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Little League Canada decision goes against values of youth participation |
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Written by JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor -- LINEUP CARD COLUMN
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Monday, 14 July 2008 |
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LOWER MAINLANDBEAR LAKEWILLIAMS LAKE
Little League Canada, and its underling Little League B.C., has some kind of exemption to that ideal, along with leave from all things common sense.
If you’ve skipped over the stories above, head back to the top of the page. The decision to not allow the Prince George 11-12-year-olds to play in the provincial Little League tournament, in front of friends and family, defies any kind of logic -- whether written in the rules that way or not.
The spirit of the law, and of the game, has been sorely missed.
The ruling was that the second Prince George team, which was likely to have its lunch handed to it against mostly-older players, did not play off against anyone to qualify, and therefore had to put their gloves and bats away.
In the baseball boardroom, call this one a balk leading to an ejection.
Uh, Little League Canada -- use some of the registration money Prince George baseball has been sending you for more than 50 years and invest in an atlas, or cheaper yet, download Google Earth. Cross-reference with your registry. Quesnel ditched you. Williams Lake didn’t apply for all-star play, or they’d have been welcomed with open arms. It’s how we operate up here. So unless Strathnaver, Bear Lake or Dunster have suddenly sprouted programs dreaming of a trip to Williamsport, and were sneakily sidestepped by those punks from Prince George, this team had no one to play.
So much for common sense prevailing.
Take it further. We live in a city that, for many wrong reasons, sees a good number of summer sports organizations close up shop for two full months, all because there is a fear that everyone will exit highway south at the same time and leave too few players left to practice or compete. Sapped by summer vacation, as though the city empties on June 30. Baseball players, then, get all of two months to play their season, and that’s if the weather cooperates. From my simple perspective, after spending so much time indoors for six or seven months, to see soccer fields and ball diamonds barren in July is maddening.
So, when Ottawa-based Little League Canada makes a call like this for a tournament in Prince George, the participation levels drop again. Not that anyone at Little League Canada will lose a wink of sleep -- out of sight, out of mind, perhaps?
It’s time for Prince George Youth Baseball, which has seen its numbers spiral south over the past decade, to tell Little League Canada that it does not have the needs of the young athletes, and the spirit of participation, in proper perspective. And the only way to deliver that message is to wave -- all five fingers, let’s maintain our couth -- and move to another youth baseball umbrella like B.C. Minor, one which will hopefully have a better understanding of what geography and population bring as natural challenges to youth sports in this region and province.
Little League Canada clearly doesn’t care. Prince George has been aligned with Little League for 50 years, a loyal partner -- that, clearly, is a one-way street.
Time for a detour, don’t you think? Did anyone at Little League B.C. or Little League Canada stop to think about the kids here?
What strikes me most comes from inside information gleaned over the years. Few have had the guts to go on the record with accusations, but whispers have been heard for a long time about how some of the Vancouver-area Little League organizations are able to bend rules to recruit what turn into Lower Mainland all-star teams, which then run the table and earn notoriety for reaching World Series tournaments. It happens at the pre-teen and teen levels, has for years.
Trust me, from what I know, some of the associations hailed as championship operations have more than a few secrets behind their success -- players giving false addresses or schools, doctored certificates, things like that. Blind eyes turned at every corner, yet those organizations are lauded for their excellence by the parent body even though those in charge have to be aware of the cheating on display.
Prince George? I’m sure a coach or two has looked to bend the regulations, and even done it, but in this case the coaches were simply looking to involve as many promising young players as possible. Their hearts and heads were in the right place.
He’s taking the heat, but the same can be said for Brian Kelly, the longtime local Little League administrator. Kudos to him for stepping up and admitting he made the original decision -- thinking, of course, that common sense still had its place in minor baseball.
Little League Canada quashed that in a hurry. Kelly is taking the bullet that should embed itself in a desk in Ottawa.
Oh, one last query about Little League’s decision. My best guess is that someone from one of the southern teams called a Little League official to complain about Prince George having two teams in provincials.
I want the person who did -- if that guess is right -- to show the guts to step forward and admit it.
After that, the person can apologize for a myopic, mean-spirited phone call that cost 13 ballplayers a chance to have one of the best weeks of their lives. If complaining about adding another team meant one less day of travel for the supposed Vancouverite, or gave a strategic off-day to the youthful pitching staff, stop for a second and consider what that selfish thinking did to the entire event.
Think of the bigger picture.
Then go back to your Lower Mainland ball diamond, scour the field for the syringes, beer cans and condoms regularly removed before games or practices at Vancouver parks, and enjoy the rest of your season. We hope you enjoyed Joe Martin Field, and the Prince George hospitality.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 14 July 2008 )
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