PIT TOUCH and FLAG FOOTBALL in WINNIPEG MANITOBA - FOOTBALL!

334 Posts

Thanks to the nearly 300 people who responded to our survey asking for feedback for the league and the upcoming season. We will be working hard to implement the suggestions that we received from our questionnaire. Here is a quick rundown of some of the findings from the survey:

#1 Motivator to play football - Socializing with friends.

67% of respondents played both indoor and outdoor football, 21% just indoor, 12% just outdoor. Lack of having a team was cited as the #1 reason players did not participate in outdoor whereas lack of prime time games was the #1 reason for not playing indoor.

82% of respondents were satisfied with the field quality for outdoor last summer.

What would make you more likely to play OUTDOOR football? 1. Lined/Cut fields 2. Finals at IGF 3. Regular season games at IGF 4. Access to discounted Blue Bomber tickets 5. Certified Officials

What would make you more likely to play INDOOR football? 1. Prime time games 2. Onsite Lounge 3. Free parking 4. Choice of Locations 5. Regulation Sized Football Fields

79.4% of respondents would like a way to evaluate referees electronically. Respondents also mentioned that rating referees at the field after a game was a bad idea (preferred anonymity).

Suggestions for improvements 1. Lower costs 2. Stricter policies on upper division players playing in lower divisions 3. No more Adrenaline Adventures 4. Reseed teams half way through the season 5. Regular re-certification of officials

What the league does best: 1. Scheduling/Organizing around requests 2. Consistently lined/cut fields 3. Allowing all levels of skill a place to play/parity of divisions 4. Certification of referees 5. Communication

Social Media suggestions: New desktop version of website was rated very highly, mobile version was rated very poorly. We also got some great suggestions for when we get our Instagram and Facebook pages ramped up.

The PIT Crew has already been hard at work putting some of these suggestions into implementation since we closed the survey last week. Working through the partnership agreement with the Bombers took up quite a few days of our time (but well worth it!) so we are back on track preparing for the summer and providing a great spring experience to our record number of indoor teams. Our responses to the suggestions and comments should be up on the website this weekend!

Thanks to all of the valuable feedback our membership provides, we are constantly looking at making the game better and providing you with the best game day experience in recreational sports!

The PIT Crew

334 Posts

Below is an update on what we are doing to improve the game based on the survey
results:

#1 MOTIVATOR TO PLAY FOOTBALL - SOCIALIZING WITH FRIENDS.
Our mandate is the best game day experience in all of recreational sports. To help with the social aspect of the game we have become exclusive partners with Boston Pizza. This partnership will include free large pizzas to all teams that participate in the league, special deals only provided to PIT football members and each team in the league will have an opportunity to win free jerseys at the end of the season. We have also partnered with Maple Grove to ensure their lounge is open during all games this season provided there is demand and they will be offering gift certificates for those teams who frequent the bar often and show off their teams at Maple Grove on social media.

Our biggest game day experience will be with our exclusive partnership with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Special game day ticket prices, promotions, games at IGF and having teams and players featured on their website will bring the social part of the game to a whole new level! We are the only recreational league to partner with a professional organization and our members will certainly reap the benefits! in the pit the evening doesn't end with your game, we want teams to socialize and make game day an event day!

67% OF RESPONDENTS PLAYED BOTH INDOOR AND OUTDOOR FOOTBALL, 21% JUST INDOOR, 12% JUST OUTDOOR.
Lack of having a team was cited as the #1 reason players did not participate in outdoor whereas lack of prime time games was the #1 reason for not playing indoor. We will be launching a program to help ensure all teams and individuals can play outdoors. This includes merging indoor teams based on similar skill levels, age, etc for those teams wanting to play but don't have enough players for outdoor.

We want all teams to participate in the PIT/Bomber experience so if you haven't played outdoor before this is the year to get your team out. For indoor we are the only league to now play games in prime time during in the fall and winter seasons and in fact 90% of all indoor games in the spring are in prime time.

82% OF RESPONDENTS WERE SATISFIED WITH THE FIELD QUALITY FOR OUTDOOR LAST SUMMER.
We aim to raise the number of satisfied players this summer with regulation games played at IGF, championship finals also at IGF and with the PIT signing exclusive contracts to play at Winnipeg’s two best locations for grass fields, Maple Grove in the south and Frank Whyte in the north. We have cornered the market on the best indoor and outdoor fields in Winnipeg to improve your game day experience. Games will also have roughly equal numbers of games played in the north and south to ensure you can get as many games as possible close to home.

WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU MORE LIKELY TO PLAY OUTDOOR FOOTBALL? 1. LINED/CUT FIELDS 2. FINALS AT IGF 3. REGULAR SEASON GAMES AT IGF 4. ACCESS TO DISCOUNTED BLUE BOMBER TICKETS 5. CERTIFIED OFFICIALS
The PIT has signed an exclusive deal this year with Apex field lining who will bring field lining to a new level. Apex will be increasing the number of linings this year as we plan to line fields every two weeks (weather permitting) throughout the season. We think this will help improve the overall game day experience.

The PIT is proud to hold both our finals and some regular season games at IGF this summer. All teams will be provided at minimum one game at IGF (assuming your team has not booked off the dates we have). Included in our partnership will be discounted bomber tickets in the newly created PIT section that will also allow for our members to party in a cabana pre-game and in the Pinnacle Lounge post game (assuming availability post game). Bomber game days will now be quite the event for PIT members. We will also be the only league to offer certification clinics for our referees and to offer three referees at all games. We are committed to having the game officiated properly to amplify your game day experience and enjoyment. The PIT follows the national touch football rules which mandates three referees per outdoor game.

WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU MORE LIKELY TO PLAY INDOOR FOOTBALL? 1. PRIME TIME GAMES 2. ONSITE LOUNGE 3. FREE PARKING 4. CHOICE OF LOCATIONS 5. REGULATION SIZED FOOTBALL FIELDS.
As mentioned we do offer prime time games and a lot of them. It will be up to us to better promote that option as we are the only league that offers prime time games. This year the onsite lounge did not work well with the new facility having to get their liquor license and the south facility becoming embroiled in a row over the lounge with their tenant. Next season however both indoor facilities will have their respective lounges up and running and will be offering some incredible deals to ensure teams stay around after their games. The PIT has spoken personally on many occasions with the manager of both facilities (same person will run both next year) and it looks like next year will be off the hook with the deals he has on tap for our players!

Free parking was a big one. We will continue to offer free parking. If you have to pay $4 every game you play your league fees as a team increase by literally hundreds of dollars. Our facilities will not charge for parking to ensure your costs are the lowest possible.

Choice of locations: We are locked up once again with both of the premier indoor facilities next year. Teams will be able to choose where you play the majority of games. It is true that you may have to move locations depending on field availability and team preferences however our scheduler was able to get teams most games where they want to play, an amazing feat considering the 1000s of schedule requests that come in.

Regulation sized football fields: It was surprising the number of people who said they preferred to play on regulation sized indoor fields. We will take that under advisement going forward however we are committed to following touch football Canada regulations for indoor football fields. Provincial and national tournaments must follow meet those specifications so it makes sense for the PIT to also follow those guidelines. We are the only league that plays indoors on regulation touch football fields. We are currently running our provincial programs with Football Manitoba out of our facilities this spring in part because they are the only facilities that meet standardized dimensions.

79.4% OF RESPONDENTS WOULD LIKE A WAY TO EVALUATE REFEREES ELECTRONICALLY. RESPONDENTS ALSO MENTIONED THAT RATING REFEREES AT THE FIELD AFTER A GAME WAS A BAD IDEA (PREFERRED ANONYMITY).
The PIT has been working on a rate the ref program giving team captains the ability to go online and rate the referees performance. This will be available in the very near future.

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENTS 1. LOWER COSTS 2. STRICTER POLICIES ON UPPER DIVISION PLAYERS PLAYING IN LOWER DIVISIONS 3. NO MORE ADRENALINE ADVENTURES 4. RESEED TEAMS HALF WAY THROUGH THE SEASON 5. REGULAR RE-CERTIFICATION OF OFFICIALS
Unfortunately costs are set mostly by our field rentals. For outdoor the game costs work out to be under $10/game per player and for indoor $15/game. You get to play ball, socialize, get exercise, have fun all for under the cost of a movie. Having said that all of the incredible offerings we have this year will not set you back anything more. Registration fees for summer will remain the same as last year! Where else will you get to play at IGF, have three officials, play on the best outdoor fields in the city, receive trophies and championship shirts, be eligible for a myriad of prizes and get great opportunities with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers?

Stricter policies for upper division players: We will definitely look into things to improve. Upper division players are already not allowed to join teams after registration and in the end we look at the overall skill level of the team not the players. For example we had a perennial top division player compete in the bottom division last year and his team had finished with the third worst record in the entirety of the league. We will be focused on parity and that is one of our paramount goals. Overall team skill determines the divisions not where one or two people play but we will ensure to take a stronger look at teams with upper division players.

The PIT membership has decided they no longer wish to play at Adrenaline Adventures: with the new partnerships that we have formed with the Bombers at IGF, Maple Grove (2 fields) and Nomads/Frank Whyte we will no longer be utilizing the fields at Adrenaline Adventures...for the players.... by the players.

Reseeding teams is an interesting concept but only works if you don't have multi-team players...or don't have any schedule requests. People do want a schedule for the entire summer and we could not reseed half way through as we would not know which teams would be in what divisions and thus what their schedule requests are. I am in favor of reseeding but we would have to rescind all schedule requests...which won't work. In Winnipeg scheduling is paramount, and it is why we were rated so highly on our ability to work around requests. If there is a will there is a way, but just setting a schedule will not work and if we requested schedule requests for the second half of a season it would be impossible to make a schedule with all the summer vacation requests! One last nail in the coffin to this idea is rain outs which may be moved to later in the season to accommodate schedule requests. No schedule requests could be accommodated with rain outs if we reseeded as they simply would have to be made ASAP to ensure they were played before reseeding.

Regular re-certification: Done and done all officials in the PIT will be re-certified this year and we will work through a process of re-certification going forward. a great idea. The PIT will also be covertly evaluating the referees on game days to insure consistent professional refereeing.

WHAT THE LEAGUE DOES BEST: 1. SCHEDULING/ORGANIZING AROUND REQUESTS 2. CONSISTENTLY LINED/CUT FIELDS 3. ALLOWING ALL LEVELS OF SKILL A PLACE TO PLAY/PARITY OF DIVISIONS 4. CERTIFICATION OF REFEREES 5. COMMUNICATION
We do have the best scheduler in recreational sports. 1000s of schedule requests and she is able to accommodate most. Kudos to her!

Our lining and cutting schedule will only improve this year with the addition of our new partners at Apex lining with field lining and cutting occurring now every two weeks!

All skill levels are always welcome in the PIT. We will find you a division to play in regardless of age, sex or skill level. Our referees are also certified to officiate at the provincial and national levels and are the only officials who are certified to do so.

Lastly communication. We provide a wealth of information on our website and are completely transparent with all of our decisions. If you can't find the answers to your questions on the website email or call us and we will be more than happy to help. Offering surveys like this one also provides us with valuable information that we can use to provide the best game day experience. we pride ourselves on our transparency. More and more information is going up on the website to further improve transparency, something the league is renowned for already.

SOCIAL MEDIA SUGGESTIONS: NEW DESKTOP VERSION OF WEBSITE WAS RATED VERY HIGHLY, MOBILE VERSION WAS RATED VERY POORLY. WE ALSO GOT SOME GREAT SUGGESTIONS FOR WHEN WE GET OUR INSTAGRAM AND FACEBOOK PAGES RAMPED UP.
We are still working on both and you will see some transformation over the coming weeks and months. Our website will not be static. We hope to get a better version of the mobile app up and running before the summer season begins.

Thanks to all of the valuable feedback our membership provides, we are constantly looking at making the game better and providing you with the best game day experience in recreational sports!

The PIT Crew