misunderestimation

I literally cringe every time I hear one of these stories:

WAYNE, N.J. (AP) — The family of a boy who suffered brain damage after he was struck by a line drive off an aluminum baseball bat sued the bat’s maker and others on Monday, saying they should have known it was dangerous.

My kids play on baseball teams and use aluminum bats. What an awful story. A kid playing baseball and having fun one minute is forever changed the next. Baseball can be dangerous and there are risks involved in everything we do in life. But, is it the fault of the bat? The “Don’t Take My Bat Away Coalition” has a few things to say on the subject:

Like baseball itself, the debate about aluminum versus wood has many angles, but safety shouldn’t be one of them. Some players prefer wood because of tradition. Lots of children prefer aluminum because it’s easier to get a hit thanks to the bigger sweet spot found on metal bats. That’s why a ban is so harmful to baseball – it risks driving kids out of the game if it isn’t as much fun.

So, we should let them use aluminum because it is more fun to hit the ball. Yes, I agree, but is it more dangerous too? I have seen the ball jump off of aluminum bats, but I can’t say I’ve seen many wooden bats in play to gage the differences. The LA Times Booster Shot blog had this

Considering how many kids play youth baseball or softball, it’s surprising that there is a lack of agreement on whether aluminum bats are safe.

It’s also surprising there are so relatively few injuries. I can tell you one thing for certain, the kids are bigger, stronger, and better at hitting the balls today then they were even 10 years ago. In Houston, baseball is a year-round sport with incredible training locations and the latest baseball equipment everywhere. Fathers are building private batting cages in their back yards to make their son and all-star. All of this means, the kids are simply better hitters. Does the bat make a big difference? I doubt it.

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In 1984, the Texas legislature passed the “No-Pass, No-Play” bill that sent a message to high school athletes, band members, and all extracurricular participants; if you don’t make passing grades, you will not be participating in sports/activities. As a parent of a high school athlete, I applaud this act and the message it sends to our kids that grades come first.

Of course, over the past 23 years, loop-holes have developed. On Sunday, the Dallas Morning News had a very interesting story about how schools are finding the exceptions to No-Pass, No-Play:

UIL records show students in many other districts could easily craft a schedule in which nearly all of their classes are exempt from no-pass, no-play.

The state lets districts exempt Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual-college enrollment and other top-level classes.

On top of that, school boards are allowed to add courses to their no-pass, no-play exemption lists as long as they label them as somehow “advanced” or “honors.”

The districts must submit their exemption lists to UIL, but no one reviews the lists and districts don’t need to update them every year. Districts can also ban exemptions.

“There is kind of a broad range of allowance there,” said Bill Farney, executive director of UIL. “We don’t have a master list of courses they can and cannot exempt. Trying to make one rule fit everybody ends up with some discrepancy and some difference in interpretation or application.”

Once again, we’ve taken a simple concept and destroyed it with exceptions. Out one side of our mouths we are saying, “everyone must get good grades” while the other side says, “except for you.”

I understand the other side of this argument. I know there are kids who are only in school for athletics and they may be “lost to the streets” if they cannot play. I also understand the roll of tradition and sports in the psyche of many Texans. I think we need to realize what effect this has on the kids. Making exceptions like this says to kids, there is always an exception, you just have to find it.

In schools where No-Pass, No-Play is working, you have coaches/sponsors actively checking grades, creating study periods, developing mentoring programs, communicating with parents, and doing whatever they can to keep the kids engaged. I’ve seen schools celebrate the student athlete as the student first and the results of that emphasis is a well-balanced kid.

How can we feel any outrage at professional athletes behaving as if the rules don’t apply to them when we teach them that from the beginning? Do you really think Terrell Owens had to pass all of his classes?

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I had the good fortune to be at this game and witness Sam McGuffie live.

Check this out:

McGuffie rushed for 376 yards that night with 8 touchdowns. Oh yeah, he’s only a Junior.

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It’s tough work being involved in a youth sports association. You try hard to gather enough money to build fields/parks/courts, outfit the kids in uniforms, hire quality officials, develop and maintain websites, pay the legal fees to keep the IRS from circling, and still managing to conduct actual games while fending off glory-crazed parents. And the best part, most associations are run by volunteers.

Apparently, the president of The Southwest Youth Athletic Association in Springfield Illinois decided the association owed him for his trouble:

According to a Springfield police report, the youth baseball league’s former president, Gary A. Gaulding, wrote 80 checks to himself totaling almost $147,000 between August 2003 and last April. That’s more than $1,800 per check. Prosecutors say the amount could reach as high as $165,000.

Not bad work if you can find it.

What makes this case even worse; ten years ago the association was almost bankrupt and about to close. The fact that they pulled this association out of the red and built a highly successful organization. I guess you could say it was a little too successful…

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The Anne Arundel Youth Football Association in Maryland has taken youth football security to another level:

All volunteer coaches were required to take a new three-hour class to learn about handling different risky situations that could arise from aggressive parents or youths.

After completing that and being certified as coaches, they wear ID cards on the sidelines, color-coded to represent classes. The county already requires coaches in recreational leagues to undergo criminal background checks.

“It provides the referees with a chance to know for sure who should be on the sidelines,” AAYFA President Rick Peacock said. “We’re just trying to be productive. We’re just trying to make sure we’re doing everything we can to prevent unthinkable things from happening.”

Criminal background checks are part of most organized leagues and are an accepted practice. While not a guarantee, it’s nice that someone is looking into the dads and moms who coach our children. Having been a coach, I think this is a good thing.

Wearing ID badges does not bother me either. I think it is good to know who the “certified/registered” coaches are and who are just loud parents in matching uniforms. Umpires have a tough enough time and this just makes life a little easier.

The scary part of this program is the training in “handling risky situations” that the coaches receive. What does this say about the state of youth sporting programs? Have we gone so far to the dark side that our parents need parenting? Unfortunately, the answer appears to be a resounding yes, we do.

Congratulations to the Anne Arundel Youth Football Association on taking this step. Hopefully, this is the start of trend to regain control of youth sports by the sane.

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This is a issue that will always be near and dear to my heart and will continue to appear on this site. I am both a parent of youth athletes and a coach of various youth teams who wants to see the fun return to sports. I believe we have gone too far in “developing” student athletes and forgotten the basic lesson that competition is meant to be enjoyed, not dreaded.

It seems there are a growing number who share my view:

At times, the district director of the local Babe Ruth chapter of baseball does think youth sports have become too competitive.

“You have coaches who are too competitive and so are the kids and so are the parents,” [Steve] Ayersman said. “A parent will sit back there and belittle the umpire, but they are not willing to go on the field or join an organization and help.”
[...]
“Almost all the sports are. There’s AAU travel teams. Those are for kids who are more talented. Some of them are on the league teams. You get complaints from the parents about playing time. Travel ball is talking away from recreation league players. There’s not such thing as rec ball anymore.”

Why are we so driven to push our children to excel in sports? Could it be the money we see professional athletes earning? Could it be the status gained by being the parent of the star player? Could it be trying to right the wrongs of our own childhood sports experiences? Could it be all of the above?

Please, let kids be kids. They grow-up too fast as it is.

Others blogging:

• Kids Who Hate Sports
• Readers: We Want Your Input On This Story
• Friday Edition: Big Hurts for Little Athletes
• Sports Advisor
• Good game

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Are you kidding me?

Aaron Durley towers over the competition at the Little League World Series.

The 13-year-old first baseman for Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, stands an imposing 6-foot-8 and weighs 256 pounds.

“I was standing next to him and I was up to his elbows,” Scott Kingery, a 12-year-old, 4-foot-9 Phoenix shortstop, said after meeting Durley.

How can a 13-year-old possibly be nearly 7 feet tall? How does that happen?

Last year, at the Little League World Series, he was only 6′ 5″. He’s still growing!

Clearly he needs to be a pitcher. Could you imagine being 12, digging in at the plate, looking up to see someone standing on a hill that makes him appear over 7 feet tall, and he is about to throw something at you very hard…

Check out these blogs for more:

• Dhahran Little League Makes The News
• Human Growth Hormone in the Little League World Series?
• Some More On That Incredibly Large Saudi Arabian Child
• Not so Little at the Little League World Series
• More Saudi Little League Baseball

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The pressure to push kids to perform in youth sports is starting to take a toll:

The 12-year-old [E.J.] Strehlow tore a ligament in his right elbow last year, a condition that his father Ernie Strehlow said occurred from throwing too much at a young age.

“It caught up with him. A young arm,” said the elder Strehlow, a Little League administrator from Orangevale, Calif.

Before he was hurt, E.J. was throwing about six innings a week. He didn’t need surgery, but a doctor ordered him to stay off the mound for three months.

The problem of serious injuries to kids is compounded by the proliferation of baseball leagues and the level of competition:

A big part of the problem today, Fleisig said, is that more kids — especially the more talented pitchers — are playing in more than one league at the same time. A generation ago, most kids just played Little League.

Today there are other all-star and traveling teams that often share players. Managers may not keep track of what a good pitcher might be doing in another league, Fleisig said.

This problem is everywhere. In Houston, a baseball Mecca, you can play in your local league, neighboring leagues, Baseball USA, and even play for multiple teams within some leagues. All of this leads to a lack of oversight for the well-being of the player. Factor in parents who see their kid’s talents as a ticket to “The Show” and all the spoils, and you have a problem.

I’ve been involved with youth sports teams for the past 8 years and have noticed an increasing disregard for the kids involved. Time after time, I’ve seen examples of parents who forget the most basic element of sports, playing is fun. Remember, “for the love of the game?”

Here is a typical pattern for parents. At age 9, you find out your child can pitch so, bring on the private pitching lessons. Your pitching coach says little “Roger” needs to be careful, but you figure there is no such thing as too much practice. Next, you realize the key to the magical inner-sanctum of baseball is determined by the number of letters in the teams division; A is not so good, AA is better, and AAA is really good. If your lucky, you can even find a Majors level and that is obviously the best.

Then it happens, little Roger wants try football or (gasp!) soccer. Now it’s time to hunt down and destroy the guilty party who planted that seed in your Major League dreams. “Sorry Roger, you have to concentrate on your baseball if you want to be the best you can be.” That means baseball in the spring, summer, fall, and winter for those of us lucky enough to live where that type of activity can be occur in the winter.

After going year-round, it’s time to add multiple teams. You have your “league” team, but want to add a “tournament” team or two to give you the opportunity to really expose your little Roger to even more baseball. At this point, parents really start opening-up the checkbook for travel expenses, team uniforms, $400 bats, matching parents uniforms, team banners, charter planes, etc. The more you invest, the deeper you get, and the longer it must continue.

The Eagles were right, “You can check-out anytime you like, but you can never leave.”

After 4 or 5 years of this, little Roger suffers a torn rotator cuff and his career is over or he finally takes the $400 bat and “explains” to his parents that baseball has become a drag and he wants to stop playing. Either way, little Roger finally gets what he truly wants, a chance to be a kid.

Others blogging:

• Pitch Counts: Who’s Really Counting?
• Too many pitches, not enough pitchers
• How much is too much in youth sports?

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What a great idea for a gift. Check out the complete article in the Orlando Sentinal:

When Brent Surman, coach of the Shetland Padres Pony League team of Murrieta, Calif., received his end-of-season gift from his team, he was touched.

Instead of a gift certificate or a plaque, the team made a donation in Surman’s name to Coaches Curing Kids’ Cancer to help fund pediatric-cancer research.

“I was so moved by their gesture,” says Surman. “The players demonstrated exactly the type of values I try to teach. I can’t think of a better gift to receive from my team.”

For more on this organization, visit the Coaches Curing Kids’ Cancer site.

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I’m sure most of us are aware of the ABC show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. In February of this year, the show traveled to Boynton Beach Florida to fix-up a Little League field that was destroyed by Hurricane Wilma. Here is the background story from PalmBeachPost.com:

On “three,” the crowd joined in and the Little Leaguers opened their eyes to see gleaming new lights, grass, fences, a scoreboard and bleachers covered with awnings, all in the team’s blue and yellow colors.

The players tackled their coach in a heap on the new divot-free pitcher’s mound, then took a run around the bases.

“It’s probably one of the best parks in the country,” Mayor Jerry Taylor said. “Everything’s state-of-the-art. I can’t get over it.”

The show’s crew also built a spacious, air-conditioned concession stand with a plasma TV and installed a bronze sculpture of the poetic baseball figure Casey.

Hundreds of volunteers worked long hours to clear the debris Hurricane Wilma left behind and finish the new construction. The Boynton project, part of the show’s After the Storm series on hurricane-damaged communities, is scheduled to air March 23.

“I feel so blessed,” said Joe Irene, one of the coaches during the 2003 championship season who spent the weekend hauling debris off the field. “It’s the most beautiful field I’ve ever seen.”

Rochelle Stryker, who coaches her 12-year-old son Taylor’s team, was elated to have such professional fields after the league almost had to cancel the spring season because of the hurricane damage.

You can see it now; the running kids, the happy parents, the smiling coaches, and the slimy-low-life-weasel-opportunists. Yesterday, thieves descended on the new facility and stole several items according to Sun-Sentinel.com

What Extreme Makeover: Home Edition gave, burglars took from the East Boynton Beach Little League.

Months after the hit TV series came to town and remade Field No. 2 and the clubhouse, a thief broke in and took a donated 46-inch plasma television, a $500 microwave and $40, according to a Boynton Beach police report. That happened despite a $50,000 donation in March for a security system. The money is still sitting in city coffers.

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