refund or no refund please help from Coach

Personally, I think you should figure out what part of the baseball budget they have incurred expenses with  and refund them the rest.  In other words, if their uniforms are part of that $1300, they should pay for them.  If the tournament they were in cost $1000 divided by 15 players, they should pay their $66.67 each for that.  If some of that is coaching fees or game balls, whatever, make them pay their share and let them go.  I would definitely not take them on your 16u team after pulling this stunt.  But a fair thing to do would be charge them for the time with the team and give them back the rest.  It should be made up for with the new guys you get.

After one weekend they quit?  No refund.

Just a suggestion for the future.  A player agreement should be in place when you ask them to join the team.  The system my son plays in requires that the kids and parents sign an agreement stating that they are making a commitment to the team, they will not play for other programs (except HS) without permission and will not quit the team.  It spells out that a player or family is not entitled to a refund if they leave the team.

 

Not sure it would exactly hold up in court as its not a contract but does spell out the guidelines.  

Zero, Zilch, Nada.

 

It sounds like they were unhappy with playing time. Playing time is earned on the field, not by the check a parents signs.

It seems there must be more to the story.  What do you think the real reasons are that they quit at this early stage (not saying that this should necessarily have any bearing in what is refunded)?  What do you think the parents would say if you asked them what they thought was fair?  What does the current agreement (if any) spell out?

 

I think at the end of the day, doing the right thing and protecting the integrity and reputation of yourself and your organization is most important.  Bballman's approach seems to nail that line of thinking. 

 

 

I would say the first thing you should do is call a meeting with these folks and see if maybe there was a misunderstanding as to what their roles would be.  Do you see a future for these boys on your team?  I don't think you should have brought them up if they weren't going to play.  16 year olds should be playing and developing. 

 

Have a meeting and let the folks know the boys will play, but they will also have to work and earn more than nominal playing time. 

 

If you don't plan to play them regularly, they shouldn't be on this team, and you should refund the money.  If they will play, then I wouldn't refund the money, and I would ask the folks to be patient and stick with it.  The boys will learn a lot by sticking with it.

To be real honest one kid came with his buddy(buddy was actually the more complete player and received more playing time) that is where I think it went wrong the other player actually kinda struggled on the weekend being that he was definitely out classes as a position player but would have competed for sure on the hill the next day. I'm just thinking maybe it was a little bit of a shock for mom and dad he was not the (star) that is the more to the story part thanks for talks advice

I am torn here. I know the reasonable thing to do is refund some of the money. At the very least, it's what is best for the image of your program. Two unhappy families are already going to talk about their experience and it most likely won't be positive. If you can mitigate that in some way, then it may be helpful to your organization.

 

However, from the perspective of a different sport, I totally understand how budgeting for a season works. You (presumably) filled your roster and created a budget based on the number of kids on your team. The costs for all tournaments, balls, etc. were made based on this number. If you let these two families out of their obligation for future tournaments, then you either have to raise the amount for other families to cover costs (not fair at all) or take the hit yourself by getting paid less or covering the costs yourself (again not fair).

 

Unless it is clearly spelled out in a signed agreement how this type of situation is handled, this is what I would do. Tell them that you will refund a some of their money if you can find people to fill their roster spots. However, their refund will not include services already used, like uniform purchase and fees associated with the first tournament and any other tournaments that take place before the spots are filled. The longer it takes you to fill the spots, the less money they will receive. That way, you and the other families are not left paying for things they have already committed to.

 

Good luck!

I can tell you that no team that I'm familiar with would refund the money (rare exceptions), but as others have noted that is spelled out before signing on.

 

If you do decide to refund some part of the money, I think you are within your rights to make some or all of that money dependent on finding replacement players. If your fee for tournaments was based on 16, and you now how 14, who is going to cover the difference? And finding 18U kids at this time of year may not be easy.

 

I think someone hit upon a decent solution to the issue.  You could allow the players to find a suitable replacement for themselves.  Of course you would have veto rights over their choice.  Once they find a replacement that you approve of, then it would be up to them to negotiate how much the replacement player is paying the original player to be on your team.  

 

IMO you don't need to do this and as others have said, they committed to the team and have left.  You based your budget on their commitment and have already allocated the money.  This is you being nice and offering a compromise but is not required.

 

What happens if two weeks down the road another player wants to leave???? I think you would be setting a bad precedent by offering a refund. Allowing them to find a replacement puts pressure on you to accept what might be a less than acceptable solution. I think I would stand firm unless I knew I had an equal or better replacement ready and waiting in the wings. Going forward, a contract that spells out the terms of a refund (if any) is a good idea. The group my son plays with has both the parents and player (yeah, he's not bound, but it puts him on notice that he has a stake in the team) sign a contract that covers money (non-refundable) practices, coaching/parent responsibilities, and playing for other teams (none). It's not a big deal since the group has been together for 4yrs and are pretty close-knit.

Give them a pro rated refund AFTER you find replacements who pay. Don't let it cost you money out of your pocket. First have a conversation with the players and parents. Find out what's really going on.

Here you go:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQaavQNGsMY

 

1.  Talk with the players and parents - it might be able to work out

 

2.  Do the prorated schedule that bballman talked about.  I say do this because you didn't have it in writing ahead of time any money spent is forfeited.  Knowing they wouldn't get their money back changes how people think on their decisions

 

3.  Create a "contract" for next season that spells out that they will not get any money back. 

 

4.  Take the contract to a lawyer and see how concrete you can make it.

 

You're about to have a headache with these people.  It becomes a HUGE headache if you refuse to give the money back without them knowing ahead of time or it becomes a small headache if you prorate their money and get them out of your hair.  Either way you're going to have a headache.

Blake, I'm curious.  What did you wind up doing?  How did things work out?

No matter what u decide money wise definitely have private conversations w these players for their own good. If they think they r going to play at next level and they quit because they did not play enough over one game/weekend then they will fail at college level. They need to learn quickly what it's like to sit out. I would not refund one cent until u can get replacement players to make up for their amt. good luck

I'll add a different spin. What did you promise these players? Did you over promise? If so refund if you were straight up don't.