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Title: Celebrated Little League team stripped of championship title
Source:
AP
URL Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie ... AULT&CTIME=2015-02-11-17-50-33
Published: Feb 11, 2015
Author: By DON BABWIN - Associated Press
Post Date: 2015-02-11 19:16:01 by Murron
Keywords: None
Views: 8591
Comments: 32
Celebrated Little League team stripped of championship title CHICAGO (AP) -- A Little League team that captured the attention of the nation and the hearts of its hometown was stripped of its national title Wednesday after an investigation revealed that team officials had falsified boundaries so they could add ineligible players to the roster. FILE - In this Aug. 27, 2014, file photo, members of the Jackie Robinson West Little League baseball team participate in a rally in Chicago celebrating the team's U.S. Little League Championship. Little League International has stripped Chicago's Jackie Robinson West team of its national title after finding the team falsified its boundary map. The league made the announcement Wednesday morning, Feb. 11, 2015, saying the Chicago team violated regulations by placing players on the team who didn’t qualify because they lived outside the team’s boundaries. Little League International also suspended Jackie Robinson West manager Darold Butler from league activity.(AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File) Only last summer, the all-black Jackie Robinson West team was the toast of Chicago and was honored with trips to San Francisco and to the White House. But the sport's governing body announced that team officials had engaged in a Little League version of political gerrymandering. Instead of politicians redrawing district maps to pick up votes, it was local league officials who changed the boundaries that determined where players must live. And after learning that their scheme had been exposed, they scrambled to convince surrounding leagues to go along with what they had done. "This is so heartbreaking," said Stephen D. Keener, president and CEO of Little League International. "It is a sad day for a bunch of kids who we have come to really like ... who did nothing wrong." But "we cannot tolerate the actions of some of the adults involved here." The organization suspended the manager, Darold Butler, and suspended the team from Little League tournament play until the local league's president and treasurer have been replaced. A district official who is believed to have helped change the boundaries was also removed. All of the team's victories were thrown out, meaning that the wins will be awarded to other teams. Mountain Ridge Little League, the team from Las Vegas that lost to Jackie Robinson West in the national championship game, will be awarded the title. Parents were angered by the news, saying their children were being unfairly punished. "The boys had no inside dealings ... about any borders, and I as a mother had no idea there were any (questions about) boundaries," said Venisa Green, who was driving her son, Brandon, to school Wednesday when they were "blindsided" by the news as it came over the radio. "We weren't involved in anything that could have caused us to be stripped of our championship," said Brandon, appearing at a news conference with his mother. Venisa Green said the move was especially disheartening because the team was part of efforts to keep children safe and prepare them for college in a community better known for gangs and drugs than any kind of achievement. "What would you have us do, Little League, for them to be killed on the streets of Chicago?" she asked. She wondered if the fact that the players were black had any role in the ruling, something that the Rev. Jesse Jackson and others questioned as well. "Is this about boundaries or race?" Jackson asked. Jackson did not discuss whether he blamed any league officials for what had happened, but in Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest suggested that it was the adults who let down the boys. "The fact is, you know, some dirty dealing by some adults doesn't take anything away from the accomplishments of those young men," he said. It was a stunning end to a story that began last summer as the team marched through the Little League tournament. Their odyssey ended with a loss to South Korea in the world championship game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. For days, Chicago was enthralled by the story, in large part because the team was from the city's South Side, an area that has a reputation in much of the country for being synonymous with crime and gun violence. They were part of one of the most heartwarming World Series in Little League history, with the country rooting for Jackie Robinson West and a team from Philadelphia that had Mo'ne Davis, a star pitcher who was the first girl to appear in the series for a U.S. team since 2004. When the Chicago team returned home, the boys were treated as conquering heroes. Thousands of people lined city streets to catch a glimpse of them as they were paraded by bus from their home field to a downtown park. The team was treated to a trip to a major league World Series game in San Francisco and then a visit with President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the White House. Behind the scenes, Keener said, the investigation was creating a different story after a coach from a nearby suburb alleged that Jackie Robinson West had violated rules by poaching top suburban players. The investigation, which was first reported by DNAinfo.com, appeared to end in December when the national organization said it had uncovered no violations. Officials said they would reopen the inquiry if new information surfaced. About that time, the organization learned of questions about boundary maps involving multiple leagues. The investigation resumed. In an interview, Keener said Jackie Robinson West officials expanded the boundaries of their league at the expense of three neighboring leagues, so that the boundaries included the homes of several players on the team who would not otherwise have been eligible. The investigation found that at least one district official who had helped redraw the map went to the other teams to ask that they go along with what the team had done, Keener said. "They (said) `We know we took your territory. We shouldn't have done it, but will you give it to us' to essentially legitimize it," Keener said. The other leagues refused, he said.
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Celebrated Little League team stripped of championship title Las Vegas Little League team national champs after Chicago team disqualified By Don Babwin, Associated Press Published Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015 | 7:42 a.m. Updated Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2015 | 2:22 p.m. Nevada advances to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA. Nevada players celebrate after defeating Pacifica 11-2 Saturday night to win the Little League Western Regional Championship. Mountain Ridge Little League, from Las Vegas, Nevada, defeated Pacifica Little League 11-2 Saturday August 9, 2014 in the Little League Western Regional Championship game at Al Houghton Stadium in San Bernardino. Nevada will play at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA. starting next week. (Will Lester/Staff Photographer) Launch slideshow » CHICAGO — A Little League team that captured the attention of the nation and the hearts of its hometown was stripped of its national title Wednesday after an investigation revealed that team officials had falsified boundaries so they could add ineligible players to the roster. Only last summer, the all-black Jackie Robinson West team was the toast of Chicago and was honored with trips to San Francisco and to the White House. But the sport's governing body, Little League International, announced that team officials had changed the boundaries that determine where players must live. And after learning that their scheme had been exposed, they scrambled to convince surrounding leagues to go along with what they had done. "This is so heartbreaking," said Stephen D. Keener, the Little League International president and CEO. "It is a sad day for a bunch of kids who we have come to really like ... who did nothing wrong." But "we cannot tolerate the actions of some of the adults involved here." The organization suspended the manager, Darold Butler, and suspended the team from Little League tournament play until the local league's president and treasurer have been replaced. A district official who is believed to have helped change the boundaries was also removed. All of the team's victories were thrown out, meaning that the wins will be awarded to other teams. Mountain Ridge Little League, the team from Las Vegas that lost to Jackie Robinson West in the national championship game will be awarded the title. Parents were angered by the news, saying their children were being unfairly punished. "The boys had no inside dealings ... about any borders, and I as a mother had no idea there were any (questions about) boundaries," said Venisa Green, who was driving her son, Brandon, to school Wednesday when they were "blindsided" by the news as it came over the radio. "We weren't involved in anything that could have caused us to be stripped of our championship," said Brandon, appearing at a news conference with his mother. Venisa Green said the move was especially disheartening because the team was part of efforts to keep children safe and prepare them for college in a community better known for gangs and drugs than any kind of achievement. "What would you have us do, Little League, for them to be killed on the streets of Chicago?" she asked. She wondered if the fact that the players were black had any role in the ruling, something that the Rev. Jesse Jackson and others questioned as well. "Is this about boundaries or race?" Jackson asked. Jackson did not discuss whether he blamed any league officials for what had happened, but in Washington, White House spokesman Josh Earnest suggested that it was the adults who let down the boys. "The fact is, you know, some dirty dealing by some adults doesn't take anything away from the accomplishments of those young men," he said. It was a stunning end to a story that began last summer as the team marched through the Little League tournament. Their odyssey ended with a loss to South Korea in the world championship game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. For days, Chicago was enthralled by the story, in large part because the team was from the city's South Side, an area beyond the city limits that has become almost synonymous with crime and gun violence. They were part of one of the most heartwarming World Series in Little League history, with the country rooting for Jackie Robinson West and a team from Philadelphia that had Mo'ne Davis, a star pitcher who was the first girl to appear in the series for a U.S. team since 2004. When the Chicago team returned, the boys were treated as conquering heroes. Thousands of people lined city streets to catch a glimpse of them as they were paraded by bus from their home field to a downtown park. The team was treated to a trip to a major league World Series game in San Francisco and then a visit with President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the White House. But behind the scenes, Keener said, the investigation was creating a different story after a coach from a nearby suburb alleged that Jackie Robinson West had violated rules by poaching top suburban players. The investigation, which was first reported by DNAinfo.com, appeared to end in December when the national organization said it had uncovered no violations. But officials said they would reopen the inquiry if new information surfaced. About that time, the organization learned of questions about boundary maps involving multiple leagues. The investigation resumed. In an interview, Keener said Jackie Robinson West officials expanded the boundaries of their league at the expense of three neighboring leagues, so that the boundaries included the homes of several players on the team who would not otherwise have been eligible. The investigation found that at least one district official who had helped redraw the map went to the other teams to ask that they go along with what the team had done, Keener said. "They (said) 'We know we took your territory. We shouldn't have done it, but will you give it to us' to essentially legitimize it," Keener said. The other leagues refused, he said.
Official: Jackie Robinson West used bogus map to recruit ineligible players Officials with neighboring Little League organizations knew that Jackie Robinson West officials had gerrymandered a map to cover up for ineligible players but kept quiet because they didn't want to cause trouble, the CEO of Little League International said Wednesday.. "They didn't want to rock the boat," said Stephen Keener. "It was a great story. ... They were happy for the kids." But during the investigation by Little League International into boundary issues, Jackie Robinson West's leaders attempted to meet with officials of three nearby leagues, "essentially asking them to give JRW that territory so they could legitimize" the map submitted to the league's governing body, Keener said. The matter came to a head during a meeting in Chicago on Jan. 31, when Jackie Robinson West was found to have annexed areas from the other leagues without their permission. The map had been "redrawn and backdated and signed to make it appear it had been the map used during the entire" tournament, Keener said. The investigation also uncovered "several operational issues within the entire District (4, which covers the South Side and includes Jackie Robinson West) that have occurred over the course of many years under different leadership at the district level." Those issues include "a breakdown in communication of roles and responsibilities among District and league leadership and misunderstandings in multiple league boundaries," a release from Little League International said. The findings led to the decision to strip Jackie Robinson West of its national title, suspend the team's manager and remove the district administrator, Michael Kelley, who signed off on the boundaries map. The actions, Keener said, are "painful and troubling" but necessary. "Whether it's sport at the highest level — of MLB or the NFL — right down to the grass-roots level, adherence and conformity to rules and regulations are what make our programs possible," he said. The investigation began after a leader with a suburban Chicago league, Chris Janes, contacted the national organization with concerns that the South Side team was bringing in players from outside its stated boundaries. That led the national organization to call for the meetings in Chicago with officials from all of the local leagues involved in the boundary issue, Keener said. At those meetings, officials from the other leagues confirmed that the map's boundaries were incorrect. It's unclear how many members of Jackie Robinson West's winning team came from outside its boundaries. Little League International officials said "several children" on the team did not live within the appropriate boundaries but declined to be more specific. "Due to the sensitive nature of this story, we are not at liberty to disclose the full amount or any names of those children," Little League International spokesman Brian McClintock said in an email. An official with Roseland Little League, one of the leagues the national organization said was approached to sign off on the illegitimate map, said Jackie Robinson West leaders never asked his league to cede its boundaries. But the Roseland league's president, Maurice Johnson, said they were happy to give up players to the all-star team. "I can't speak for those other leagues, but from our point of view — and we told this to Little League Baseball — we were willing to sign off (letting kids play for JRW) since we didn't have a team in the tournament Two players from Roseland, in fact, played for the Jackie Robinson team in the tournament, Johnson said. Janes, vice president of the Evergreen Park Athletic Association, called the Little League's action "sad but appropriate." Janes said the boundaries are in place "to keep the organization community- based." "They're there to stop ambitious coaches from pirating other leagues and stealing their best players," he said Wednesday. Little League is about "working with the resources you have in a community, coaching and mentoring kids in the community in which you live." Because of the violations, the Little League's District 4 will get a "special administrator" appointed by the national Little League group to ensure future boundary issues and operations "fully comply" with national rules. Kelley, who was removed from his role as district administrator, could not be reached Wednesday for comment. Kelley denied in a December interview with the Tribune that the team changed boundaries to gather the best players. "It's totally nonsense," he said then. "There's always someone complaining and crying foul about something. Let the kids play ball."
Wonder if they checked birth certificates too? There is always controversy of overaged kids playing on Little League teams. Then again, if POTUS doesn't have to show his REAL birth certificate then why should the kids?:)
#16. To: redleghunter (#15)
"My mama tole me that out of all the men that could bees my daddy, four of them live within the boundary. Dat means I can play."
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestI'm sorry It took me so long to get back to this with this update.- murron
#14. To: All (#6)
#15. To: Murron, liberator, CZ82 (#14)
Replies to Comment # 15. "Wonder if they checked birth certificates too?"
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