Little league player banned for being too good

[vinuneuro]

Nine-year-old told he's too good - MLB - SI.com


NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- Nine-year-old Jericho Scott is a good baseball player -- too good, it turns out.

The right-hander has a fastball that tops out at about 40 mph. He throws so hard that the Youth Baseball League of New Haven told his coach that the boy could not pitch any more. When Jericho took the mound anyway last week, the opposing team forfeited the game, packed its gear and left, his coach said.

Officials for the three-year-old league, which has eight teams and about 100 players, said they will disband Jericho's team, redistributing its players among other squads, and offered to refund $50 sign-up fees to anyone who asks for it. They say Jericho's coach, Wilfred Vidro, has resigned.

But Vidro says he didn't quit and the team refuses to disband. Players and parents held a protest at the league's field on Saturday urging the league to let Jericho pitch.

"He's never hurt any one," Vidro said. "He's on target all the time. How can you punish a kid for being too good?"

The controversy bothers Jericho, who says he misses pitching.

"I feel sad," he said. "I feel like it's all my fault nobody could play."

Jericho's coach and parents say the boy is being unfairly targeted because he turned down an invitation to join the defending league champion, which is sponsored by an employer of one of the league's administrators.................

[Boston X5 4.4]

Originally Posted by vinuneuro

Nine-year-old told he's too good - MLB - SI.com


NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) -- Nine-year-old Jericho Scott is a good baseball player -- too good, it turns out.

The right-hander has a fastball that tops out at about 40 mph. He throws so hard that the Youth Baseball League of New Haven told his coach that the boy could not pitch any more. When Jericho took the mound anyway last week, the opposing team forfeited the game, packed its gear and left, his coach said.

Officials for the three-year-old league, which has eight teams and about 100 players, said they will disband Jericho's team, redistributing its players among other squads, and offered to refund $50 sign-up fees to anyone who asks for it. They say Jericho's coach, Wilfred Vidro, has resigned.

But Vidro says he didn't quit and the team refuses to disband. Players and parents held a protest at the league's field on Saturday urging the league to let Jericho pitch.

"He's never hurt any one," Vidro said. "He's on target all the time. How can you punish a kid for being too good?"

The controversy bothers Jericho, who says he misses pitching.

"I feel sad," he said. "I feel like it's all my fault nobody could play."

Jericho's coach and parents say the boy is being unfairly targeted because he turned down an invitation to join the defending league champion, which is sponsored by an employer of one of the league's administrators.................

Yup, heard that story this morning.

Whats wrong with the parenting today - they are either overcompensating maniacs that want their kids to treat every game like game 7 of the World Series or in this case soften everything up so there are no loser or no ones feelings get hurt because everyone has to be a winnner.

[primetime]

Let the kid play. He is eligible by age and whatever other requirements. This is ridiculous and it sends the wrong message...

[statdoc]

Political correctness is a cancer in our society.

[rayxi]

WTF? What kind of message are the opposing parents sending? Kids, strive to do your best as long as your best isn't too much better than anyone else's? That's just sheer idiocy.

What's next, kids getting kicked out of school because they're too smart?

[motordavid]

I agree...let the kid play. It would be like keeping a young Tiger Woods
out of Amateur tourneys. PC bs, imo.

Otoh, our local hillbilly 6:00 news had a lengthy vid clip on the kid and
he was "showing off his pitching" and bounced a half dozen balls in
and wasn't near the plate on any. And, didn't look very fast. Maybe
it was TV cam itis, lol!

Only in America, can someone come up with rulings like this.
BR,mD

[SuaveX5]

I had the same problem, and was told i was too good for the NBA

Sad that this kinds of things happen, how can some kid be too good to play, maybe the others need more training, but don`t band the kid only because he is very good !!!

[carlgo]

I coached in quite a few all-star teams in Little League and Pony League tournaments.

In one tournament, 12-13 yr old Little League, we met up with a pitcher who was far faster than any we had ever seen. Our lead-off guy, a tough future pro, took the first pitch, listened to the sharp whack from the catcher's glove watched the cloud of dust emanating from it, stepped out, looked at me and laughed. It was so fast! We had two future pros, a number of future Div 1 players and got one hit.

The umpire was terrified and kept ducking out, which didn't help us any. We all thought his catcher should have been the MPV as there were no passed balls.

Later, in a Pony League tournament, we met up with a 230 lb kid with a full red beard and an astounding fast ball. We won that game handily because their catcher was scared to death and couldn't catch the ball. They had to pull their star pitcher and put in one they could catch and we could hit.

This kid, who went on in the Giant's organization for a while, was evidently the subject of attempted bans as he grew up. The problem is that in all youth sports organizations I know of, kids aren't allowed to jump to a higher age level. There were stories about Bo Jackson playing in the 12-13 level when he was 7 or 8, but that would have been illegal unless his league was a local rec league without national rules. Maybe an urban legend.

There are youth football leagues with weight limits, but I never heard of a speed limit. A kid kept dunking on my middle-school basketball team one game, but that was merely humiliating, not dangerous.

[carlgo]

Originally Posted by SuaveX5

I had the same problem, and was told i was too good for the NBA ...

Yeah, they are such babies when you humiliate them on the court. Besides, that much money would corrupt my spartan lifestyle.

[ylwjacket]

I've been involved in youth sports for a long time. Here are the issues:

1) Youth sports are more about sportsmanship and competition as individual achievement. It can be conceived as being unsportsmanlike to use a dominating pitcher at lower age levels. Usually, this perception is from "new" or "inexperienced" parents, which at this age level, is almost everybody.
2) At this age, there are always kids that develop quicker than others.
3) There are rules against moving a player up, and exceptions are very hard to get.

Now, my own perspective:

It is not doing this athlete any good playing against kids his own age, and he should be moved up. One of the best 10 year pitchers I ever had doesn't pitch any more. They get used to being dominant, but guess what - everyone else grows up too, eventually. When the other player catches up, the crushing feeling of failure will sometimes drive a kid to quit pitching. I have seen this many times, and is what happened to that pitcher I referenced above.

Moving a kid up an age group provides continual challenge, and will to succeed, which leads to increased drive and work habits. Also, a HUGE part of pitching, or any sport, is learning to deal with failure. With a lack of any type of failure early, it is impossible to deal with later (like 12 or 13), and the player stops pitching.

The league shoudl make an exception, and move him up. However, Little League is an omnipotent power, who is inflexible, and fails to recognize developmental differences in young athletes. Until they change, this sor tof thing will happen.

My own daughter almost gave up pitching a few years ago, because no one and her team wanted to catch for her, and other teams didn't want to hit against her. She almsot gave it up, because it wasn't challenging. I took her out of Little League, and into club ball, where ability matters more than age. She was renewed by the challenge (older kids hit the snot out of it, and she had to wrk even harder to not get clobbered).

They should let him play up and be done with it.