Responding to Ignorance

There are many times when I bite my tongue when someone vents ignorantly, but today was not one of those days. I have been volunteering for the adult soccer league in Yellowknife as the scheduler. I felt this was a good way to stay with soccer, monitor the poor refereeing, and get on the board. Until today it was good. Of course the scheduling job can be a pain with multiple requests and such, but I can handle that most of the time. Normally I accommodate whomever I can if their requests are reasonable.

To the point: another exec and I made a decision with one day's notice to change a game from 8pm to 9pm so that we would not waste a field that could be used for drop-in. We both thought it was a pretty good idea, but I made it known that one particular team might have an issue. It turns out I was right. After several emails back and forth he said he understood the change, but did not like it. Fair enough. Well, the other team, after being questioned, said they had issue with it as well. The other exec and I asked what they wanted to do since both teams had already been notified of the change. They would not make a decision so we did. We canceled the game. Reasonable if you ask me since this game was going to be the 3rd for each of these teams this week. Normally teams play two.

Well, that caused the first complainer to send out a very rude and hostile email to his team and he felt the need to copy me on it. He basically said I gave him absolutely no notice and the other team should forfeit the game (his team has not won a single game all year). He was incredibly condescending and disrespectful.

A little background on this person: he has requested multiple changes to the schedule including asking to only play early games and to have no back-to-back games. This is impossible with the days we have to play, however I've done my best to accommodate him. I even changed their game that was going to conflict with the Santa Clause Parade so the parents on his team could go. Only one other team has ever made a request and it was one I could not accommodate due to the short notice.

OK, back to today. I woke up to his rude email and was pissed. I think the other exec, who was also copied, knew that would be the case and called me to let me know that this particular guy has been a pain all year and that he complains more than any other captain. It calmed me for a bit, but I felt the email was totally unacceptable given I don't play in the league, I'm volunteering, and I've helped him out more than once in the past. I admit, I made a mistake by trying to change the game at the last minute, but the only fair thing to do was cancel it when everyone complained. I received a very long apology after I sent him this email:

Thanks Jason,

I have gone out of my way to accommodate your requests (you're the only one who has asked for multiple changes) and I now see how little understanding you have for my position within the league. This was an error on my part and I will admit that but, for the record, I did not inform you at 4:45pm. That is when you checked your email.

It's nice to know people understand how difficult it is to schedule and accommodate everyone especially when this is a voluntary position. Perhaps you'd like to volunteer for the position in the future.

Kind Regards,
Kim

Let's just say I feel much better not allowing this jerk to walk all over me. BTW, he doesn't want to be the scheduler next year.