Commish Corner: what would you do?

[BuckeyeGuy]

You are the commish for a rec league with 600+ girls, 55 teams.

You have basic age rules: a girl can play up one year of age, but not play down.

You have a "special needs" girl who is likely to get hurt in 12U so you ask the Coordinator to move her down to 10U, and he does.

Later, you have a late registration of 2 girls whose mother is going through some serious cancer stuff: memory negatively affected, no longer allowed to drive. One girl can play up to 12U, the other is 13 and should be playing 15U. You request that the 13-year-old play down to get the sisters on the same team for ease of transportation, and more importantly to keep sisters together who are going through some serious stuff.

The executive director says no one can play down due to safety concerns, and that the girl who was moved down to 10U needs to be moved up to her "proper" age group.

I already did what I thought was the right thing to do, but I'm curious what others think of the situation.


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[inde53546]

Our league is exactly opposite. We do not allow playing up. But we allow playing down based on ability. I had a special needs girl in 10 u.and had her move down. She would have gotten hurt or hurt someone

 

[sluggers]

1) I agree with moving the special needs kid down to 10U.

2) I disagree with you about the 13YOA kid. If the 13YOA kid is really good enough to play at 15U level, then she has no business on a 12U team. It creates a dangerous situation for the other kids playing 12U. Ultimately, it would ruin the experience for everyone...including the 13YOA girl.

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

1) I agree with moving the special needs kid down to 10U.

2) I disagree with you about the 13YOA kid. If the 13YOA kid is really good enough to play at 15U level, then she has no business on a 12U team. It creates a dangerous situation for the other kids playing 12U. Ultimately, it would ruin the experience for everyone...including the 13YOA girl.

The ability level of the 13yo is unknown, but she does not play TB while I have more than a few at 12U that should be playing at least community select. So assume that the 13yo talent is upper 1/3 of 12U. Still dangerous? Dangerous enough to separate the sisters and put the extra transportation burden on the family?

 

[quincy]

I would let the 13 YO play down with some restrictions. Certainly no pitching then go from there based on her ability.

I would also check insurance, that might be the end of the Issue right there.

 

[spleen1015]

The special needs player plays down.

The 13 yo and her sister play where the 13 yo should play, meaning the sister plays up.

Let's be realistic. The special needs kid likely isn't a threat to hurt anyone. The 13 yo playing down likely is. If there is an exception to be made, you make the exception have an impact on the least amount of players as possible. The 13 yo playing down impacts that whole age group. Her sister playing up pretty much only impacts her.

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

I would let the 13 YO play down with some restrictions. Certainly no pitching then go from there based on her ability.

I would also check insurance, that might be the end of the Issue right there.

Insurance would be the end of it. Honestly don't know if that's a concern for us or not.

The special needs player plays down.

The 13 yo and her sister play where the 13 yo should play, meaning the sister plays up.

Let's be realistic. The special needs kid likely isn't a threat to hurt anyone. The 13 yo playing down likely is. If there is an exception to be made, you make the exception have an impact on the least amount of players as possible. The 13 yo playing down impacts that whole age group. Her sister playing up pretty much only impacts her.

I only mentioned the special needs girl to point out that there is precedent for letting a girl play down. But again, let's assume that the 13yo is simply upper 1/3 in skill for 12U, not a superstar slumming in rec.

 

[Rocketech1]

The 13 yo and her sister play where the 13 yo should play, meaning the sister plays up.

If you are going to make accommodations this is the correct answer. With that said, with 600 players in the league you need to make rules and have everyone follow those rules. Will it be a hardship for some families, probably but that is the way life is. As commish, I would decide what is best for the league, not what is best for the individual family.

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

If you are going to make accommodations this is the correct answer. With that said, with 600 players in the league you need to make rules and have everyone follow those rules. Will it be a hardship for some families, probably but that is the way life is. As commish, I would decide what is best for the league, not what is best for the individual family.

I might have misstated this earlier, but the younger sister would be playing up to get to 12U. IOW, the younger is currently 10, the older is 13 (Sept birthday).

 

[Rocketech1]

I might have misstated this earlier, but the younger sister would be playing up to get to 12U. IOW, the younger is currently 10, the older is 13 (Sept birthday).

The sisters need to play in their own division, you can't please all families. Everyone has unique situations.