defending your player

guest — Sat, 23 May 2009 05:50:00 GMT

My daughter was a player with La Verne Girls Softball. I use the word WAS because my child lost her desire to play based on the treatment she received during the 2008 seasons. I believe my daughter was a victim of bias and favoritism, which prompted me to refrain from signing her up for the 2009 season.

She visited her some of her former teammates during the 2009 season, watched them hit homeruns, throw strikes and slide at home for that crucial winning point. I watched with my daughter; seeing her former teammates who last season could barely field a ball improve to getting a player out at home. These girls, who worked so hard, will never reap the rewards of a job well done.

None of their hard work matters. None of it matters because it had all ready been decided, as it had been in former years who was going to make All-Stars in some backroom of a league sponsored pizza parlor or burger joint. It was already decided barring any unforeseen circumstance, the same girls who have made the ?elite team? every year should make it again.

This year was no different. I saw several girls that exceeded the expectations indicative of what an All-Star athlete is. However, the league did not care. It had already been decided before an assessment who was to be on what team and who was to be an All-Star.

These girls; these ?All-Stars? are touted by the league as an unbeatable force; the players with the most; the future of the game; the reason they will be bringing softball back to the Olympics.

To this I say, poppycock. This league would not know true talent if it smacked them in the face, because they never look for it. They are too busy trying to figure out a way to keep their daughters in the All-Star spotlight.

The 2009 season came to a close recently. I waited anxiously for the announcement of who was this year?s cream of the crop. I crossed my fingers and hoped that this year would be different, that this year, I would hear the name of that girl that went from striking out to hitting homers or the name of that girl who went from picking daisies in the outfield to charging players at the plate, but that did not happen. Instead, I heard what I always heard, every coach's daughter, and the president of the league's daughter and so forth and so on. I was left feeling dismayed and filled with disappointment. I was left feeling I had to say something.

I am writing this message for every girl who gives one hundred and ten percent, for every girl who cheers every player, for every girl who applauds a good play (even from an opposing team), for every girl who is gracious in defeat and in victory, but most of all, I am writing this message for every girl who has been robbed of the opportunity to prove themselves because of blatant favoritism forced upon them by a group of adults who abuse their position to continue making All-Stars a ?Family Affair?.

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defending your player