s/o: cheating in baseball and softball

[Anonymous]

There is rampant cheating in baseball and softball. Primarily using fake addresses to bring kids in from out of state and pulling in older kids. And don’t fool yourself that the kids don’t know. My 9 year old would absolutely know if we lied about residence or age. Also, don’t be surprised when these kids lie to your face as a teenager because they learned from the adults around them that it’s ok.

[Anonymous]

Yep. I never understand how parents don't get that. Show yourself as a liar, raise a liar.

[Anonymous]

LOL. Go to an AAU basketball tournament and check out the 6th graders with beards if you want to see some shameless cheating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is rampant cheating in baseball and softball. Primarily using fake addresses to bring kids in from out of state and pulling in older kids. And don’t fool yourself that the kids don’t know. My 9 year old would absolutely know if we lied about residence or age. Also, don’t be surprised when these kids lie to your face as a teenager because they learned from the adults around them that it’s ok.

Wut.

[Anonymous]

The other thread was about older kids but it happens at the youngest ages:

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/little-league-scandal-roils-washington-d-c-elite-e50873d1

[Anonymous]

This has not been my experience & my kids have been on a lot of different travel ball teams over the years (2 sons who play, and a DD who played travel softball for years).

There are a surprising number of kids with grade exemptions when rules allow- but unfortunately that is within the rules. For example- a kid who is too old by age cutoff & was held back in school- but can play down one year with his/her grade. Ridiculous.

The travel ball world is surprisingly small & lying about age would be discovered relatively quickly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This has not been my experience & my kids have been on a lot of different travel ball teams over the years (2 sons who play, and a DD who played travel softball for years).

There are a surprising number of kids with grade exemptions when rules allow- but unfortunately that is within the rules. For example- a kid who is too old by age cutoff & was held back in school- but can play down one year with his/her grade. Ridiculous.

The travel ball world is surprisingly small & lying about age would be discovered relatively quickly.

ETA: yes lying about addresses in LL is very common. Little league has made it even worse now by allowing nearly unlimited waivers so they won’t even have to bother lying anymore.

[Anonymous]

I recently learned that boys in our travel league can play down a year. Add to that a wide variance of when boys go through puberty. So maybe some of what you are seeing is legit. That said we’ve seen boys on other 13u teams that literally looked older than my college DS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOL. Go to an AAU basketball tournament and check out the 6th graders with beards if you want to see some shameless cheating.

Agree basketball and soccer are also really bad!

My kid plays baseball and it’s definitely an issue. What can you do? People seem to cheat in all aspects of life at this point. Nobody seems to follow the rules. There are so many families committing residency fraud in my school district (MCPS) - they use a false address to attend school in a different neighborhood - and nobody bats an eye. It’s well-known and rules are just not enforced.

[Anonymous]

FWIW, in softball, USSSA is pretty damn strict.

I've seen two games terminated mid game by tournament directors because coaches tried to use ineligible players

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I recently learned that boys in our travel league can play down a year. Add to that a wide variance of when boys go through puberty. So maybe some of what you are seeing is legit. That said we’ve seen boys on other 13u teams that literally looked older than my college DS.

Yes, in NVTBL, you can have up to 40% of your roster a year older once you're in 13u and higher or 2 age exemptions in 12u and under. The 12u and under exemptions aren't supposed to pitch, catch, or bat in the top 4 or something but people don't adhere to it.

[Anonymous]

To the degree it happens in Little League, that's likely driven by the hope of appearing on ESPN.

The irony is LL isn't even the strongest sanction for diamond sports. At least for softball, PGF, Alliance and USA are all superior levels of play. They're just not broadcast on TV around the clock in late July and August.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LOL. Go to an AAU basketball tournament and check out the 6th graders with beards if you want to see some shameless cheating.

Glacier.

Full beards and full sleeve tatoos. And I don't get it. What do these older kids get by besting up on a bunch of younger ones? It's not a good look or fun for anyone.

Wish AAU would clean up their act!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:LOL. Go to an AAU basketball tournament and check out the 6th graders with beards if you want to see some shameless cheating.

Agree basketball and soccer are also really bad!

My kid plays baseball and it’s definitely an issue. What can you do? People seem to cheat in all aspects of life at this point. Nobody seems to follow the rules. There are so many families committing residency fraud in my school district (MCPS) - they use a false address to attend school in a different neighborhood - and nobody bats an eye. It’s well-known and rules are just not enforced.

This is true. Or they lie on their COSA forms.

But tbh, most of the families that I know that have done that are doing that less for sports and more to get into a "good" school for academics.

Or they don't want to send their kids to a black HS.

[Anonymous]

It’s youth sports. It’s all a cesspool. Softball no different than basketball, soccer, lacrosse. All of them. It literally its own little economy, funded by narcissistic and delusional parents who are preyed upon by club teams and pay-for-play tournaments and “showcases.” The hedge funds and PE firms that own more and more of this are laughing all the way to the bank.