14U team DQ'ed at LL World Series for social media post

[GunnerShotgun]

What rule did they violate by posting the picture? I can't find that in any of the articles. Is there a rule in little league that states games can be forfeited by posting pictures to social media?

Who is this guy from the article that is posted on every new site, “I think we should all take a step back and look at the bigger picture,” Skip Horton added. “They need to think about there [sic] future colleges. This is exactly what coaches look at before the [sic] offer scholarship.”?

So (scholarship) money should be the guiding factor for our kids morality? All of the adults involved in this are embarrassing.

 

[Sparky Guy]

I'm a little confused as to why people feel the need to point out that there are better teams. Is the point that unless it's the PGF or ASA nationals it doesn't matter?

When the article stated the "Best teams in the world." were there. I went huh??? That's why.

 

[MTR]

Don't think that actual picture should be shared here, but if you want to see it it is easily googled. Not super egregious (6 or so players giving the finger with a caption "Watch out host") IMO, but definitely not in the spirit of LL. Should the team have been DQ'd? Knowing how sensitive LL is, that was probably the only decision they could make. That said, awarding the WA team a spot in the final, especially after their ejections in the semi-final game, was NOT the right decision. OH team should have been awarded the victory...was very glad to see them win it decisively.

I've seen the photo and still have the same question.

 

[Momo'sDad]

I'm a little confused as to why people feel the need to point out that there are better teams. Is the point that unless it's the PGF or ASA nationals it doesn't matter?

The author of the article wrote: "The event is for the best 12-to-15-year-old girls teams in the world." That's an untrue statement.

 

[quincy]

Maybe they are from Japan.

 

[WARRIORMIKE]

According to Wikipedia, they were just exercising their first amendment rights.....

 

[Momo'sDad]

What should the punishment be?

Two-fold:

1) A public service announcement in which they admit and own what they've done regardless of why they posted the pic.

2) If they had happened to go on and win the title game, they should forfeit the 1st-place trophy.

I don't see how Little League can allow a team that does this to win its most prestigious tournament. What message would that send?

Obviously, none of us were there, but if the one team felt the other team was cheating, it's reasonable to expect that some of them would want to respond to it. With the she said/she said going on, this comes off like one of those common NFL debacles where the guy who retaliates is the one who gets hit with the 15-yard penalty, while the original offender gets away with it.

With all due respect to Coach Enquist, who wrote an amazing letter, and to the others who support LL's decision, you got this one wrong. Does it still become a cautionary tale? Yes, of course it does. But I would rather have seen a contrite group of young women standing up to help teach their peers and the girls who look up to them how to better handle themselves off the field when things don't (or do) go their way on the field than to see some authoritarian individual or body rendering judgment from on high and meting out the harshest penalty possible with no opportunity for an appeal or for the offenders even to speak on their own behalf in a fair hearing.

I'm not trying to be political here and I know we are not in a court of law, but it's my belief that sportsmanship and due process should go hand-in-hand. I also do not believe that society benefits from focusing so much on punitive responses every time someone is offended. Yes, I believe there should be consequence, but when it's possible, that consequence should be a value-add.

 

[CLM265]

Two-fold:

1) A public service announcement in which they admit and own what they've done regardless of why they posted the pic.

2) If they had happened to go on and win the title game, they should forfeit the 1st-place trophy.



Obviously, none of us were there, That would be incorrect.

but if the one team felt the other team was cheating, it's reasonable to expect that some of them would want to respond to it. With the she said/she said going on, this comes off like one of those common NFL debacles where the guy who retaliates is the one who gets hit with the 15-yard penalty, while the original offender gets away with it.

The photo was taken before their game against the Host.

 

[soupy62]

Little League does have a strict rule about social media and sportsmanship! In my opinion so that LL could say they made a stance, they should have suspended the kid that posted it. The unless all those kids snap chatted it. But LL is very quick to make examples of people not following their rules regardless of how dumb anyone thinks they are.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

Little League does have a strict rule about social media and sportsmanship!

And what is that rule exactly because I still haven't seen it cited. As best as I can tell punishment is to be determined by the coach of the team. It doesn't say anything about forfeiting games.