IHSA's Hickman hopes JRW's story teaches us something
The Jackie Robinson West Little League story did not go viral on Wednesday because it is unique or something new.
It went viral because of the way their story captivated the entire country last summer. Many would say it was one of the top sports stories at any level in 2014.
So the way Little League International's decision to strip JRW of its United States championship, and of all its championships on the road to Williamsport, was met with such incredible coverage by the media and hundreds of thousands of tweets, Facebook posts, etc., is not surprising.
It also shouldn't be surprising that here we are again having to punish kids for the actions of adults who put winning ahead of all else.
That it's Little League Baseball is sad enough. But let's face it, even Little League Baseball is no longer sacred.
This is the third time in the 68-year history of the Little League Baseball World Series that punitive actions have led to vacating wins from a league — first in 1992 with the disqualification of Zamboanga (Philippines) City Little League, and again in 2001 with Rolando Paulino Little League from Bronx, N.Y., according to Little League's website.
That 2001 case involved a young man named Danny Almonte, who was too old to play Little League, didn't live within his league's boundaries and hadn't played the required number of games to participate in the tournament.
I laugh every time I watch “The Benchwarmers” and see the scene in which the older guy who pitches against The Benchwarmers holds up the sign that says, “I am 12” and hands the umpire a ten-spot. We're not far off that in real life, and that's sad.
What's more sad is the kids hurt in this latest scandal are our future high school student-athletes and if the adults involved continue to give them the feeling they've been cheated those kids will come into high school sports with a chip on their shoulders.
Having been involved in a high level of club softball for the last 20 years, I could write a book (and maybe I will someday) about how perfectly normal people turn into a different form of life when it comes to their kids playing sports. Some of the most challenging interactions I've had with parents have been with educated and successful people who put on blinders when it comes to their kids playing sports. Even sadder are those who don't believe the rules apply to them, or think they have a foolproof way of breaking the rules.
And that's certainly something Illinois High School Association Executive Director Marty Hickman has seen as well. Hickman spends a lot of his time dealing with “cheating” issues, the large majority of them centered around residency, transfers and eligibility issues stemming from such.
“Unfortunately what we've seen and is certainly evident in the Jackie Robinson case is that pretty regular normal people compromise their standards to win, to gain an advantage,” Hickman said. “Usually it's pretty decent folks who get wrapped up in winning over teaching, and they compromise their standards. It's a sad story for the young people who participate and it teaches horrible lessons.”
Hickman is quick to point out that while stories like this do go viral at times, they are isolated cases in the grand scheme of things.
“It's just a few,” he said. “Most people do the right thing, but the few that don't make it more difficult for everybody. It morphs into a youth softball team or a high school football team doing that, and it's a shame.”
High school sports have become increasingly influenced by the pressures of club sports and Hickman acknowledges keeping control is a challenge.
“At the high school level it has to start with the principal and athletic administrator,” he said. “A culture has to be created where winning isn't the only goal; where we're using the interscholastic experience to create better citizens.
“Hey, everybody loves to win. I like to win, you like to win. But at the end of the day that can't be what drives a program. If we can get to that somehow, then the outliers don't stand a chance.”
Hickman hopes the publicity of the JRW story becomes a teaching moment, creating a positive from a negative.
“You hate to see this happen but hopefully there's enough light shining on this issue to show you don't want this to happen to you. But where there are less controls these things will continue. You just hope people will say the Little League experience for my kid was great and this shouldn't overshadow all the good things going on in youth sports.”
No it shouldn't. It will for a while, but this too shall pass. Unfortunately, the reality is it won't be that long before the next story of this kind makes more headlines.
All we can do in the meantime is continue to work toward providing positive experiences that are within the rules for the young people playing sports today, and hold accountable those who don't, and/or refuse, to get it.
jradtke@dailyherald.com