Process Essay

I had been pondering ideas about a solid way that I can give back to the community. Bangor Outdoor Basketball league was the best idea that I could come up with. So I began talking with the locals about whether or not they would be interested in something like this. Every person that I talked to loved the idea, and the numbers began to stack up. I began to get signatures from individuals that were interested in competing in an outdoor basketball league, you could feel the anticipation growing, along with people talking about it and spreading the word of a new basketball league in Bangor. Now the next step in the process, was to go down to the Bangor Parks and Rec. Dept. and see if I could get approved to run an outdoor basketball league. Then I had to continue to spread the word of the league in whatever possible, and then I had to actually make the league happen. This was not as easy a task as it really could have been.

Now that I had over fifty signatures of interested people, I knew I had some fire power to bring to the table at the Bangor Parks and Rec. So I drove down there to my appointment that I arranged for, to meet with the Assistant Recreation Programmer, Tim. Tim sensed my enthusiasm on the topic, and witnessed my love for the game of basketball. He really liked the idea of starting Bangor's first outdoor basketball league, and so Tim and I began to hash out the rules and guidelines for the league. I was going to run the league for the Bangor Parks and Rec. Dept. from a non-profit angle, that way it could be cheaper cost to run the league and for the registration fees. All of the money that the league made, I was going to re-invest back into the court, and the league, taking none of it for myself.

Now that the league had some momentum, I could begin to spread the word that I have been through my interviews, and began to actually plan the start and end dates for the league, and also started to work out the prices. My next interview was scheduled for a week later, and Tim gave me the okay to continue to spread word of the league, but I was not allowed to advertise for it yet, through newspapers or the radio. I went down to the court that I was planning to have the league at, and there were close to 20 people there playing, and the topic of discussion was this new league that they all keep hearing about. This really excited me, to hear all of these people talking about the league, before I even got to the court that day, this was building the momentum for my league more and more everyday.

It was now time for my final interview with the Bangor Parks and Rec. Dept., and this was an exciting day. I put on my dress shirt, shoes, and pants for this meeting, in hopes that they would approve me on this alone. Tim and his boss began grilling me with questions about the league, to see if I had kept up with my notes, I passed the interrogation. Then we arrived to the cost, and the dates that the league would run. Once this part of the process came into the light, I was for certain that the league would happen. We set the dates, and the price per team down into our notes, and I was given my approval to volunteer for the Bangor Parks and Rec. Dept. and run the Bangor Outdoor Basketball League. After my meeting, I immediately drove to the court, to tell the players that the league was approved! There were a few people there, but it was only 11 am. So I called the list of signatures and told them to get there teams together, for the league had been approved by the City. This was a very exciting day for me.

The very next day, in the afternoon, which was more than 24 hours later, I received a phone call from Tim's boss. She began to talk to me about other options for the league, rather than running it through them, she wanted me to run the league independently. I was confused by this, because the day before we were all smiling together, and she had given me the two thumbs up to start up my league, but now she was taking it back? I now was told that if I track down some sort of liability insurance, and that they will give me a permit to run the league independently. This didn't make sense, I was volunteering to run this league, for free, in my spare time, and they took it from me. She explained to me that she and Tim had no room on their plates to take on another league, and I responded by saying I am not asking you to take on another full course meal, but to allow me to bring another plate to the table, and I will gobble my meal right up. She was not budging, the bubble had been squashed, simply because they didn't have enough time for the league, but I never asked them to run the league, just to give me the permission to run the league, for them, and for the community.