Major project: Raise the Stakes

After Simon read my script he mentioned that while reading it he kept asking why does the team needs a manager? What is at stake?
With this story being based on my own experiences i was probably thinking that this would be enough as in real life - we needed a manager or the team would fold and everyone would have to give up playing. However in the world of TV something bigger needs to happen. i decided to research into this a little to this idea and to see if they had an methods or strategies for doing so.

http://thescriptlab.com/screenwriting-101/screenwriting/script-tips/884-raise-the-stakes-crank-it-up
"You want to SQUEEZE your characters, constantly making it harder on them."

http://www.movieoutline.com/articles/how-to-raise-the-emotional-stakes-in-your-screenplay.html

"After years of working with many writers, I concluded that often when we begin to create screenplays, we come up against a basic instinct, which is to try not to generate conflict, but to resolve it. "

This is one of the problems. I think i am trying to resolve to much too quickly and not generating enough conflict. 

I found this strategy and decided to give it a go:

Step 1.  Set a timer for 15 minutes.
Step 2.  Without stopping, make a list of the worst things that can happen in your script and the effects these events would have on the various characters. Really let loose and leave the logic of your current story behind. For example, in the film, Casablanca, what if the Nazis were invading, and Ilsa had been two-timing Rick? What if he were captured and tortured?  While I don’t think Casablanca needed higher stakes, I intended this as example so you could apply the technique to your story.
Step 3.  Have your main character describe how these events changed the outcome of his or her life. Rick might write, “ I could have taken everything but knowing that she was sleeping with another man.”
Step 4.  Put the exercise away for a while and watch one or two movies in your chosen genre that were very successful and that you like.
Step 5.  Consider the relative stakes in these films and your script and make any adjustments.

Here are the ideas i wrote in that time period:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Step 4: I decided to watch Friday Night Lights and No Angels. Friday night lights is a tv show about an american football team and No angels is a drama comedy about nurses. I chose them because one is sports related and the other is situated around one commonality - working in a hospital similar to how mine is set around the football team.

Step 5: After watching the shows i realised how far i could push the script and decided to use the idea that a character could be beaten up - it raises the stakes as if i wanted to kill off a character id like to do it later in the series when people have grown attached to them - Shonda Rhymes style.

This was a really useful technique and helped me to move forward in a time efficient manner. I feel like i am starting to build up a skill set now for when i have a moment like this where i am stuck. This process is becoming less and less time constricting and making me realise that i have all the tools i need its just about thinking about it a different way - i think that this might also be something that could work as part of the script writing group. maybe we could all bring a scene we are finding particularly troublesome to a meeting and do a short task like this on that scene as everyone will bring a unique concept to that scene and see it a different way than you might in your own head - expanding the idea - something to suggest anyway.