Does growth mean the same thing to everyone? An example which made me have this question was quoted in a recent flyball marketing article published online. The majority of the article is pretty good, but two statements really stuck out:
“The breakups on flyball teams are rampant,” she says. “Every team is split off from another team. That’s how most of the teams develop.” You need “thick skin” to succeed..."
[http://www.bestinshowdaily.com/blog/2012/06/it-takes-a-team-to-play-flyball/#comments]
So, I wonder, do most flyballers agree with this person's statements. Does flyball truly 'grow' when there are breakups of teams? Is having thick skin really what makes flyball succeed?
On one level, the thick skin comment is a huge negative to me. I'm not sure what the person was referring to but here's a definition of thick skinned:
"Largely unaffected by the needs and feelings of other people; insensitive."
Translated it can also mean that one does things only to 'benefit themselves' rather than truly helping others. To me this does not help grow flyball but instead works as a deterrent to success in the sport.
The other piece of the quote about team splits also seems negative. If team (club) splits are 'rampant'...why is that? To me it implies there is a lot of conflict, perhaps unresolved conflict and possibly lack of caring or being able to work together and accept differences. Each of these reasons for club splits causes damage among flyballers, some of which is irreversible. The fallout does not help grow anything.
As an example, when a club splits up and an additional club is created by default are there now more dogs and people playing flyball? Actually there is simply a different configuration or redistribution of the same number of people and dogs. The only number that increased is number of clubs. Participation has not necessarily grown, it has only been separated into smaller groups.
One could surmise that eventually the smaller groups would subsequently add to their teams, but do they, how often does that happen and how long does it take? Weeks, months, years? Does the growth occur after 1 or 2 years; maybe 4 or 5 or even over 8 to 10 years.
With the club split up method what do the growth trends show? Do the numbers prove there has been growth?
Perhaps if after 8 or 10 years there are a few new additions, there are probably a few losses by attrition. At what cost over the years. How does the fallout of club splits affect flyballers morale. Would we see better growth in participation by using a different or a better method than thick-skinned-split-up-clubs?
Given the fact that 9 out of 10 club splits are the result of conflict, lack of caring, and an inability to accept differences or work together which effectively damage morale for years to come, is this really how we want to promote, market and grow our sport?
Not me. I prefer a different method. Work to reduce conflict (or better manage it), treat each other with more kindness, give more apologies for wrong or hurtful behavior, offer more forgiveness, be more accepting of differences, more helpful toward someone else's aspirations, more truthful in our interactions and mix it all together with more caring and compassion.
Now that's a growth trend I'll stand up and cheer for!
Truly,
I Like Flyball!
3 comments:
Of course there are team split ups! That is something that happens when you have a team sport. Professional sporting teams often have players switch to different teams. It is simply part of life when you play a team sport. Some people handle splits well, while others don't.
I did leave the team I started flyball with and join a different team that was just starting up, having split from yet another team. The team I joined has grown, while the team I left petered out after a few more months, with members of that team either quitting altogether or switching to one of the two other teams in the region. While there are plenty of personal disagreements between people of different teams, there is no open hostility between the teams themselves.
I do believe that teams splitting up helps grow flyball. Sometimes, the splits cause people to quit the sport altogether. Sometimes the new teams don't really get off the ground. Much of the time, though, the new teams succeed and you continue to see them at tournaments throughout the year. In my region, we often go out of our way to help out new teams, whether they split from another team, started anew, or whatever. We will loan new teams dogs and people at tournaments to help them out. Any new team hosting a tournament can expect to see plenty of people come to support them.
Sometimes I think teams split up for great reasons. A few people may play on a just-for-fun team and split off to start a new team because they want to travel to more tournaments and compete for regional or tournament points. Some people just want to use a different training method. Some people simply don't like other people on their team and find that leaving that team is the best way for everyone to be happier.
So, I guess my final position on it is that teams split up, and people switch teams, and that is simply life in a team sport. It is not an inherently bad or good thing, but rather, it depends on the people involved and how they treat the split.
I think there's certainly some thick-skinned individuals in flyball. We've all seen them. They run Open with a different team each tournament, usually one so short-handed they'd let the Devil himself race Cerberus as long as he can do a steady 4.1 in start and crates away from everyone else. They bounce from team to team as if flyball is just a way to collect interesting T-shirts. They are, essentially, "not team players".
I think that people just have to be realistic and stay within that happy medium between being a thick-skinned sociopath and a doormat. A team sport, any team sport, is a matter of having a shared vision and a willingness to compromise to make that vision happen. But people and circumstances change, and team splits are just a reflection of that and an outlet for it.
Sadly, some splits are ugly. We're a society which makes divorce lawyers rich. If individuals can so consistently screw up "until death do us part", I can't see us having better luck with "just for titles".
I'd like to think that breaking up a club fixes a lot of problems, though. The people involved have to focus on new things, new dogs, handlers, training methods, boxes, props, training locations, and by the time the dust settles everyone is happier. Usually.
Whether or not splits grow the sport... I think so.
In a saturated area where people regularly drift from team to team, splits will often just shuffle things up. On the plus side, the ease of moving around should make the whole situation less dramatic.
In an area with fewer teams a split should be a catalyst for growth; new, smaller teams may not have the people or dogs to race they way they like and have to start recruiting and training new people.
The other thing to consider is areas where you have individuals or clubs running flyball training classes. Team splits give them somewhere to send students who want to continue with training but aren't a good fit for the trainers own team; reasons for which could be something as simple as "has to work on our practice night". Giving people the option of multiple teams helps retain new people in the sport.
I decided to get the numbers and see what they proved if anything. Just posted a follow-up article.
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