How far would you go to start a league

[NEW CASTLE HiTMEN]

I am trying to start a league here in New Castle, Pa. There are already two players, my nephew and I. My brother inlaw and his friends want to play. I will paint and base up a team for my brother inlaw. They are all in their mid twenties with good jobs. Since one is a Vikings fan and I am in the process of painting a Vikings team, he can play with that one. But the other two want other teams that I dont have painted up. So my question is, do I spend the money and create these other teams or do I tell them its going to cost x amount of dollars to paint and decal? I can always keep these teams for solitaire but I wasn't planning on painting them.

[Reginald Rutledge]

Coach,

This is one of those types of questions that a book could easily be written on. I know this question very well and two things come to mind right away about "How far to go". Number 1, commitment and Number 2, investment.

First, if you are gonna be the one doing the "heavy lifting", be ready to take all the criticism when things don't go good and be ready not to get much praise when things do go good.

I believe if people don't have a vested interest in something, they are quick to cut ship when things don't go well. Whether its financial or sweat equity, guys will just stop showing up and begin to blame you for their shortcomings. The commitment level, I believe, begins with being willing to spend out on the product. A league is a product and you can tell right away how serious the players are. If they don't want to invest in anything, that usually tells you "they are not in it for the long haul". For a lot of us, the beauty of the game is not just in the game playing but feeling what a real franchise experience from negotiating deals to get the players, finding a suitable playing environment, and outfitting your team like the NFL. When guys don't put that type of emphasis in their teams, they usually are not trying to win which means they really don't plan to stay in it that long.

When I began the DFW, I open up my thousands of bases to everyone in the league. I let them have hundreds of figures. All of this, without any charge. I wanted everyone to have a fair and equal chance. Many guys started out playing but walked away. I was very giving (maybe too giving) and it still did not matter. If it is not in your gut to play, you will not stay!

Then there is the investment. There's an emotional and financial investment when you are the one that do everything. No one can really see it or appreciate it as you can. I have experienced this when setting up numerous leagues. You'd hope people would get on board and work just as hard as you to make it be a great league but my experience has shown me, that is a rare bird. So you try to do right by everyone anyhow so they will have a good time. But at the end of the day, you may have a horrible time. That is just the nature of the beast (if you are the type that look out for everybody). From what it seems, you do have a charitable heart and you will have to take the good with the bad. If you have a family (wife, kids, etc), there are big-time sacrifices on them that really can not be underestimated. You must help them understand in some way that you will be giving your time to others in this way because you want to have fun in a hobby that you are passionate about. Your hope is that your family is understanding. The one thing you don't won't to do is ruffle the feathers of the person you promise to spend the rest of your life with! So this is an emotional investment that you have to understand.

The financial investment is equally challenging. You are already starting off saying you're going to do this for the league and that for the league to jumpstart it. My experience has been that they start expecting it. It's one of those thankless jobs that you will never get out what you put into it. If you are ready to absorb that, then it's great to have a league.

I am not telling you that you should not have a league but do understand, there are pitfalls and rewards. Some of the rewards range from watching the development of a league, establishing friendships, creating the characters of the league, and playing others. Some of the pitfalls is the lack of appreciation, the expectation that you're suppose to do everything, monetary waste, and being blamed for everything that goes bad.

I would close in saying that let those guys show you how serious they are by at the very least, anteing up and buying their own products and let them get intimate with their teams. As long as you are doing everything as far as painting teams and letting them use them, "They are still your teams". Guys tend to put more effort into a team when they can feel proud of their own work.

Not trying to spoil your efforts and I hope that you do it but keep these things in mind. Just talking from a person who has given way so much in establishing leagues.

Reg

[the french guy]

Hi,

I'm quite in the same situation here. Some people more or less interested in that hobby. So what I decided to do is to built 2 "demo teams" : ironman type squads, with balanced bases, enough good to play MF correctly. 2 teams quite equal, with tweaked bases for all around plays, so you can initiate people fairly, and give them a good idea of what that hobby can be.

Then, if some of your relatives/friends are hooked by the game, simply advise them on how to build a team on their own : price, shops, tweaking lessons, painting tips.

IMHO, if you just give "ready to use" teams (tweaked, painted, etc...), finally you'll never obtain a good involvement of your friends in the hobby and your league, keeping the game "casual".

See how you live already the hobby (I believe we are all the same) : running your favorite teams, you trained and painted, is much more rewarding then play a pre painted team with out of box bases.


Of course, you can always make MF gifts : I'm building a team for my brother....but he 'll have to learn how to tweak the bases, and will have just a 22figures team, so if he want more...he'll have to work a little too.


my 2 cents

[NEW CASTLE HiTMEN]

Thanks guys for the input. Reg, I am going to take your advice. If they want to join a league they will have to back it up financially. If they want to buy an out of the box team they can do so or if they want the better figures with all the bells and whistles, they will have to buy them and I will show them all the how to's. I am friends with all of these guys so I am going to invite them to my house this weekend for a demonstration. Not a how to but just let them sit and play with what I have. I should be able to tell at that point who is interested and who's not. All of these guys are NFL fanatics so I will try and sell the point " After the Super Bowl, What is there" They all had the game as children and all loved it. So we shall see. i am keeping my fingers crossed.

[the french guy]

All of these guys are NFL fanatics so I will try and sell the point " After the Super Bowl, What is there" They all had the game as children and all loved it. So we shall see. i am keeping my fingers crossed.

Don't worry, even without any "child souvenir", or compared to video games, that game is just great !

It's like comparing real fishing or pool to a video game. Both can be fun, but the real thing is the best

[jeff]

We { mid- ohio } have given new guys teams, boards and a team of tweaked bases for free , and for the most part the new guys that received these items only played a game or 2 but never more than 1 season. I painted up a team of Cardinals { all reggies figures } for a guy and he never showed up to play a single game.
I think it comes down to , if someone wants to really play then they will make the committment in both time to play and scrimmage to get better and money to buy better bases , figures and boards for their franchise.
If they really want to play , after the first game ..... they will be hooked .

[NEW CASTLE HiTMEN]

Thats what I am hopeing for Jeff. This all started last week at a bonfire my inlaws had. I started talking about electric football and how it has changed. There seemed to be alot of interest. I think if I served food and an adult beverage I can encourage them to play. Plus, I know where they all live. If I decide to give them a team they better play!

[styx]

Originally Posted by jeff

We { mid- ohio } have given new guys teams, boards and a team of tweaked bases for free , and for the most part the new guys that received these items only played a game or 2 but never more than 1 season. I painted up a team of Cardinals { all reggies figures } for a guy and he never showed up to play a single game.
I think it comes down to , if someone wants to really play then they will make the committment in both time to play and scrimmage to get better and money to buy better bases , figures and boards for their franchise.
If they really want to play , after the first game ..... they will be hooked .

i agree 1000%