Justice for Little League

Quoted post

ConcernedDA

#21 JRW Boundary

2015-01-03 16:37

 

I have been involved with Little League Administration for many years and have been involved in countless boundary disputes and player eligibility issues over the years. The first thing you need to ask when looking at cases like these "Is this the entire story?" If you just read the articles on-line, it looks like someone pulled a fast one, but before anyone can make a fair assessment, I think that Little League needs to be forthcoming with exactly why and how this was done. If that doesn't happen, the integrity of the organization that that all of us volunteers dedicate a good piece of our lives to will come into question. I guarantee that District Administrators from coast to coast want to know what happened here, but before I sign or recommend someone else sign a petition, some things need to be cleared up.


In the article, it states "It was discovered that before the 2014 season a Little League administrator in Chicago's District 4 approved a new map for JRW Little League so that they could load its team up with star players, But that map wasn't approved by any of the other teams in the district, as rules state it needs to be. The administrator at the center of this, Michael Kelley, was previously an official with Jackie Robinson West for 20 years, according to DNA Chicago."
Was the boundary area given to JRW Little League open at the time or was it part of an existing league?


Exactly when was this discovered? If the area given JRW was part of  an existing league boundary area, they should have been officially notified , in writing, by Little League International. Wouldn’t they have need to know so they could modify their boundary map for registration purposes? 


A District Administrator can recommend a boundary change but the approval can only be given by the Charter Committee in Williamsport. If it affects other leagues, those leagues have to go along with it or Little League needs to have a goog reason for doing it!  In my experience, Little League wouldn't just take area away from a league for no good reason. Were they servicing that area properly? Are there other circumstances that maybe you're not aware of?


Boundary changes affect all leagues in a district- That’s why this process has to be transparent with everyone affected being involved and signing off befor a DA submits a request like this to Little League.

Replies

Chris Janes
The author of this petition

#23 Re: JRW Boundary

2015-01-03 18:44:57

#21: ConcernedDA - JRW Boundary  

 Awesome response.  Believe it or not, its my understanding that no one outside LLI, JRW, and the DA were made aware of the mapchange until LLI made public via USA today A couple of weeks ago.  I am working off my phone and do not have the link to the article available but I found it by Googling USA Today HS, Jackie Robinson West.  There you will find the article.  Within the article the LLI representative gave a brief description of the boundary change.  Hope this helps.

 

Appreciate the response

Chris