| Little
League quietly becoming an issue in Providence
By Trevor Brasfield
March 30, 2007 | PROVIDENCE -- Some people would not
call this a controversy, yet many in this town when
asked to male a statement or be interviewed on the subject,
declined to comment.
The controversy in question is Providence's Little
League baseball. For years it has been run according
to the WBBA rulebook. This rulebook has the standards
and procedures for Providence and many other leagues
throughout the country.
Last year the league, as it have done in the past,
held a draft. This draft takes players who have participated
in an open tryout to play on certain teams; the players
not chosen are still allowed to play but have to do
so in the league below them. That league is the minors,
and mostly comprises of 9- and 10-year-olds.
A few parents were upset last year that this practice
had not chosen their children to play with the major-league
kids who are ages 11 and 12. The parents deemed this
not fair, and according to one of the volunteers for
the league these parents made the league look like a
“clandestine organization.” This volunteer asked not
to be named for this article.
“This is the nature of the game,” the volunteer said.
“There is room for everyone to play in the league. No
one is turned down.”
The parents at the center of the debate wanted the
process to be more democratic, according to the volunteer.
The volunteer said the parents wanted to draw names
out of a hat to make teams, believing that would be
better for the league.
Yet others associated with the league believed that
the tried and true WBBA rules are the most efficient
way of making it fair. This year, one team lost five
players due to their growing too old, and the league
is giving that team five of the top 10 picks in the
draft.
Tryouts this year will be at 6 p.m. April 20 at the
Providence ball park.
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