09/11/2026
As sports, clubs and youth organizations really start kicking off for another year, weโd like to share a little reminder - not just for our club, but for families involved in youth organizations everywhere. ๐
There is usually a whole lot happening behind the scenes that you never see.
The people running these organizations donโt just show up on game day, tournament day or event day. In between those days, there are meetings to coordinate, rosters to maintain, dues and paperwork to submit, sponsors to keep up with, facilities and locations to secure, registrations to manage, awards to order, records to keep, apparel to organize, websites to update, social media to manageโฆand a hundred other little things that have to happen to make the big things happen.
For fishing clubs like ours, planning a tournament can mean physically checking boat ramps to make sure they can accommodate our needs, coordinating with marinas, securing exemptions, securing prizes, hauling equipment, setting up weigh-in, tearing it all back down, cleaning up, recording results and updating points.
Then there are school absence requests, jerseys, sponsorships, travel tournaments, year-end awards and banquetsโand yes, even trying to make sure everyone gets celebrated along the way.
And most of the people doing these things are volunteers.
They have jobs. Families. Kids of their own. Homes to take care of. Other responsibilities. And somewhere in between all of that, theyโre answering messages, updating spreadsheets, making graphics, submitting paperwork and figuring out whatever needs to happen next.
But thereโs another part of โbehind the scenesโ that you probably donโt see.
Itโs wondering whether youโre doing enough. Whether every kid feels included. Whether youโve communicated enough. Whether you forgot something. Whether you made the right call. Whether you could have handled something differently.
Because when you genuinely care about something, you carry those things with you.
And sometimes, despite everything that goes into making these opportunities possible, someone will be disappointed. Something wonโt happen exactly as expected. A decision wonโt make everyone happy. Something will be missed.
Those moments can bring criticism, frustrated messages, uncomfortable conversations and sometimes words delivered in the heat of the moment that probably wouldnโt be said the same way with a little time and perspective.
Those things carry weight, too.
The volunteers standing on the other side of that conversation aren't a faceless organization. Theyโre people. And chances are, theyโve already spent far more time wondering if theyโre doing enough than anyone else realizes.
This isnโt a โlook at everything we doโ post. We choose to do it, and we genuinely love doing it. Watching these kids compete, grow, build friendships and create memories makes the work worth it.
Itโs simply a reminder as another year gets underway to give the volunteers in whatever organization your family is part of a little grace.
Sometimes the social media post might come a little later than expected. A message may not get answered immediately. Something may get overlooked and need a reminder. Not every child will be pictured in every post, and not every moment will be captured perfectly.
That doesnโt mean someone doesnโt care.
Most of the time, it simply means someone is doing their best to juggle all the things you can seeโฆand a whole lot that you canโt.
Whether itโs a fishing club, baseball team, FFA chapter, dance studio, booster club, church youth group or anything else powered largely by volunteers, there are probably far more moving pieces - and far more heart invested in those pieces - than most of us ever realize.
So as practices begin, meetings fill calendars, tournaments and games get underway and another busy year begins, letโs all remember thereโs a person on the other side of it all.
A little patience, a little perspective and a little grace can go a long way. โค๏ธ
