American Legion Changes in Charlotte

There are some changes with boundaries in Charlotte for American Legion this year.....Pineville Head Coach Mike Edwards has volunteered to answer any questions anyone may have regarding these changes:

1. The four American Legion teams in Mecklenburg County have each been assigned a base school. Any player attending that school is assigned to the assigned Legion Post. The base schools are:

North Meck - Huntersville
Myers Park - Charlotte 262
Providence - Pineville 337
Butler - Newell

All other players, public or private schools,are rostered by the distance to the nearest base school from where they officially live. Each Legion Post must not exceed a total enrollment of 5000 students in Grades 10-12 from the schools in which they roster players., including their base school. Exceptions are players in their last year of elgibility may participate with the Legion Post in which they participated in the playoffs with last year, but their schools enrollment should still be counted. All college players are rostered in reference to the high school in which they graduated from. Players not making a Legion team can now be released to the next nearest base school. A release form is required to be completed. Other base schools in the area are:

Weddington - Union County #1
Porter Ridge - Union County #2 (new this year) Last I heard they will be given a team.
East Gaston - Gaston Braves

County lines or state lines do not restrict a player from the nearest base school.

If anyone has questions, you can include my contact information.

Mike Edwards
Head Coach
Pineville Post 337
[email protected]

Contact me if you have any questions.
704 560-4133 (cell)

 

So, are you saying regardless where a player lives he is assigned a team from his base school?

Example: He attends Providence, but lives in the Newell district. Will he play for Pineville?

 

Braves, yes students who attend any base schools are supposed to play legion ball for that base schools' legion team. I simply cannot find anything in the legion rulebook where it ever questions a school systems' approval of a student attending any school.

A player's residence only comes into play for students who attend non-base schools,,,, whatever your permanent residence is as of March 31 and whatever base school you live nearest to, is where you should play legion ball.

 

I swear legion ball is more complicated than politics or doing your own taxes... glad I don't have to deal with that ever again!

 

Its like anything else, the only time theres confusion or any questions come up is when someone has to do something different. You gotta have rules to cover so many different situations nowadays. We all know that sometimes kids have changes in their family situations, though no fault of their own. Also, legion rules just added the section on home school kids few years ago. Home school is a whole separate issue, but these kids can play for the nearest base school team, but base school has got to be able to count whatever school district kid lives in, in base schools' total enrollment of 5000. (To keep home school simple, what you would hope is home school kid lives in base school district)

 

I can just feel it coming...

... like the lengthening of the days, the arrival of the robins, the beginning of high school ball, it's that time of year for the annual debate of showcase verses legion. Because new players, and their parents, become involved in this every year, I don't think it will ever become a settled issue.

First of all, if you guys in the Charlotte area can have a successful legion program, I'm more than happy for you. I wish for you to have a great summer of legion ball!

But... for, what I would estimate, the more then 75% of the kids in North Carolina who either don't have reasonable access to a legion team, due either to distance and/or politics, legion has become a "non factor" in their baseball lives.

A few years back legion really damaged it's respectability and it's reputation. Between the fighting (sometimes literally) over "illegal players", the jealousy driven stripping of championships and the ultimatums given to players that wanted to help themselves by attending showcase events or playing on showcase teams, legion's luster was forever tarnished. So much so that in many areas, where it had been popular for many years, it now no longer exists. The legion system can only blame it's self for this.

I don't have a dog (i.e. son) in this fight anymore. He played some junior legion up here in the Triangle area for a couple of seasons and that was enough "legion politics" for us. He moved on to Showcase ball and we never looked back. Now, due to the past politics, unreasonable rules and just general aggravation, there is no more legion for kids in Chatham or Orange Counties, at least not close to where they live.

The days of passing through small towns on summer evenings and seeing the lights at the local high school field, knowing you could stop and see a legion game are gone. The lights are more likely for a local rec league game or for a men's league contest. If you want to see the local high school talent during the summer you're going to have to travel... because that's what the players are having to do. Again, the legion system has brought this on it's self. The reality is if say Shelby and Garner want to "mud wrassle" to determine the state legion championship, go ahead. The rest of us don't really give a damn. As with the great generation of men who started it, legion ball is dieing out, or is already in the grave, for the majority of high school baseball players in North Carolina.

 

I am convinced anyone who debates showcase vs. legion simply wants to argue. Just because showcase or legion is more popular in some areas, doesn't mean its more popular or even available to a kid who lives in another area.

I mean really, what does it matter to some, what brand of baseball kids play?

Unbelievable. Debate all you want, I am out.

 

TJ

"I mean really, what does it matter to some, what brand of baseball kids play?"

I agree with you..

Play as much as you can.. My sons have done both and enjoyed both..

The cost to put a team on the field has cost Legion and the cost to play showcase sometimes restricts the kids from being able to participate.

We will see a shift this year due to the economy. Hope all kids get a chance to play if they have the talent and the desire..

 

TJ

"I mean really, what does it matter to some, what brand of baseball kids play?"

It isn't a "brand of baseball" kids play, it's the opportunities that are available for kids to choose from, or qualify for. With the demise of legion in most areas, there is one less choice these days and in most places the legion system did it to it's self.

I quoted myself so you won't have to go back and scroll through what I originally stated... I wished ya'll the best down there in Charlotte. I also quoted what I said about legion , and it's relevance in many of the other parts of the state.

Though I'm sure it's not the primary reason in what you all are doing, the fact remains that all the rules on who can or can't play, where they can or can't play, etc. is based on the ideals of winning comes first instead of the players welfare coming first. If it was just about the players then a kid could tryout and play where he wanted to and felt most comfortable with the coaches and teammates. There would be no hiring of private investigators to snoop into a kid's "real" home address. There wouldn't be the need to get a GPS to figure that a kid lives 12.2 miles from one "base" school and 12.5 miles from another "base" school.

The growth of the summer school based leagues for underclassmen has filled the void that legion has left in many areas. I believe this is the best option for most kids. For the ones that have the desire and ability to play beyond high school, they will only hamper themselves by not trying to play showcase ball. That's where the scouts and recruiters are going to be.

Again, I wish ya'll the best and I hope a lot of kids get to play ball through what you are doing. TBR has become a state wide source of baseball information and sometimes, entertainment. Please don't get too defensive when we, who aren't from your neck of the woods, don't see things the same way you do.

 

TJ is not from Charlotte....although the area he is from is where I wish all players had the opportunity to play AL baseball one time in their life. There is nothing equal to it...to have a whole community worship you, to play all your games on the radio each night, to play in front of 1000+ fans most nights and travel by luxury coach buses is amazing. And since TJ plays such a huge role each year in making this happen in his community explains why he is so passionate about what AL has done for the players in his community. The college freshmen have an opportunity to play at every level of college summer baseball..including the cape, but turn down all offers so they may continue to play for their community one last time.

But, I agree with GMan that AL tends to not "adjust" to the times. The worst fault for me is to allow AL teams to wait until playoffs to protest an alleged illegal player. No matter how you paint that donkey....it's still an "ass."