These services are available starting December 1, 2019.

As inventor of Barefoot Hub Ball and creator of this website text, it is my hope that anyone can read through this website and play this sport. I (Tom A. Kutscher) hope the website is sufficiently complete for any team, league, or sporting organization that wants to learn this sport to be able to with no assistance from me. My aim is for teams and leagues to be able to proceed without my direct assistance, at least in most cases. So it may not be necessary to contact me – if you read the rules and the website material carefully and feel you have enough information to proceed, you are “good to go”.

Please feel free to send me your successes in playing this sport and create video clips that I can link to on THIS WEBSITE. I want anyone who can show (with video) this sport being played to have their video clips linked on this site if they are of good quality and be able to promote the sport for free. Note – The video clips will be used to show the sport being played properly and must be for free access for all. I will give credit mention for anyone who produces the clips if I use them (as long as you provide the personal credit info). 

This section covers services I can provide. Since it is possible that some will need assistance, I am also offering both free and low cost services to help in answering questions and getting started. 

The services are described below and include free service Option 1X, and two services that I will charge for – Options 1Y and 1Z.

Option 1X – Basic No-Cost (Free) Assistance Over a 10 Day Period  

Option 1X details;

  • The no cost period is 10 days from the first response to me once I am contacted and a request for assistance is made by the interested party, and the first call is the first of the 10 days
  • If the questions are simple and require short answers by me, I will do that via e-mail (once you contact me via the contact me form) and no phone conversations will be needed. And in that case the time period may at my discretion extend the e-mail Q&A period for more days (again at no cost). Also the 10 day time frame for any phone conversations will not start until (and unless) any calls are needed and starts with the first call.
  • If the questions require ANY phone discussions (I.e. I believe I need to discuss them via conversation), the 10 day period will then start on an mutually agreed day and I will provide my phone number, and a time and day to call me will be provided for the initial call
  • All calls must be by yourself as I will not typically initiate calls to anyone (i.e. in most cases)
  • Up to 3 total calls my be done with no cost…any more than three will require selecting Option 1Y. The same procedure will apply for all calls, they will be set up via e-mails and initiated by the questioning party.
  • The initial call will be unlimited in time and will be for me to get to know you and your group or organization. The focus will be on my understanding your situation and how much progress you have made. I will be the one with most of the questions on the first call.
  • The second and (if needed) third call should be focused on the Q&A issues and not any other topics, and should generally be limited to 10 minutes or less. This will make them go efficiently. So it make sense to have your questions ready to go to stay within the time limit. I may extend the third call beyond 10 minutes in some cases, but will not usually exceed 15 minutes.
  • One other person may sit in on each call along with the caller, but the questions should be by the caller. 
  • Calls should not be recorded. I am providing free information on Barefoot Hub Ball and while there is nothing likely to be confidential in these discussion, recording of these private discussions cannot be allowed. I will not require anyone to divulge any confidential information either. However, you should provide basic information that I request and need to understand your situation so I can answer questions on Barefoot Hub Ball accurately. 
  • In most cases the calls will be in the 10 am to 5 pm (Central) time period, and on weekdays, but in special cases other times and days may be mutually agreeable.
  • No call should be made unless agreed upon by myself and the time and day set up via e-mail (or in the previous call) in advance. If a call occurs outside of the agreed time and day, I will either not answer or answer briefly to direct the caller to the correct day and time.

Generally, this option (and the paid options) are being provided for team mangers, league managers, sports administrators, etc. who are setting up a league or who may be considering starting a league. 

If individuals are just wanting a clarification on one or two of the rules, that can be done via e-mails once the contact me form is used. It is ESSENTIAL to fully and honestly fill out the contact me form or I will not respond. 

This free Option 1X will be available starting December 1, 2019 and continue to be until further notice.

Option 1Y – Assistance Via Phone for 30 More Days   

Option 1Y Details;

  • This option is for those that need more time for Q&A and the initial period for Option 1X can be extended to an added 30 days (I.e. a 30 day continuous “1 month” period)
  • The extra time is to be paid for in advance (see Payments). The time frame for the 30 days can start once payment is received by myself. I will let you know when payment is  received to start the period of 30 days upon call number 1 of 10.
  • Up to 10 additional calls are included with this option, assuming 10 minutes maximum for each call. This is beyond the 3 free calls of Option 1X (so up to 13 are possible). If some of the calls are much shorter than 10 minutes I will allow for one or two added calls beyond the 10 added call limit, but that will be at my discretion. I want to make sure your questions get answered so I will not be nit-picky about the number of calls if they are fairly short.
  • The other details as described in Option 1X are the same such as the procedure to set up the agreed call day and time, the weekday time frame I will be available (10 am to 5 pm), and so on.
  • As with Option 1X I will not charge anything for Q&A over e-mail if short answers can be made. And if not, a call will need to be set up for questions requiring long answers. The e-mail Q&A period will be usually limited to the option time frame (30 days), but I may extend it slightly at my discretion. Beyond that period, no responses to e-mails (by me) on questions should be expected, but is OK to provide updates on your team’s activity/success, league’s progress, or other noteworthy information. In fact I may even request this if your team or league is making progress in promoting this sport. But information that you provide is up to you.
  • The cost for Option 1Y is $250.

Option 1Z – Extended Assistance for 10 Weeks (70 additional days)  

Option 1Z details;

  • This option extends the assistance via phone to 10 weeks (70 days) from when payment is received and call number 1 of this option is made. As with Option 1Y, the 10 day period of Option 1X is not included in the 70 days and so 80 total days (available for calls) is possible.
  • A maximum of 21 calls are included in this option (and again does not include those that are free in Option 1X). 
  • As with the other options 10 minutes is the maximum time frame of each of the calls.
  • The other details as described in Options 1X and 1Y also apply.
  • Note – it is not necessary to first select Option 1Y before selecting Option 1Z – it is OK to go directly to Option 1Z after the initial Option 1X. Also either of these options can be selected multiple times as needed over the course of a year.
  • The cost of Option 1Z is $550.

Payments

If either Option 1Y or 1Z is elected, payment shall be by check. Details on address to send the check to will be provided after the Option 1X period is over and one of the two other options is selected. Once payment is received I will indicate that via e-mail and the starting day can be mutually set and agreed to. 

Future Option 2 – On-Site Instruction or Presentation Services  

Until Barefoot Hub Ball gets more fully “tried and tested” I do not have any plans for on-site services. I currently would like to be able to provide this type of service starting some time in 2021 or 2022. The services would be over one or two days on site plus two travel days (one each way), and be dependent on what service or services are required. The cost for these services will typically include my labor (time) and travel costs and other expenses. 

While I do not have any plans for on-site services, it may be of interest to have me attend Barefoot Hub Ball official initial events or initial league matches, etc. This is something I may consider at no cost to the organization if it is of sufficient interest to me to attend and of course there is no expectation for me to provide any services. Feel free to contact me on this type of event.

Future Option 3 – Sanctioning and Authorizing Approved Instructors 

Eventually if the sport of Barefoot Hub Ball starts to become popular, there will be a need for an official procedure to sanction and authorize persons who can to the following;

  • Instruct the basics of the sport on-site (class workshop and/or on field instruction)
  • Instruct refereeing and scoring
  • Instruct league setup, operations, and related activities
  • Instruct coaching and team management

These options I hope will eventually come available either through myself or through an association of Barefoot Hub Ball.  In either case I plan to be able to have a procedure for sanctioning and authorizing individuals to be approved instructors, i.e. approved either by myself or the association.

There is no time frame at present for Option 3, but I hope we get there some day.