A Message For You All

I have been running this league for at least 10 yrs at this point I think. We have always had a good thing going here at the HFHL. Fair play and a good run mixed with some chirping and the occasional bump has always been part of the league. It’s inevitable that when you have 54 guys playing a sport with sticks and a ball that tempers will flair a bit and things will get said, but by and large that has been kept to a minimum over the years.

Last night I witnessed some pretty greasy play. Play that was not acceptable by our leagues standards. 

I want it to be very clear. We are not the league you play in if you want to win so badly that you slash another player in any part of the body to try and stop them. Nor do we want to see guys jostling in front of the net to the tune where there are cross checks or aggressive behaviour that goes over board.

Threats of any kind are not acceptable and will not be tolerated, no matter what someone might feel is a justification. That’s not what we want nor will we accept as “part of the game”. Either inside the gym or outside of the area of play.

If you feel the need to threaten another player with physical harm, then talk to a ref and have them or myself deal with behaviours, but don’t threaten anyone. 

Anyone who feels the need to incorporate that into their style of play should either drop out or be prepared to be suspended or even kicked from the league. 

Another thing I would like to address. We have a shortage of guys who will step up to help with reffing. This creates some scenarios where we have less eyes on the floor than we would like. As a result, some things may get missed. If that happens, I can assure you that it’s not because someone is intentionally overlooking infractions. Rather than spending large amounts of effort complaining that this was missed or that was missed, step up and help us out. We can sure use it more than ungrateful rhetoric.

Finally, Im old and have had my day playing this game. I have played at high levels and done what I could. Now, I am running a whiffle ball league for 53 guys in hopes that they can have a fun and safe place to play and maybe, just maybe get some enjoyment out of it. I hope that everyone can put things back into perspective for the weeks to come and remember the intent of this all is to come out, have a run, maybe score some goals ( if you are shooting on me) and break a sweat without fear of things boiling over to a place they don’t need to be. There is enough crap going on in our lives and we don’t need to have Monday night’s be a burden.

I like the crew we have. There are a great bunch of guys playing in this league and the skill level is pretty balanced on each team. I just want to encourage everyone to be a bit less focused on winning at any cost and more focused on having a good time. Check the crap at the door. Encourage each other to stay in check when on the bench. It’s a whiffle ball league boys. Let’s not lose sight of that.

Thanks for taking the time to read all of this, and I hope it will help us all remember what this is all about.

I appreciate you all and look forward to having a great rest of the season.

Thanks and be well

Martin Kane

League Commish