Recruitment

[Daniel Janser 1,990]

I remember way back…

 

In August of 2021, I watched a video from Adam Scouser. The guy normally covered football (or soccer for those yonder the sea), but for some reason or another started covering icehockey as well (to this day he calls Ovechkin 'Ovenchicken'). Somehow Youtube algorhythm thought his content was of interest for me. And he ran a VHL add. It was Covid times and apparently my gray matter had the impression, that I do not have enough time sinks on my hands yet. So of course out of curiosity I clicked on the respective link. I played a lot of NHL by EA Sports in my time and my home town team had just won the Cup after a painful 23 season hiatus (sorry to all Leafs Fans, to poke in your running sore).

I created a Left Winger with the very creative name of Daniel Janser (Yes, former Calgary HOF Center DJ started his career as a winger). Then I started to stumble around on the page, not knowing my arse from my elbow and nilly willy clicking on buttons (I even invested in leadership, smh). I learned quickly that this was nothing like EA Sports. What is a hefty blow to morale (and motivation) for some, was an incentive for me. If I love one thing more than a sports sim, it is a RPG. For retention I was also creating my player in the worst possible moment, as the post season had just started and there were no waivers (and therefore no sims) for me. However, the league had decided to create the JST for this exact purpose and I was joining it for its inaugural season.

So once I was shown the ropes by my then Brigade GM ( @JB123 if memory serves me right), I started writing match reports on a daily basis and once my brother joined the 'Tale of two brothers' were born.

They were not very appealing at first but with the constructive feedback I received, I was able to improve.

I then experienced first hand, what a Youtube add (this time on Rob Talks Hockey) can do to bring in new members, as I was AGM for @N0HBDY for the Hounds at the time and was pitching waivers left, right and center, which kept me pretty busy.

I think since then we have not had the same amount of fresh blood influx (nor do I think this amount is necessary to sustain the league), and over the seasons it looks like the respective draft pools dried up a bit (but this is only my perception). I think, the recruitment team could be more pro-active when it comes to inform the community, what is planned, what they are working on, or what challenges they face. This is meant as constructive feedback made in good faith. Maybe there is already information available and I have just not found it. In which case, mea culpa (and please point me where it is at).

This is not so much to control whether the recruitment really earns their pay (this is for the blues to decide). It is more about we all being in the same league and suffering in equal measure if teams have semi-deserted rosters. If GM's were selling hard, acquiring a boatload of picks in the process, just to find out that on draft day, there are no more viable options after the first round anymore, this can lead to people quit their job.

 

  

 

Spoiler

Grape. “Stealing Other People’s Work.” Victory Hockey League, 6 Nov. 2023, vhlforum.com/topic/142170-stealing-other-peoples-work/. @Grape