All-area team complaints: How do you respond?

We're in our first season of picking all-county teams, and when it comes to honorable mention, it depends on the size of the sport. For example, only three schools in our area have water polo teams, so I felt comfortable picking only one team in boys and girls. All eight, though, play basetball, and we felt we couldn't limit it to just one team, so we went to a second team. In a lot of the individual sports, like golf, tennis and swimming, we'll go with a single player of the year.

 

I always try to avoid player vs. player comparison, because you can never win. I'll always back my prep guys, because they've seen every team and they can make the right decisions.

We had a couple of complaints about our girls basketball team this year, but no one could gripe about our boys team — all 5 were first-team all-state picks, and the only all-state picks in our area.

 

It's refreshing to see people being polite and serious in this thread.

Sometimes, we tend to blow these things off or dump on the parents.

I think there have been some good suggestions here.

Most of the time -- not always -- wrestling is the easiest, at least in states that have a single State Open. In Connecticut, basically we would slot in any New England champs, State Open champs and them the state class champs unless there was more than one in the weight class. That did most of the team.

If there were two great kids in one class, one was the Wrestler of the year, then the other got the weight class.

I always found coach-of-the-year discussions to be tougher, in most sports.

 

Step 1) Listen to their complaint. Let them get their entire rehearsed stat dump out without interrupting.

Step 2) "Thanks for taking the time to call. I'm sorry that you didn't like our choices, and you made some good points, but it's a judgment call and we had good reasons for picking what we did."

Parent-dealings 101.

 

At one point we had to do all-county teams for every sport and -- to be honest -- in spring sports you don't see all the players.

My experience has been that the better job you do putting together the team -- polling coaches, seeing players, using stats, whatever -- the better able you are to handle and respond to complaints.

The more slap-dash you are in putting together a team, the sicker you feel about complaints.

Remember, these teams may be a pain in the ass to you, but they mean a lot to your readers.

 

We allow our lead high school writer to pick the teams, and there are times he is just clearly off-base. But, to his credit, he answers every one of those questions, which everyone else on the desk forwards right to him.

 

I hate rankings, polls and all-area teams. In the area I cover, there is no way I can see every team play. I know the good teams, but it's not physically possible for me to get out and see every team and every player.
I wonder how many extra papers are sold for all-area selections. There probably was a time when it was a popular edition. But I doubt it has the same appeal as it once had.
I would imagine it causes more people to want to stop reading the newspaper than to buy extra editions for all-area teams.

 

I think you'd be better off talking to your publisher/editor about that, because I'm sure it varies everywhere, but I know we sell a lot of single copies for all-area.

 

This is where I have a problem - it's these guys who I give just as equally a smart-ass response to. And it's not a wise move.

 

Thanks for all the responses/discussion. I find myself agreeing with printdust on the idea of naming a first team only. You're right, it's the "why didn't so and so make second team?" that's so tough to answer, although we have one basketball player whose dad is going to be pissed that he didn't make first team. He's been peppering us with emails pimping his kid all season. The kid had a shot, but our whole staff felt comfortable putting him on second team. I can't be sure, but I think the kid's dad might have been the guy who called me yesterday ... didn't ID himself, asked if the team had been picked yet. When I told him it had, there was a long pause and he said, "OK," and hung up. Something tells me I'll be getting another call from him next week when the team runs. Can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to that.

 

If you aren't naming a second and third team or honorable mention to save yourself from having to argue with parents, then you are doing a disservice to the kids who would be honored to save your own hide, and I think that's the wrong way to go. I'd rather deal with a few complaints from a handful of parents while honoring another bunch of kids who deserve the recognition than leave kids out to save a few calls. Honestly, most years, our teams generate a few calls from upset parents, but we recognize dozens of athletes. We probably honor at least 10 athletes for every one call complaining over all the sports. I'll take that ratio every day.

Plus, the more kids you honor, the more papers you'll possibly sell to happy parents and grandparents, and the more good will you build in the community.

And if you're worried about honorable mention, make it easy to answer. Make every kid who a coach nominates honorable mention (or two per team if the coach goes nuts). Then, when a caller complains that their kid didn't make honorable mention, tell them that's something to take up with the kid's coach.

 

Absolutely agree with this.