The Buzz on Youth Sports

Local League Politics
© Jon Buzby, www.JonBuzby.com

It’s that time of year again ~ time to select baseball and softball all star teams.

I can’t remember a time in my son’s sporting life when he felt more stress than waiting to hear the announcement about whether or not he made his Little League’s all-star team. You know, the team with a 1 in 100,000 chance of making the Little League World Series in Williamsport. Which is every baseball player’s dream ~ at that age anyway.

And that’s why selecting all-star teams is one of the most stressful situations in all of youth sports for administrators, managers and parents. It also can be the most political.

My son wasn’t even on the fence. I knew he’d be an all star and I’m pretty sure down deep, he knew it too. And yet until we received that phone call there was anxiety. Being on the Little League major league all-star team was something we had both dreamed about since he was hitting the ball off the tee in the backyard at the age of three. Okay, he had no idea back then, it was more my dream.

My experience with all-star teams in any sports at any level is that usually 80% of the team is made up of kids who everyone agrees belong on the team. And then there is another 20% who are on the fence. A few of them get voted on and a few get left off, sometimes because of politics.

I’ve learned that the leagues that boast “no politics here” are often the ones where who you know is more important than how good you can hit or field. They are the leagues where being a manager or serving on the board of directors almost guarantees your child a spot on the all-star team as long as he is at least on the fence come selection time. And of course a sizable donation to the league never hurts boosting your child over the fence and onto the team. Maybe that’s why they call parents who make donations “boosters.”

But I’ve also witnessed first hand the exact opposite happening.

The year my son made his all-star team there was a tie for the 12th and final spot on the team. According to league bylaws that meant that the final spot would be decided by the league commissioner. Of course, as luck would have it, one of the two boys in the tie for the last spot was the league commissioner’s son.

The commissioner’s son was eleven and arguably deserved the spot more than the other boy who was twelve (the last year you are eligible for the team). The commissioner could have easily put his “dad cap” on and selected his son, who in the eyes of the other managers was not only a better player, but an easier child to coach.

So it came down to one vote. And the commissioner voted for his son not to be on the team. His rationale was simple. The player talent level was close enough that the twelve year-old deserved to be on the team since it was his last year in the major leagues. That uncommon decision has since been brought up several times at all-star selection time and the result has been several twelve year-olds getting the nod over eleven year-olds of better, but similar talent.

I’ll never forget that moment because not one person in the league would have argued that the eleven year-old shouldn’t be on the team. But instead, the commissioner put his fatherly pride aside and gave another player a once in a lifetime chance to go for that Williamsport dream.

As it turned out the team got eliminated from the tournament in three games. The following year, the team (when the player not voted on the year before by dad was on the team) won the state championship and traveled to Connecticut for the regional finals before losing in the last game. Just one game from every Little Leaguer’s dream. One might say that good things happen to those who wait.

My guess is 99% of the dads in a similar situation would have voted their own son on the team. I probably would have given my son the nod. The parents of the twelve year-old would never have known it came down to the commissioner’s vote.

Others might say this dad was “soft” and should have voted his son onto the team. Actually, he was the opposite of soft. He stood up for what was right, not what would have been a popular decision. There was certainly a political aura in the room that night. But unlike what often happens in government arenas, this time the politician made the right decision.

I’ve never experienced a moment in youth sports quite like that night. It made me realize even more that there is a heck of a lot of good out there in youth sports and that sometimes it takes just one person with the guts to stand up for what is right, rather than what is popular, to set the stage for future decisions.

Everyone in that room learned a lesson that night. Not about baseball, but about life.

© 2008 Jon Buzby

Jon Buzby is a successful syndicated columnist and former youth coach. His column, The Buzz on Youth Sports, appears in newspapers and magazines around the country as well as throughout the Internet. His latest books are, "Coaching Kids: It’s More than X’s and O’s" and "Raising a Sports Fanatic." Email your questions or comments to Jon via email or visit his website at www.jonbuzby.com for more information.

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