I was on my high school newspaper staff, holding four different editor jobs. I was never a staff writer. As such, I only vaguely had to be concerned that there was nothing in there that could get us in trouble. I knew you could tell the truth, and omit enough details to get the readers up in arms about an issue that didn’t exist. I never did it, but I was well aware that it could be done.
That brings us to this story found in numerous places (I originally read it on Yahoo! Sports). The story says that a little 9-year-old boy was told he couldn’t pitch anymore, because he was overpowering in his league. He throws harder and better than any other pitcher. His coach on Will Power Fitness refused to stop him from pitching, and the opponent forfeited, and now the team is banned from playing. The parents are now suing. The boy, Jericho Scott, is quoted as saying he just wants to play ball. His mother is indignant: “I think it’s discouraging when you’re telling a 9-year-old you’re too good at something. The whole objective in life is to find something you’re good at and stick with it. I’d rather he spend all his time on the baseball field than idolizing someone standing on the street corner.”
As the writer intended, I was indignant. A boy shouldn’t be told he can’t do something because he’s too good. The league suggested moving up a level, or switching positions. I have two issues with that: if a boy has been playing with a team all season, likely he’s built up camaraderie with his teammates and friends; beyond that, moving him up a level will put him with older kids, whom he probably isn’t socially ready to deal with. Secondly, why make a kid switch to a different position? You don’t see the CEO of a pharmaceutical company coming out of his office and saying, “I’m sorry, Linda, but you’ve cured too many diseases and you’re showing up your co-workers. You’ll need to switch to receptionist now.” It was all wrong. It was parents getting too involved and too focused on winning and being sore losers because some kid was better than theirs.
And then an ESPN columnist dug into the story, and reported back. It turns out that the kid played in a higher league when he wasn’t playing for this younger league. The higher level has teams of kids from 9-13 (and Scott turned 10 this week, so he’s not out of his age group). On that team, he’s the number four pitcher; good enough to be on the team, but not dominating to the level of Cy Young, as he was in the lower league. Even more suspect is that Scott hasn’t played on Will Power Fitness all year. He joined the team, along with an all-star from the higher level league, mid-year. If Scott had joined the lower-level team to play short-stop, because he sucked at fielding, that would be a legitimate move. But he joined a development team to play a position at which he was already developed.
The issue is still about parents being too involved. They think young Scott is a victim because he’s not allowed to play on a team for the sole sake of being the best and winning. In short, his parents are teaching him to be a bully. If you’re better at something than most kids your age, make sure you rub it in!
The story originally was definitely meant to make us feel sorry for the poor abused kid. The details come out, and we discover that we were only told half the story. The lesson here is to know the full story. And this isn’t my final opinion, because we might find out more details that explains this situation to turn the lower-level league back to the bad guys.
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