OK, it is time to comment on the situation surrounding the amazing girls from South Snohomish Little League and the drama surrounding their experience at the Little League World Series. See “South Snohomish coach calls for changes in series format,” Aug. 19, Herald.
I posted this as a reply to a thread focusing on problems in Little League and how people should leave and join other programs. Well, I have direct experience with Little League International as a past leader that dealt firsthand with the great frustrations surrounding their structure and policies.
I am an minority owner in a consulting company that works with some of the largest non-profits in the U.S, including Young Life and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and I know just how hard it is to protect your mission as a non-profit at international elves. I am a coach in North Snohomish Little League but this is not about Little League, this is about you.
As I have read all the keyboard assassins via social media, blogs and media comment threads, I have finally snapped. It is time for personal accountability and the courage to be humble. Let’s speak to the facts. No youth sports organization is devoid of these challenges. The challenges of Little League governance are the by-product of thousands of adults manipulating situations to win at all costs with kids. Every adult that breaks the rules, generally leads to another rule or regulation being passed (sort of like government). This creates further regulation in an attempt to protect kids which is truly the mission and heart of these organizations. I believe that is true with all youth baseball organizations.
The difference is simply tenure. Little League has 75 years of passing laws to stop the Danny Almonte, Jackie Robinson Little League disasters (all driven by adults). Cal Ripken has grown because of the frustration of these Little League rules and regulations. They will catch up to the same problem and it won’t take 75 years.
In the end, your son or daughter should play ball with their friends and ultimately where they are going to have the most fun. Winning is important but only when it comes from great coaches teaching strong skills for life and sport. If it comes from stacked teams, it is fun but it doesn’t teach children that success comes from great teachers, strong work ethic and drive to succeed.
I have spent my entire tenure volunteering in youth sports to fight this exact issue. In the end, adults need to just let kids play ball, learn and ultimately have fun. From my perspective, this is an adult issue so we all need to look in the mirror and honestly assess our role in it. The South Snohomish coach shouldn’t have played to avoid scoring runs , which is very different than media portraying him playing to lose as they are very different acts. The tournament director shouldn’t have heard a protest from a coach not involved in the game, and the governing body should never have allowed the format not to mention they shouldn’t have changed the structure mid-tournament.
All that said, this situation was created by a series of cascading mistakes by really good people with the best of intentions.
What if your next mistake gets this much attention? I don’t know the South Snohomish coach personally but I know his reputation. God blessed me with three challenging sons so I don’t have girls, but if I did, he is the type of coach I want them playing for. He doesn’t need to answer to me, although I would guess he would take a different path if presented with the same decision again. He has a reputation of being a phenomenal coach and he just became a better one because we learn from tough situations. So do our kids by the way.
What I know is that I have made hundreds of mistakes in 25 years of coaching. God blessed me that nobody had microphones, cameras or social media for those. What he did do was convict me and thus improve me each time.
Please back off of persecuting good people unless you are willing to share your greatest failures along with your post. If you come across one of these keyboard assassins, take the high road and love em’. They love drama so don’t give it to them.
It is time to start focusing our discussions and actions on celebrating the amazing accomplishments of these awesome girls from Snohomish!
Darin Leonard is a Snohomish resident.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
