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Show AUU Sua re By DAVE WICHAM Hopefully this article isn't too late to hit at home to some of the adults reading it. Ever since I was involved as a coach in the Little League program, whether it be baseball or football, I found that many of the adults didn't have the kids in mind when they made some decisions. NOW BEFORE everyone gets mad at me, let me assure as-sure you there are many adults who would and who do anything for the kids playing. But in this case it only takes one bad one to spoil all the efforts of the good ones. When it comes down to the time when an All-Star team should be selected, the adults turn it into a circus. At one time I thought the only solution would be either to let the kids pick the team or not pick one at all. BUT IN reality if adults would only sit down and try to reason with one another then the matter becomes easier. The times they get into problems is when each adult comes to the selection meeting with their team and they won't budge. The first thing that gripes me about the selections is the format that the championship team should get X amount of players on the team compared to Y amount of players for the last place team. THAT'S RIDICULOUS! If the last place team has more than one good player, why punish the kid for being on i non-winner. Then again I've seen some years when you have to stretch the imagination to get three or foui players off of one team. True, for the most part, the championship team will probably have more good players than the others, but it still isn't right to say outright "four members of this team will be All-Stars." Every team doesn't have to have a player on the All-Star All-Star squad. I used to hope that I'd get put on a rotten team thinking my chances of making the elite team at the end were better. THE BIGGEST gripe I had, and still have, is the old stand by that "he was an All-Star last year" routine. Why then have a selection process, just pick an All-Star team when the kids are nine and then they can be the stars for the next five years. If a new kid moves into town, or another player gets better, that's tough, he wasn't a star the year before. Maybe this article is a little dramatic to some people, but believe me those parents who have had kids play organized ball know what I'm talking about. |