NWLL baseball scandal

[Anonymous]

Coach Ricky was always very affable and pleasant both in our interactions with him in NWLL and DPR, but the accusations in the letter 100 percent track with our experience in NWLL and are a reason our kid no longer plays LL. I actually would've named some of the commissioners and board members as the problem, but these accusations are 100 percent believable.

Our kid quit last year. It just wasn't worth it—the super teams, stacked with crazy talent rampaging over everyone else, the hostile umpires making arbitrary calls, ending games when they were bored, the open hostility by umpires and league bigwigs towards coaches... "Why did the commissioner walk on the field and order a game to end in the middle of an inning?" "Why is the umpire screaming at my coach?" I couldn't give my kid any good answers. It was just all so discouraging and unfun for the kids. We don't miss it, and it's a shame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've had quite a few bad experiences in NWLL and this is really making us consider moving our AAA kid to a travel team. Any recs other than Dynasty?

Good move. You can check out northern VA travel ball teams. lots of options. Or another new team/ philosophy/ coaching I like is Mitchell Marlins.

Wild Bill in DC is great, suggest trying them before others travel programs mentioned.

Overall, NWLL will have to change its Board. Imagine LLI investigation will start as soon as LLWS is over. And that DC govt /IRS investigation of 501c3 status has started.

At the end of the day, small cadre of NWLL win-crazy parents and odd "lifetime" bd members need to understand they should not be winning DC almost every year. Play fair and they wouldn't be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've had quite a few bad experiences in NWLL and this is really making us consider moving our AAA kid to a travel team. Any recs other than Dynasty?

Is win within still around? They were the best antidote to NWLL for us a few years ago.

In addition to the fact that travel is $1500+ for two and a half months of baseball, it simply is not a substitute for little league. Sorry you missed out (and we were NWLL).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe you just hate black men leading this organization.

Do you know he is blsck.or are you just race baiting?

This person is race-baiting. Ricky has been a mainstay in NWLL for many (at least 15) years. He is a true insider. This has nothing to do with race, but of course, sadly, someone had to mention it.

[Anonymous]

I don’t have a child in Little League anymore (and we weren’t NWLL anyway), but just from my observations over the years, All-Stars really turns previously reasonable people into ruthless schemers and connivers. I do think that LL sends confusing signals- on one hand, it’s a recreational league that welcomes all with an emphasis on good sportsmanship, but then on the other hand, All-Stars is this major event and people will do whatever it takes to get their kids there.

I’d bet many of the LL All-Star teams are comprised almost entirely of travel ball players. In fact, some LL coaches/leagues try to skirt the drafting process to form teams that are basically extensions of travel teams. It’s not really a recreational team when almost every kid plays travel ball as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've had quite a few bad experiences in NWLL and this is really making us consider moving our AAA kid to a travel team. Any recs other than Dynasty?

Is win within still around? They were the best antidote to NWLL for us a few years ago.

In addition to the fact that travel is $1500+ for two and a half months of baseball, it simply is not a substitute for little league. Sorry you missed out (and we were NWLL).

I agree, although you can DIY a travel team. If you have parents willing to coach, you just register with NVTBL and pay the fee. They have several divisions for which you can self-select and through age 12, the lowest division (I think AA is what they call it?) is not overly competitive (although probably more competitive than your average LL team).

Arranging practice will be tricky because field permits are dominated by the LLs, though you can figure out when there might be a 90-minute window for your team. You won't have any home games (again, with no permits), so you are traveling throughout NoVA. That said, there are usually way more teams than weekends in a season so you can request to only play close-in teams.

I know a couple of parents that went this route. I think the cost was around $250-$300/player with volunteer coaches. If you pay a coach assume a couple hundred more per player.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've had quite a few bad experiences in NWLL and this is really making us consider moving our AAA kid to a travel team. Any recs other than Dynasty?

Is win within still around? They were the best antidote to NWLL for us a few years ago.

In addition to the fact that travel is $1500+ for two and a half months of baseball, it simply is not a substitute for little league. Sorry you missed out (and we were NWLL).

I agree, although you can DIY a travel team. If you have parents willing to coach, you just register with NVTBL and pay the fee. They have several divisions for which you can self-select and through age 12, the lowest division (I think AA is what they call it?) is not overly competitive (although probably more competitive than your average LL team).

Arranging practice will be tricky because field permits are dominated by the LLs, though you can figure out when there might be a 90-minute window for your team. You won't have any home games (again, with no permits), so you are traveling throughout NoVA. That said, there are usually way more teams than weekends in a season so you can request to only play close-in teams.

I know a couple of parents that went this route. I think the cost was around $250-$300/player with volunteer coaches. If you pay a coach assume a couple hundred more per player.

So in this case NVTBL pays for the insurance? If so, that is a good way to create a team. That said, most independent teams fail because the insurance and facility/field costs are outrageous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t have a child in Little League anymore (and we weren’t NWLL anyway), but just from my observations over the years, All-Stars really turns previously reasonable people into ruthless schemers and connivers. I do think that LL sends confusing signals- on one hand, it’s a recreational league that welcomes all with an emphasis on good sportsmanship, but then on the other hand, All-Stars is this major event and people will do whatever it takes to get their kids there.

I’d bet many of the LL All-Star teams are comprised almost entirely of travel ball players. In fact, some LL coaches/leagues try to skirt the drafting process to form teams that are basically extensions of travel teams. It’s not really a recreational team when almost every kid plays travel ball as well.

In our DC little league the AS teams were comprised mostly of travel players. It’s just the reality that any kid/family that was going to potentially dedicate 3 summers to baseball are going to be year round players. But, those players were evenly distributed across the majors and AAA teams so almost every game was fun and competitive. And LL was always the priority. The boys took a lot of pride in their league and played their hearts out. It’s weird how some years NWLL didn’t even field an 11U team. They are like baseball mercenaries and too obsessed with 12U Bristol and ESPN. The culture needs to change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've had quite a few bad experiences in NWLL and this is really making us consider moving our AAA kid to a travel team. Any recs other than Dynasty?

Is win within still around? They were the best antidote to NWLL for us a few years ago.

In addition to the fact that travel is $1500+ for two and a half months of baseball, it simply is not a substitute for little league. Sorry you missed out (and we were NWLL).

I agree, although you can DIY a travel team. If you have parents willing to coach, you just register with NVTBL and pay the fee. They have several divisions for which you can self-select and through age 12, the lowest division (I think AA is what they call it?) is not overly competitive (although probably more competitive than your average LL team).

Arranging practice will be tricky because field permits are dominated by the LLs, though you can figure out when there might be a 90-minute window for your team. You won't have any home games (again, with no permits), so you are traveling throughout NoVA. That said, there are usually way more teams than weekends in a season so you can request to only play close-in teams.

I know a couple of parents that went this route. I think the cost was around $250-$300/player with volunteer coaches. If you pay a coach assume a couple hundred more per player.

So in this case NVTBL pays for the insurance? If so, that is a good way to create a team. That said, most independent teams fail because the insurance and facility/field costs are outrageous.

They don’t pay for insurance but offer reasonable policies. The field costs are the responsibility of the team, but you can just travel and say you don’t have a field.

You pay UMPs at the game though NVTBL arranges. You usually play double headers each weekend. It’s harder to get games if you don’t agree to DHs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've had quite a few bad experiences in NWLL and this is really making us consider moving our AAA kid to a travel team. Any recs other than Dynasty?

Good move. You can check out northern VA travel ball teams. lots of options. Or another new team/ philosophy/ coaching I like is Mitchell Marlins.

Wild Bill in DC is great, suggest trying them before others travel programs mentioned.

Overall, NWLL will have to change its Board. Imagine LLI investigation will start as soon as LLWS is over. And that DC govt /IRS investigation of 501c3 status has started.

At the end of the day, small cadre of NWLL win-crazy parents and odd "lifetime" bd members need to understand they should not be winning DC almost every year. Play fair and they wouldn't be.

Indeed! Sound and accurate predictions you made, in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get having non-parent coaches has some significant upsides when it comes to the AS team. But I’ve never understood why the NWLL board permitted parents to pay for private lessons with the coaches. It seems to scream conflict of interest, but it’s been going on for years in plain sight.

Maybe because some of the coaches also need to make a living because they’re not law firm partners on the side. The little league coaches are volunteers, and if they’re good hitting or pitching coaches, why should they not give lessons.

I hear what you are saying, but it makes me question their motives for volunteering to Coach the team. They know most NWLL parents have $$$s so agreeing to a coach is not about the coaching and really an efficient vehicle to sell their services. I would rather that NWLL give parents the option to hire a paid coach for the entire team vs a “volunteer” coach trying to get their players to pay for private lessons.

Stop. The coaches in NWLL are largely just dads like in any other LL. They are there because they enjoy coaching baseball, spending time with their kids. One NWLL coach dad I know who was incredibly ethical, played everyone and limited his own son’s playing time to match everyone else’s says it was one of the best experiences of his life. There were shenanigans, yes, but it didn’t detract that much from the pure enjoyment of coaching and getting to know the kids. He didn’t have a winning team and it was totally fine. The kids had a blast and you could just feel his pure enjoyment doing this. Many are like this.

Most are like this, but not the ones at the heart of the allegations.

Understood. But this thread was meandering well beyond the allegations. NWLL is not the cesspool that is being portrayed, for the most part is a great community. There is a group of entrenched individuals who clearly have overstayed and may accurately be described as corrupt, but that doesn’t impact the overall fun of the league as this thread implies.

That "corrupt" league maybe didn't impact the overall fun for your kids, however the same can not be said for the kids in the other DC LL's who lost to NWLL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any word from DC little league? I think some families would like a statement before the start of the quickly approaching season.

Yeah, the email response from other board members did not include any substance.

None.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have found coach Davenport-Thomas to be honorable in all my dealings with him. Both my kids played NWLL and he was, if anything, willing to take kids on his team that other coaches didn't want. He is also super patient with entitled parents making unreasonable requests. It is a shame some people are so quick to assume he cheated.

Sincerely,
Norman Sanin

Cheated, treated other board members with disrespect and was a tyrant who screwed over the kids of one of the complainants. Were you one of the parents who showed at the board meeting uninvited?

Did you even read the document? What do you have to say to his bending the rules when it benefits him? It didn’t bother you when he made up numbers in his assessment of a player that were too low yet he drafted him. I don’t have a player in these league but I believe the accusations and I believe he’s never answered any questions in a reasonable manner. Davenport and parents like you who defend this garbage based on your limited experience with him ruin everything. You derail the normal process that provides checks and balances that ensure things are on the up and up.

Go stick your head back in the sand.
[/quote

100%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have found coach Davenport-Thomas to be honorable in all my dealings with him. Both my kids played NWLL and he was, if anything, willing to take kids on his team that other coaches didn't want. He is also super patient with entitled parents making unreasonable requests. It is a shame some people are so quick to assume he cheated.

Sincerely,
Norman Sanin

Cheated, treated other board members with disrespect and was a tyrant who screwed over the kids of one of the complainants. Were you one of the parents who showed at the board meeting uninvited?

Did you even read the document? What do you have to say to his bending the rules when it benefits him? It didn’t bother you when he made up numbers in his assessment of a player that were too low yet he drafted him. I don’t have a player in these league but I believe the accusations and I believe he’s never answered any questions in a reasonable manner. Davenport and parents like you who defend this garbage based on your limited experience with him ruin everything. You derail the normal process that provides checks and balances that ensure things are on the up and up.

Go stick your head back in the sand.

100%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have found coach Davenport-Thomas to be honorable in all my dealings with him. Both my kids played NWLL and he was, if anything, willing to take kids on his team that other coaches didn't want. He is also super patient with entitled parents making unreasonable requests. It is a shame some people are so quick to assume he cheated.

Sincerely,
Norman Sanin

Two things can be true at once. He can be nice to kids who aren't great at baseball (I've also seen him patiently coach) and also rig the draft and play eligibility games. I don't think anyone is assuming anything—the original letter laid out in ENORMOUS detail what he did, with evidence. The only question is, do we care?