Dual Participation

Honker,,, with all respect, maybe you've seen kids do both during the legion playoffs and get away with it, heck maybe some commissioner even approved it at some point in time,,,,, I'm not saying you ain't ever seen it. But on the other hand I've seen kids try to do both during the legion playoffs and get DQ'd.

Ask Wossa what happened to the Greensboro legion team at the state tournament in 2004 in Shelby when someone turned in some of their players who attended a showcase on an off day. He's still spitting nails about that one. Those kids were DQ'd at the state tournament on the spot,,, everyone of them that attended the showcase were ruled immediately ineligible. Your team does not have to forfeit unless the DQ'd player plays again, but the player is most definitely DQ'd.

So we will just have to agree to disagree on this topic,,,, but with all respect if anyone ever asks for advice on this subject, my interpretation of the rule is that there is "no" dual participation once the legion playoffs begin, until your season is finished. I just can't see taking a chance.

And one last thing, just how much is it asking most players who's legion playoffs only last a few weeks to be solely committed to their legion team for those few weeks? Is that such a terrible thing? We can dissect the rule and the wording forever, but I believe the intent is to encourage committment to the team. I think it is a tremendous display of team committment by the Caldwell County pitcher who postponed his national showcase tour to spend just a little more time with his community legion team. That decision by him was mature, and he will be rewarded for it. Even though scouts would love to see him, I guarantee scouts think a lot more of him about whats inside of him after that decision.

 

tj21 u r right.... i was there....

 

HitbyaPitch,,,,, I know, and its not good when folks are confused about the rules. I have never blamed the players,,,, the coaches and AD's should know the rules.

Btw Honker, you are right too about what you told me you witnessed in the past. I was just told by someone very reliable that dual participation was in fact allowed during the legion playoffs up until 2004. It was 2004 when the rule was rewritten to eliminate dual participation once the playoffs began. I don't have that specific date in writing, but that explains how you saw it the other way years ago.

 

The whole issue really revolves around BEING INFORMED. Parents need to know these types of rules in ADVANCE. Not only do they need to KNOW, they need to UNDERSTAND the FINE writing. Unfortunately, they don't always know the right questions to ask and even if they do they don't always get "correct" answers. Sometimes they can't understand the "fine writing" because they've never seen it to understand it. They rely on coaches and other experienced families for information. There are many opportunities thruout the spring to sign your kid up for summer tournaments, showcases, combines, etc. etc. In most cases, the family has to commit money and vacation time, well in advance, in order to get their kids to these events. Many of these commitments happen way before Legion tryouts ever happen. We had a local family that this happened to this spring. The family "knew" about the "dual participation" ruling as it related to a "organized team", but the family did NOT know that showcases, combines, college camps, etc. were considered "a team" and "a roster" under the AmLeg rules. They had signed their kid up (and paid fees), back in the spring, for these summer events. As you can guess, their son was disqualified from continuing with Legion. It was a blessing that this situation was discovered before the kid had played another legion game as he and his family would have been totally devasted if his playing on the showcase team had ended up DQ'g his legion team from the playoffs. Had the parents understood the ruling better, they would have - EARLY ON - made the choice to either play legion OR attend the showcases. It was a very unfortunate and "painful" situation that could've been avoided if the "rules" had been made clear and the right questions had been asked.

Who's responsibility is it to make sure that players and families understand these things? Most would say it's the coach and ADs - and I would agree, however, the families and the players can't just sit back and make assumptions. It's really the responsibility of everyone who's involved to know and understand the "rules". Coaches cannot assume that players and families know and understand all the rules, nor can families assume that their coach knows everything either.

Moral of the Story: Ask questions in advance - be sure you know EXACTLY what you're getting into and what consequences could arise from changes in plans - whether it be legion, showcases, camps, travel teams etc. DO YOUR HOMEWORK! (oh, and read TBR - these guys seem to have answers to almost everything - or if they don't - they seem to know where to go to get them!)

 

Thanks for all the info

This is the kind of feedback I was counting on, thank you all for your valuable input.

I've heard again something that I want to make sure I'm clear on...

Can I get input on the part about missing a playoff game while participating in...... This states another baseball event, and in no way could apply to missing a playoff game to participate in another sporting event of a different sport, correct?