The Snowball Effect
How One Missed Task Can Lead to a Game-Day Disaster
It’s Saturday morning. You’ve juggled snacks, cleats, water bottles, and an 8-year-old’s mood swings to get to the field on time. But when you arrive there’s already another event on the field.
Confused parents gather. Coaches look at their phones. A board member gets a call. Somewhere, something went wrong.
Was it a mix-up in the schedule? Miscommunication? It doesn’t matter much at that moment, because to the families standing on the sidelines, the league looks disorganized.
That one moment can have a lasting impact on the league.
The Snowball Effect of Poor Planning
That double-booked field didn’t happen the morning of the game. It started weeks or even months earlier.
It might have started when:
A board member:
Made a small mistake in a spreadsheet that ended up on the website
Published a schedule change to the website, but didn’t send an alert to parents
Missed a scheduling update from another league that also uses the field
The town:
Double booked the field for a fall festival
Forgot to inform the league they were making field improvements that day
Didn’t have a back up plan for the field maintenance team that called in sick
A new volunteer didn’t know there was a separate process for field approvals.
Or maybe, a well-meaning coach made a last-minute change that never got communicated up the chain
The Hidden Cost
When a mix-up like this happens, it’s not just about logistics. It’s about trust.
Board members feel deflated
Parents get angry
Kids leave with broken hearts
All of this means future registration numbers can take a hit because parents talk and a reputation is formed in the community. All from one scheduling error.
Why Structure Matters
Every volunteer board is made up of people who genuinely care. But good intentions aren’t enough to keep a league running smoothly.
An effective operational structure ensures everyone can do their job without tripping over each other. It’s about continuity, clarity, and shared accountability.
Volunteer leagues are a business but we haven’t operated them like it. Just like any business, when our operations fail, the customer, in this case the community, suffers.
Learning from Each Other
Every volunteer board has stories like this. This blog exists so volunteer board members can share what they’ve learned, learn from others, and keep volunteer run organizations in their place as a pillar of our communities.