their skills, competencies, and time donations can best be used to benefit the kids.
Volunteering for minor hockey has been an incredible joy in my life, and I hope I speak for many of our volunteers when I say that it really helped me to build my relationship with my son in his formative years.
When T.J. was in his early days of hockey, he would say to me, “Dad, why don’t you coach?”
In those days, I was very busy with my day job, and I knew that I wouldn’t be able
You need to call them out! If you are the position of authority (and assume you are not them) you need to ask them to leave. If you are another volunteer or parent and notice their existence, step in!
There is a reoccurring theme here. In order to change our path with all the issues we have in minor hockey, we need to take action. Volunteer #3 is very destructive to the entire system. They are only allowed to exist in this environment because it is a volunteer position and not enough people are prepared to get involved. We need to start embracing the approach of having more people volunteer, and have each of them required to do less. We discussed this earlier – it’s so important that the right volunteers step up and get involved.
Whenever I have conversations about these types of volunteers, people get it. I would be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn't understand that volunteer-based organizations require dedicated people, all serving the cause and doing what is right to make sure that the best processes, the best scheduling, and the best rules and regulations are followed. We have this selfless group of individuals called volunteers that are serving their community. Everyone gets that. Everyone talks about volunteers, and they understand what needs to be provided in order for volunteer organizations to mobilize themselves and provide greatness to communities.
If Hockey Calgary, Hockey Alberta, and Hockey Canada – on all levels of minor hockey in Canada – didn’t have loyal volunteers working hard every week to keep the game afloat, the prices would be prohibitive, and the entire system would collapse on itself. It’s a no-brainer that we need great volunteers. The problem is when we have infestations and outbreaks of volunteers who tend to be like Volunteer #2 and Volunteer #3.
What’s the solution? First of all, we need to continue to have people in the Volunteer #1 category continue to come out to games, support their local kids, and have a great time in minor hockey. Second of all, when volunteers do step up, they need to be properly evaluated, so that they can be placed into a role where their skills and competencies can best be used and appreciated. These volunteers need to say how much time and energy they will be able to commit to their volunteering, so that they don’t turn into Volunteer #2 by design or by mistake.
What the solution should not be, in my opinion, is an attitude that volunteerism should go away from the sport. Many parents simply say, “Let me write a cheque, and you can hire a coach, and we don’t have to have as many volunteers.” The more that attitude exists, and people aren't prepared to go back to the old fashioned basic premise of helping each other and “doing onto others as you want done to yourself,” the more we price ourselves out of the ability to have our children participate in the sport. Would you enroll your kid if it cost $3,000 or $4,000 per year?
No, the answer really is that people have to get involved, they got to step up, say, “Here is what I'm able to do, and here’s what I have the skills to do.” In fact, it doesn’t matter if we have 4,500 volunteers in Hockey Calgary or 4,000. If all 4,000 volunteers are like Volunteer #1, quite literally, having more people doing less is the solution, or in this case, fewer people (the right people) doing less. We also need to do a better job of adequately filtering and educating the volunteers, so that their skills, competencies, and time donations can best be used to benefit the kids.
Volunteering for minor hockey has been an incredible joy in my life, and I hope I speak for many of our volunteers when I say that it really helped me to build my relationship with my son in his formative years.
When T.J. was in his early days of hockey, he would say to me, “Dad, why don’t you coach?”
In those days, I was very busy with my day job, and I knew that I wouldn’t be able
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