Hollister-San Juan End of Season Report-2016-Spencer Ladd
1. • Ambassador: Spencer Ladd
San Juan/Hollister Jr. Giants League
2016 End of Season Report
2. League: San Juan Bautista, CA
Ambassador: Spencer Ladd
Regional Ambassador: Kelly Mast
Commissioner: Tina Garza
Giants Community Fund Manager: Cassandra Hofman
League Overview
8. There is a lot of room for growth; low numbers due to league starting this
year and proximity of Hollister league.
Another field would be necessary to add more teams
I neglected to include the different “Dropped Players” report as they all
dropped in the same week due to the same reason
Additional Comments on Numbers and
Demographics
10. I was still in school for these dates
Tina Garza told me they did have “quite
a few” participants sign up on these
dates.
Dates past this were done online or on a
case by case basis at the Hollister
Community Center.
Player Registration Dates
11. Postings on the Hollister Recreation
website
Junior Giants posters (in English and
Spanish) around the community
Hollister/San Juan are very small and
interconnected communities so most
information was spread through word of
mouth
Marketing Methods
12. I discovered a “Happenings in Hollister”
Facebook page which is very active with
current Hollister/San Juan Residents.
San Benito has a superb baseball team
and should serve as a good tool for
recruiting coaches and other volunteers
Suggested Marketing Methods
for Next Year
13. Coach and Team Parent meetings were
held on:
Tuesday, June 7th, 6:00-8:00 PM at Hollister
Recreation Office
Thursday, June 9th, 6:00-8:00 PM at Hollister
Recreation Office
Coaches registered on various dates at
the Hollister Recreation office as well
100% of Teams had at least one coach
83% of Teams had a Team Parent (5 out
of 6)
Coach/Team Parent Registration
14. All volunteers had to undergo two (2)
background checks
Jr. Giants background on Sports Illustrated Play
Hollister PAL Background Check/Fingerprint
Volunteers were reimbursed for their PAL
Background Check by the City of Hollister
Had to complete (and pass) both to receive
their ID Badge
100% of volunteers completed both
registrations by the end of the season
Background Checks
15. There was a lack of communication during registration that TWO
background checks must be completed.
This caused a delay in distributing ID Badges
The San Juan dashboard in SI Play was made later than the Hollister
dashboard which caused issues in transferring players between leagues.
This also caused a temporary shortage of coaches a week before the season started
Some people would pass the Jr. Giants background check but not the
Hollister PAL one which caused confusion and some anger on occasion.
Some people were (understandably) hesitant to front $20 for the Hollister
background check which caused us to lose volunteers.
Additional Comments on Registration and
Background Checks
17. Commissioner
Tina Garza
Hollister Parks & Recreation Supervisor
Responsibilities included: managing and
verifying PAL background checks, soliciting
sponsors, answering day-to-day questions
in the Hollister Recreation office, and
reserving facilities.
19. Anthony Ortiz-Ponce
MVV (Most Valuable Volunteer)
Responsibilities included: coaching a
7-9 team, field prep on game days,
recruiting volunteers and players
during registration, and managing
equipment
(Honorary) San Juan Commissioner
20. We all worked very well as a team for the most part.
Communication could have been better on little details (e.g. telling each
other we edited a team, sent an email, etc.)
We made good use of Hollister Staff available to us
Budget willing, there should be two dedicated Ambassadors in Hollister
and one in San Juan, not mixed between two leagues (will explain in exit
interview)
Additional Comments of Staff
21. Registration: March 2016-First 3 weeks of Season
First Pitch Meeting: June 9th, 2016
Opening Day: June 25th, 2016
Holiday: No games 4th of July Weekend
Jr. Giants Festival: August 2nd, 2016
Closing Ceremonies: August 6th, 2016
Overall Season Schedule
22. Monday: work in Hollister office with other ambassador, commissioner, and
coordinator, discuss tasks for the week and issues from last week.
Tuesday: work from home and communicate with colleagues over
text/email.
Wednesday: Game day! Be present at the field to assist with game day
operations and answer questions from parents.
Thursday: work from home and communicate with colleagues over
text/email.
Friday: work in Hollister office with other ambassador, commissioner, and
coordinator, discuss tasks for the week and prepare for games on Saturday
Saturday: Game day! Be present at the field to assist with game day
operations and answer questions from parents.
Sunday: Day off! Answer urgent emails from home
Typical Weekly Schedule and Responsibilities
23. All practices held at Abbey Field
Teams had staggered practice times
Divided practice times by age division
5:00-5:45 5-6 Year Olds practice
5:30-6:30 7-9 Year Olds practice
6:30-7:30 10-14 Year Olds practice
Teams would spend 10 minutes at the end
of practice discussing the word of the
week and any upcoming deadlines with
their Coach and Team Parent
Typical Practice Schedule
24. All games played at Abbey Field
2 games every Wednesday (5:30-6:30, 6:30-
7:30)
4-6 games every Saturday (9:00 AM-3:00 PM)
Snack Shack ran on site by volunteers (funds
donated to San Juan School District)
Combination of San Juan and Hollister Teams
played weeks 2-7
Typical Game Day Schedule
26. Email through SI Play was the most common form of
communication
Sent out daily correspondence, reminders, deadlines etc. to teams
I emailed people on an individual basis through my Jr. Giants
Gmail account
Sent out the weekly Jr. Giants Newsletter through Mail Chimp
Personal “Around the Horn Newsletter”
Included more league specific information and outlined varying due dates
and reminders.
Would make about 5-10 calls per week to coaches and other
volunteers requesting information (e.g. if they have enough
WOW packs, confirming weekly schedule, editing rosters
information)
Communication Methods
27. Email through SI Play worked relatively well (~75% read rate if I had to
guess)
Mail Chimp unfortunately was not very effective, hovered around a 35-
40% open rate
Best way to communicate was in person at practice (which I discovered
too late)
Texting was surprisingly effective as well
“Around the Horn” Newsletter got a lot of positive feedback from the
parents
Communication Effectiveness
28. There is a clear generation gap as several of the “older” (45 years+)
coaches and parents struggled to check their emails on a daily basis.
Parents would not speak up if they were not receiving my emails which
was frustrating for both parties
Most of the time this arose from a family who incorrectly registered their child so they
were not on my varying email lists in SI Play
Almost no one actually read the Jr. Giants Newsletters
To combat this I sent out my own personal “Around the Horn” newsletter
with more league specific information.
I would start a Facebook group next year for the specific league as I
noticed there is a large social media presence due to the current age of
technology
Additional Comments on Communication
30. WOW Packs for the following week were
distributed to Coaches on game days
(Saturdays)
Coaches then passed the incentives out at
practices the following Tuesday
If there were any extra, the ambassador
collected them and put them in storage.
WOW Pack Distribution
31. The reading program was very successful in San
Juan
100% of kids read to the Home Run Level
100% of teams qualified for the Jr. Giants
Festival
Note: We had a volunteer named Sandra Silva
who brought literally hundreds of books for
children to keep for themselves so they reached
the home run level
Most Successful Program:
Round the Bases Reading Program
32. It was “unsuccessful” in terms of how many
players completed their poster
I feel as if it did not have a significant impact
on the children either
I believe it was due to Coaches still getting a
feel for their responsibilities as it was in Week
2.
Least Successful Program:
Healthy Eating Habits Poster
33. The incentives definitely help to keep kids coming back week after week.
I don’t think it should be mandatory for the Team Parent to be
background checked if they are only going to track
Everyone loved the other reading incentives, especially the backpack for
the 5-6 Year Olds
I instead of giving the parents/coaches one big handbook we should give
them the appropriate pages that accompany the varying WOW packs
Additional Comments on WOW Program
35. Reasoning:
The Hollister Staff and San Juan volunteers are
some of the most kind and amazing people I
have had the pleasure of working with.
Everyone was on the same page (for the most
part) we communicated the important topics
well enough, and we came from a wide range
of backgrounds. I only gave us an “A-” because
we were not always as organized as we could
have been.
Staff/Volunteers
36. Reasoning:
As I mentioned earlier, I communicated the big things well
for the most part (e.g. Jr. Giants Festival, deadlines, etc.)
However I struggled at times to inform all parties on
schedule changes we made, I should have emailed teams as
a whole rather than just the coach. There were also some
issues with everyone receiving emails I sent out for various
reasons (no internet at home, incorrectly registered child)
But people seemed to have a good sense of what was
happening in the league.
Communication
37. Reasoning:
We got off to a slow start with the WOW Program as coaches
and Team Parents were unsure of their responsibilities and
how to include these discussions at practice. However, by the
end of the program, the coaches had it down to a science and
you could see the kids become more and more involved in the
programs as the season progressed. By the end of the seas I
could hear kids talking about it during game days so overall it
was a success.
WOW Program
38. Reasoning:
I feel overall I the San Juan program went really
well for a first year program. There some
definite bumps in the road but I really think
there is great potential in the league for the
following years. I heard several kids saying they
want to play next year and I have even had
parents told me that their younger children
have also expressed interest in playing. Overall,
it was hard work at times but very worth it in
the end.
Overall Grade
39. As this was the first year we did not have previous year’s goals to work on,
but I have created a short list here:
1. Register at least 100 kids for the San Juan Program
2. Retain at least 80 of those 100 kids
3. Have 100% of the league reach the Home Run reading level
4. Start some sort of “social media” group to streamline communication
5. Encourage more PAL and Teenager involvement in volunteering
Goals for Next Year
40. Go to practice as often as possible to answer questions and tell coaches
information
Never assume that someone has read your email. Seriously.
San Juan teams show up to EVERYTHING about 10-15 minutes late so plan
accordingly
If you make a change in the schedule make a league wide announcement
Be careful what you say because word spreads incredibly fast in San Juan
HAVE FUN. It sounds cliché but if you’re having fun at the games and
practices, then so will the kids
Wear sunscreen. It can get pretty hot in San Juan.
Tips for Next Year’s Ambassador
