One of the easiest and most inexpensive ways to enjoy playing yearly, organized softball is by joining your company’s own sponsored team. If you already know your co-workers, and they are not pricks, then by all means this should be an enjoyable, comfortable experience. If you are new to the company, then this presents a great opportunity to get acquainted with staff members on a personal level, and make a more immediate impact on your supervisors by showing off your social and leadership skills (yes, you have them).
If you are like me, then you may have joined a company that did not support a softball team, or extracurricular activities of any kind, for that matter. The reasons for this are three-fold. First, it is possible nobody has taken the reins to actually organize a team; feeling that they are either too busy, or thought that it was perhaps a fruitless idea to which the company and/or your co-workers would have little interest. Secondly, you may be working for a company full of nerds that have either no discernable athletic abilities (like, say, Compuserve), or with a bunch of foreigners who posess only limited understanding of the game and/or the English language. (Seven Eleven comes to mind.)
Lastly, it could be due to the size or location of your company. If you work on, for instance, an oil barge, where field space is limited, competition is scarce, and balls often get lost in the ocean, this may present a problem.
Either way, there is a solution for you - unless you work on that oil barge. (but hey, at least the pay is good, right? no??!) If the reason is that nobody has taken charge, it is time for you to step forward. Call your local Parks & Recreation office, and ask them for information concerning leagues. Even if they don’t run one themselves, every league must obtain permits through the town/city you work in, and they can refer you to the participating leagues.
For most companies, the main issue lies with the cost of sponsoring a team. The typical fee to join a recreational softball league can range from a couple of hundred dollars to several thousand, so it is difficult to persuade people to join if they must pay out of their own pockets. Further complicating this issue is that it seems the crappiest players are always the first ones to be willing to pay. Then it is virtually impossible to sit or substitute them because, well, they paid you to PLAY. In order to make this a guilt-free and fun experience, AND be able to regulate who plays, it is important to try and get your company to sponsor at least the cost of the league fee, and if you’re fortunate enough, equipment costs as well. Savvy companies and bosses will be hip to the fact that these kinds of extracurricular activities promote cohesion among employees, and since they have a sucker like you willing to organize it for free, they are more willing to commit. In some instances, it may be necessary to convince your bosses, Human Resources, or Finance department that this is ultimately for the benefit of the company. This is your time to shine. Schedule a meeting with those in charge, and tout it as an idea for a “great way to get the company to work together better”. Then hit them with these three key points, and in no time, you’ll be swigging a few beers on the company budget:
1. “Sir (Ma’am), by agreeing to sponsor the ‘Company X’ coed softball team, you will be awarding the company with a chance to not only boost morale, but provide the ultimate outlet in which to promote department integration, and establish a cohesive trust and support system among all employees as well. It will single-handedly eliminate the need for HR to organize expensive and embarrasing team-building yoga retreats for staff members.”
2. “Sir (Ma’am), by agreeing to sign off on these slick two-tone, button-down reversible mesh jerseys with embroidered numbers and nameplates, you are sending a strong message to the members of the league, and more importantly, to the industry, that ‘Company X’ is much too successful and important of a company than to embarrass their employees by outfitting them with the cheap t-shirt and iron-on lettering style that everyone else has.”
3. “Sir (Ma’am), by agreeing to fund the purchase of top-of-the-line bats, softballs, and the PitchMaster Ultimate-Slow-Pitch-Pitching-Aid and accompanying Ultimate-Slow-Pitch-Softball-Pitching-Trainer-and-Instructional-DVDs for your employees, the ‘Company X’ team will always be in contention to win the Championship, and thus be able to show off a slick array of trophies for customers and vendors to marvel at when they visit”.
The great thing about a company team is that if their reputation is at stake, and it is represented at least in part by this activity, then your bosses will have no problem getting you out “on time” to make it to your game. One caveat, though: companies will be more willing to sponsor a softball team if EVERYONE is eligible to play. That means a coed team, first and foremost. But it also means having to invite your bosses to play as well. If you are lucky, they are at least decent players, should they participate. If not, then make sure to surround your team with the best players, and hopefully, in due time, he or she will become too embarassed to continue making an ass of themselves, and be the subject of incessant ridicule by their subordinates.
