Dear Editor,
I realize after this letter is published that my daughter will probably never have the opportunity of making the Dixie League All-Star team.
However after praying and pondering over this situation, and because she has never made the team in all of her five years of playing (which is a joke) I have nothing to lose.
I am normally a pretty passive person, but I guess the older I get the more I see and understand the cruel shenanigans that many of our kids are faced with. But mostly, the older I get the more I have learned to become more vocal in the things I feel are just not right.
The Dixie Youth Girls Team is one that I have held close to my heart because the one child that I have has been a part of this league since she was old enough to participate. Now at first I did not make a big issue out of the All Star Selection process because each year I was given a so-called excuse as to why my child did not make it.
Her first year and at age four, she was just this cute little girl scrambling around like the others with no clue as to what to do. As she got older and more serious, I realized that this is really becoming her passion and not tooting my own horn but she’s pretty darn good.
Now again I know that she may never make the team after the comment I am about to make, but who cares.
This league is one of the most biased leagues I have ever, ever encountered. Parents, many of our kids are being overlooked because the selection process is too political and a big joke. I do not think that I could sleep at night knowing that I (the coaches) put my child in a position that I know they do not deserve.
For years and in talking to other parents, coaches have been allowed to nominate their child(ren) and other coaches’ children, which is so unfair. Now I know that I am not the smartest person in the world, but I do know what ALL-STAR means. But for those of you who do not, it means “consisting of athletes chosen as the best at their positions from all ... consisting entirely of star performers.” To break it down further; the BEST players!!!
We as parents need to be more involved in ensuring that there are policies and procedures in place and that they are adhered to. We want the best children to represent our city not those children that you want to be recognized to feed your own egos.
Coaches should not be allowed to nominate their children or make deals behind closed doors. ALL-STAR selections should be based on statistics and privy to those children who have worked hard and diligently all summer. Some of you coaches should be ashamed of yourselves with your hidden agendas. I personally do not see how you sleep at night.
Zelda B. Baker
Concerned Parent
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