Don't shoot me, but is it good or bad for legion ball that...

Dbacks,,, you learned from the master himself (Mr.Braves), you are gooooooood.

Sorry guys, but NEWSFLASH, the remaining ONE Area 4 spot for the state tournament in Gastonia will go to the winner of the Pineville/Churaville series which will begin in about 2 weeks.

How's that?

 

At least Braves has not picked us yet....that would be the kiss of death.

 

Shelby and Union County

Union County over Shelby 7-5 tonight

 

Just to set the record straight, you would have had a couple of more players from Hopewell on the North Meck legion roster, but because they live on the "wrong side" of Mt. Holly/Huntersville Road, they were restricted from playing for North Meck, and for anyone else. They fall in what American Legion refers to as the "DEAD ZONE". Several years ago, these boys would have played for the Paw Creek team which folded; then the boys were sent way down to Steele Creek, because North Meck and Myers Park (the next two closest according to the maps drawn up) were full; so needless to say Showcase ball continued to be their choice. This year Steele Creek Legion folded, and the families were told they could not officially play anywhere. When we inquired about specifically playing for North Meck, we were told that we could not go there because it would "over populate" the tryouts and roster. The North Meck Legion coaches were very sympathetic and in all honesty, would have loved to have these couple of players, but their hands were tied and asked us to appeal to the State Director. When it was escalated up to the State Director, there was neither a returned phone call or a returned email to our appeals. So needless to say, there is major administrative issues with Legion Ball. I was always under the impression that it was open to everyone as long as you played in your region....just couldn't believe that a player couldn't play at all; but now I have been educated. So just know that you would have had a couple of more from the Hopewell Titans if Legion Baseball had their act together. Hopefully by next year, things will improve with the way they "draw the lines" for player participation.

 

As for legion ball having their "act together", well legion must have lines and boundaries in order to attempt to keep all legion teams as equal as possible, in terms of total student enrollment. Unfortunately these boundaries "do" make some kids ineligible to play for a certain team. I understand the situation is made worse if theres "not" another legion team on the other side of the boundary.

Of course, when you have more legion teams, then folks complain that there are literally "too many teams" and they say programs are being "watered down".

So you just can't win in certain situations, and as much as it would be nice for there to be a legion team for every single kid to play on, the area/state commissioners do realize there are unfortunate situations that do exist across this huge state. But the intent is simply to provide rules for credibility's sake, the intent is certainly not to leave any kid out.

 

While I agree the "intent" may not be to leave any kid out, the way the program is set up now, kids are left out - to no fault of their own. And you have some teams that barely have enough kids to finish the season (as has been the case with Huntersville in prevous years), and have kids lined up that would love to play for that team and can't. I understand there has to be equity and boundaries, but to prevent kids from playing for "any" team at all....and to rob them of the opportunity to ever play legion ball in any capacity is not right, no matter how you paint the picture. If their community post folds, they should be allowed to go to another post....but to put them in a "Dead Zone" isn't fair. But the main purpose of my post is to inform some of the parents involved as to "why" some players are not on their rosters (it wasn't their choice)...and to get the word out not to "assume" that at some point between 16 and 19 your son will be able to "choose" to play Legion ball and have that particular baseball experience; because due to the Legion Baseball system that is in place at the present time, it isn't always possible.

 

Redbirdfan, I appreciate your wanting to explain to other parents why some kids are not playing legion ball, but in all honesty its not legion ball's system or the state director's fault that any team folds.

If I'm understanding you correctly, these specific kids got left out because they live across the line in another legion teams' area, but that other legion team (Paw Creek) supposedly folded.

The only problem I have with what your saying is that your still blaming the legion ball system,,,,,,, instead of placing the blame on the people of that community which allows a team to fold. Anyone or any group can keep a legion team floating, if your willing to put in the time. Honestly, the way I see it, it is a community's fault if any boys don't have a legion team.

 

Still seems like there is a disconnect somewhere in the system if you have kids that want to play that are told they can't, whether it be because the community doesn't support a team or because of an administrative glitch. We're playing for Post 321 and I cannot say enough good about the coaches and the Legion Ball experience. I would think/hope that Legion may see somewhat of a resurgence with travel costs going up, we played travel for the last couple of years and have welcomed being able to sleep at home.

 

where can you find the boundries for each team? one player that graduated last year form our high school lives two blocks from a risinging senior this year, they play for different post.
(confussed: same high school, two block seperation, different post)

 

TJ21, you're right that the community should be responsible for supporting a legion team, and maybe the community is "at fault," but this isn't about blame and pointing fingers, it's about making improvements for the legion organizatons and the kids who want to play legion ball. Unfortunately for all of us, there are just too many things that compete with it in our area.

I don't think anyone is suggesting that we need more legion teams. The point is making legion ball accessable to every kid who wants to try out. If teams are folding I don't see how it would become "watered down." As much as we hear about teams giving up come playoff time because of lack of players, you would think the legion folks would welcome a couple of guys who actually want to play the entire season. It just makes sense to look at how the lines are drawn or whatever needs to be done to eliminate the "dead zones." I kind of thought giving all kids an opportunity to participate was a big part of what legion baseball was about. (And yeah, we all want to win too! )

This is our first year with a legion team after playing travel ball for about 4 years. My son's future college coach encouraged him to play legion ball, and it's been a really positive experience. I'm just thankful that we lived in the right neighborhood to have a team to play on. And it would have been great if a couple of his teammates from high school could have played too. So instead of being dishonest and using their grandparents' addresses, they just didn't play. IMHO, it was as great a loss for Huntersville as it was for those players.