My daughter, mostly but some of my other kids too, played soccer for a long time with a local soccer association. When I had the ability and they were short on officers for the board of directors, I decided to volunteer for a one year stint. I was figuring they may need a secretary or a vice president but I ended up, in October, becoming the treasurer.

Treasurer, on its own, is not a hard position. The club is large and actually employs – yes, you heard me – a checking account manager who keeps all the accounts, including individual team accounts, on Quick Books and all I have to do is keep an eye on spending and sign checks.

This year was not the year for a new treasurer, let alone for a treasurer who no longer has children in the club. Money is tight. The club owns property and the mortgage on that has to be paid and the fields – there are six of them – kept up. Now, people are getting antsy when I say “let’s think about that cost.”

Most recently, I told the man getting concession items for a tournament that Sam’s Club will not take an organization check on a personal membership. It was just a warning but the tournament chairman sort of told me off – or maybe I am reading too much into the email but the underlying tone was snappish. I just wanted the former treasurer to know that he may have a problem with that.

Another issue is the budget. I did it but it is not perfect. If monies were budgeted, they should be spent is the attitude. That is not necessarily true. A budget is a work in progress and by definition is changing constantly. Just because monies were budgeted does not mean money needs to be spent.

I am glad I was upfront about the fact this would be a one year office for me. I am done in October and life will be better then.