There is something rotten in the state of Denmark, er ummmm, Youth Athletics

A controversy is brewing in the local youth athletic leagues in my area. Seems that a little boy just wanted to play football, his dad took him to the registration, completed all the forms with the proper proof of age, i.e., birth certificate and official ID form the state DMV and turns it all in to the league. The league reviews the application and places him on a team. He practices with the team and begins to play football. Four games into the season, the league calls the boy’s dad and indicates that they have determined that his son is too old, by five days, to play on the team on which he was placed. No problem thinks his dad they will move him to the proper team. Well no this is where it gets controversial, especially in my mind.

The league decides that because his son is too old to play on the team he was on, the boy must now be suspended for one year, the team must forfeit its two wins and the coach must be suspended for one year. Why? The boy is obviously a ringer! Excuse me? The league placed the boy on the team. The league reviewed the application and has a copy of the birth certificate and a copy of the official state ID issued by the DMV. How could they even consider that this boy is a ringer? Is this a case of someone now trying to cover their mistake by making three more? And why does it take 4 weeks to uncover this error? Isn’t this what the application process is supposed to avoid from having happen?

Something isn’t right; I’ll tell you that for nothing. The boy’s father requested a meeting with the football board and was denied. He was told by the president of the league, that if a special meeting were called over "this issue" (his child!!), the team and coach would face further sanctions. Did you hear that? If the father wants to talk about this the team will suffer even more!

The boy’s family has even been told that they will not be allowed to speak for their son at the next board meeting of the league and their repeated attempts to obtain a copy of the rule book have been denied.

The local papers are covering this mess, and I’ll let you all know more as it progresses.

Oh by the way, the boy is not mine and to top it all off. On the day of the phone call from the league his fish died. Talk about adding insult to injury.