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How do you feel about your childs safety when it comes to community sports?

August 20, 2008 · 29 Comments

Do you think the city, community and organizations are doing enough to keep our kids safe? What else could be done?

Categories: Community

29 responses so far ↓

  • Monica // August 20, 2008 at 1:25 pm

    I believe the schools do a great job at background checks and so does soccer. It saddens me to see that when the city took over OAA and football not all precautions were taken. For the most part we are a community that supports and cares for our children, a mistake like this can not happen again (I don’t believe it will).
    In addition I believe Village Green, Carbon River and River’s Edge should have bus stops for PTR. A third grader is just not ready for that ride/walk. I spent a majority of last year being worried about my son and one day he fell off his bike. Luckily some very nice people helped him until I got there from work, but can we always count on nice strangers looking out for our children?

  • Jen // August 20, 2008 at 4:08 pm

    I am glad that some people have faith in the City that they will learn from their mistakes. However, if it was your child or your private information that was released you would be shocked to hear the excuses we have heard. The Mayor has not stepped up with one independent thought on what should be done. The letter to the parents of flag football was our idea. Her personally doing the background checks, also at our insistence. She continues to say this should not have happened, but she freely admits that she had knowledge that background checks were not a priority.
    The sad fact of this case is also that the FELON who volunteered to coach did not even fill out a background check form. He was just handed out a bag of equipment and our private information.

    We cannot count on strangers caring for our children. We are their parents and we need to make sure they are safe as the City’s negligence in this case is a prime example of how vulnerable we really are.

  • Stacy // August 20, 2008 at 8:06 pm

    I myself being a former board member of the OAA and a former baseball coach. I am appalled that the Mayor would emply that we lacked in doing background checks. I can say for a fact that we DID do background checks on all coaches and board members. Ms. Temple needs to get her facts straight. This is just an excuse for her to use to try to better the cituation. People say that the OAA was a terrible organization. Well we never had a cituation like this! I really don’t see the Parks and Rec being very successful after this.
    My son may not of played football, but he did play baseball. I am beginning to reconsider on signing him up for anything with Parks and Rec.

  • Marc // August 20, 2008 at 11:53 pm

    While I agree the Schools and the Soccer program do a good job, I am really surprised to hear it is our own City that failed these parents.

    I do not have a child in the flag football program, but if I did I would remove them to support these parents.

  • Jeff // August 21, 2008 at 9:56 am

    First I commend the parent that stepped forward with the information on the coaches past. Parents are the first and last line of protection for our children. As a former board member of the Orting Athletic Association and other youth organizations across the United States, background checks are essential in helping protect our youth. After reading these posts and the letter from our Mayor I did a little investigating and would like to attempt to shed a little light on things from an outside perspective.

    First, there is no excuse for not completing background checks before the coaches are officially placed. Here the city was wrong and they know they were wrong. Procedures and policies have been changed to prevent this from happening again and employees have been disciplined. Do we really want to vilify the underpaid employees and have them fired? The parks and rec. program is in its first year in a small town with limited resources. Is the program perfect? No. Does it need improvement? Yes. Is it improving? I think so. Replacing the employees will only put us back to square one or worse yet, they may not be replaced. There’s a thought… the end of parks and rec., then end of many youth and adult programs in Orting…do you still think the employees should be fired?

    I doubt that the Mayor “didn’t think it was important” to run background checks. You may have gotten that impression simply because you were angry and irritated at the situation. I can understand being angry. It is natural when your child’s safety is in question. Should it have been a top priority? Yes. Was it? Apparently it was not.

    I also would like to inform everyone that OAA not only did background checks on coaches but also on volunteers regardless of whether or not they had any contact with the children. I personally shredded over ten years worth of background check reports when the OAA dissolved. OAA handed the program off to the city because it did not have the volunteer support from the parents. The last 3 years of OAA, only 2 to 3 volunteers were running the entire program. The city has started what has the potential to be a great program, providing many different activities for the Orting Youth. All recreational programs need quality volunteers and support from the community if they are to flourish.

    Our Soccer program does an exceptional job. I know some current board members and some past board members. All will tell you that they are lacking enough volunteers. What happened to the American Spirit of when we saw a need we would roll up our sleeves and pitch in to help correct and improve the situation. We seem to have fallen into a pattern of sitting back and complaining, expecting the situation will improve.

    So I suggest everybody think about the situation at hand and realize that a mistake was made, it has been corrected, and it won’t happen again. The children were never left alone with the coach, no children were harmed, and the situation was addressed and taken care of. Put things into perspective and ask yourself if it is really worth jeopardizing the future of our Parks & Rec. program.

    And the best idea is. Get involved. Your children are worth it.

  • Jan B // August 21, 2008 at 11:41 am

    Jeff- I think you may (like the City) be missing the point. Yes, it is correct the children were not left alone with the coach, but he was given all of their personal information including birth certificates. He has convictions for ID theft, forgery, etc.

    Do you want us to tell these families what happened to them is sad but we have to look at the bigger picture and they need to buck up and to get some perspective?!

    I will not, I will demand that the City fix this problem, I will expect that the City does more than reprimand their employees. They knew they needed to do background checks, they just didn’t.

    One of the Parks and Rec employees is a former OAA board member, by your claim and Stacy’s OAA always did background checks, so why didn’t this former board member and now City employee carry this on?

    I called the City when I heard about this and was told that the City did have a policy and procedure for background checks and that my son’s baseball coach this summer did have a background check. If they were able to do background checks for baseball, what happened with football?

    It seems to me we are trusting the wrong people to run these programs. I am sure there are plenty of qualified people out there who would take over these jobs and do what they are supposed to do.

  • Rob // August 21, 2008 at 2:40 pm

    I see all of the comments being made (some of which have NOT been published) and I find them short-sighted and EXTREMELY hateful. What I have read would lead you to believe that the city INTENDED for a felon to coach and run rough-shod through an unsuspecting community with everyone’s private information.

    I moved into Orting 6 years ago and was stunned to see that we didn’t have some kind of Parks and Rec department. There was the Orting Soccer Club and not much else for kids to do, outside of school. I thought that was a huge oversight. I asked other parents in the town and found that it had been tried but wasn’t successful due to lack of interest.

    We now have a very small Parks and Rec department. They have taken community suggestions and tried to provide opportunities for kids to get out and play. They ran a season of baseball without issue. They are now starting a football program that several young boys are thrilled to participate in.

    A very astute parent found out that ONE coach of a team has a felony record. This parent did the right thing and brought it forward and asked the question, “How could this happen?” The Parks department confessed to not having completed background checks on the coaches. I, as a parent, would be very angry upon hearing this. I would demand that the coach be removed and want to see that all of the others had background checks. My child would still compete in the sport, if that had been done.

    The Parks department confronted this coach, who admitted that he had a felony criminal record. Private information was returned. They then dismissed this coach and conducted FULL background checks on all other coaches. Parents that are unwilling to have their children in the program have been given FULL refunds and gotten an apology from the city.

    It seems that this is not enough for some of these parents. I believe one person said that their faith in the city and parks department is destroyed. It would seem that their solution would be to FOLD the Parks Department and leave the local community without the chance for further enrichment.

    I am just very disappointed in seeing that everyone is calling for the extreme punishments for this. The information will still be where it is. The city will still have taken it’s corrective measures. The Parks and Rec department will now take a set back.

    Jan stated that there are others who will step into this job with no issue. I don’t know who would want to put up with folks unwilling to work and make things better, but instead call you ignorant and non-caring. No one stepped up to the plate BEFORE. I believe the department has learned from their mistakes and will be very cautious in moving forward.

  • Sarah // August 21, 2008 at 6:57 pm

    I am a friend of the CONVICTED FELON and would like to make a few comments from a different perspective. I understand the concern of the parents, but things are not always as they appear. It is true that this man as well as his wife have made their fair share of mistakes in the past(but who has not) but what you may not know is that both him and his wife have changed their lives around and for the better. They both attend church in Orting, he works full time to support his family and had no intention other than to try to get more involved with his son. Since this has happened, he has complied with everything that has been requested of him. If only you were to meet him…. he is a prime example of somebody who can change their life around. He is an inspiration. And Yes, even he too deserves a second chance. He has done his time and his past should not keep haunting his future. He has moved on. Maybe you all should too!!!

  • Jo // August 21, 2008 at 7:08 pm

    Rob, Obviously you do not have the full story since you were not directly involved. I AM. The fact is that none of this would be happening if the Parks & Rec Dept had ACTED when they were advised of the situation. The fact is that the ONLY action they & the city have taken was requested repeatedly by the families victimized by this. The fact is that the city has treated those who came forward to protect it like we are the problem. The fact is that this city and community are fortunate that it was “only” a convicted felon that was put on the field with our kids and something worse did not happen. My child & my family are devasted by this and you have no right to judge me when you have no idea of the facts. It is sad that you feel you need to sensor this important issue instead of joining us in the fight to fix what is wrong. That is all we are trying to do.

  • Tracy O'Leary // August 21, 2008 at 9:52 pm

    Well said JEFF!!!! Well said!

    I’d really like to see more parents willing to help out!!!
    It takes a village for us to raise our kids. Let’s stop pointing fingers and start helping out!
    I’m sure Becki with park and rec could use some parent support….. YES this should not have happened!!! BUT IT DID!
    Lets move forward for the children of Orting!!!
    Lets help out the coaches,teachers and our neighbors! On that note -I bet Rick and the rest of the Soccer board could use ALL our help too.
    They work hard and they ask for nothing in return!
    I’d hate to think that we might lose Park and rec.
    Then all we’d have to offer is our C.I.S programs and soccer. Not every kid likes soccer (yes I am a soccer NUT….but not everyone is)- so It is nice that we can offer other sports for the children! As long as this doesn’t EVER happen again, we should continue to support our park and recs program!!! Sorry for rambling :)

  • Valerie // August 22, 2008 at 1:15 am

    I am extremely disappointed in the City’s actions. When you provide activities for someone else’s children, safety should be your highest priority. How could safety be the highest priority when they didn’t even know who the coaches were? They didn’t even check! I trusted the City to look out for my children’s safety and that faith has been violated. I would love to say that the City has learned their lesson and it won’t happen again, but how do I know that? I blindly trusted them before and I am not about to turn right around and trust their judgement again! The City needs to find some way to assure parents that we can trust them, their word alone won’t be good enough again.

    What people are failing to realize here is that a sex offender could have been placed in a coach position BY the City (afterall a felon was). Stop and really pause on that. YOUR child being abused by a coach the City allowed because they didn’t think a background check was important!! The City would never even know! Thank God that didn’t happen, but it could have because they didn’t THINK to check. Didn’t THINK! In this day and age I would think that a City would want to be proactive instead of reactive. FYI, if they had been they wouldn’t be in this mess right now!

    I hope that Parks & Rec is able to continue, but until they can SHOW me that I can trust their judgement my children won’t be participating. It just isn’t worth jeopardizing my children’s safety.

  • Monica Haman // August 22, 2008 at 9:36 am

    I’m probably going to get alot of negative comments about this but…
    As a parent who has time and time again “stepped up to the plate” because there was need to help our children I suggest all of you who are complaining start helping out more.
    I have coached baseball, been on the OAA board, I have been a soccer coach for 5 years, I have been on the soccer board for 4 years, I used to volunteer my time and write in the Gazette about Youth Sports and volunteer in the classroom when I could. All because the kids and other volunteers needed more help.
    I have done all of this while having a full time job. I am getting tired of always stepping up because no one else will.
    Everyone can complain, but do nothing, then when the ball is dropped (and yes it was dropped hard), you rant and rave and want people fired.
    It is so hard to run a youth orginization in this town with so many kids and so many parents and only 3-4 people (2 in the case of parks and rec.) running the entire program.
    Take soccer this year and last,with over 400 kids signed up, the board members have asked for help lining the fields, but who time after time has been out there to do it? (The board members).
    We get phone calls, emails and confronted everywhere we go about soccer. Questions, comments and complaints. We also coach and work full time jobs, while the people that complain only show up for pratices and games. And we always try to do this with a smile on our face.
    Please take this unfortunate mishap from the city and realize that the people running these programs need help from the parents as well.
    This is Rick’s last year as President for soccer as he only gets a 2 year term, who is showing up at the meetings to prepare themselves for the future of our soccer program? Only the current board members and a couple coaches now and then.
    I think we all believe it takes a village to raise a child, so please help out those that are spending their time and energy giving your child the experience and lessons in sports and any other child based program in town.

  • Tanya // August 22, 2008 at 12:02 pm

    I think it is great that people are actively posting opinions on this subject and all of them have valid points. Unfortunately the parents that were involved in this situation ARE the parents that are continually volunteering in the sports associations. These are the parents that have done there share and beyond of coaching, volunteering, working in the classroom at school. And for the first time they stepped back to let someone else take the lead and look what has happened.
    In my opinion there is no excuse that can be said that would in any way make this situation ok. The fact remains that there was a policy in place and it was not followed. Some of you may not realize this, but it is a state law that any individual that is in contact with our children whether in a volunteer or paid capacity have a background check performed. It also states certain offenses that cannot be present on that background check. Combine this with the fact that all of their personal information including birth certificates were handed over to this man is completely appalling.
    What if something had happened? What if the parent’s hadn’t come forward and the next time it was a pedophile? We can “what if” ourselves to death, but I am willing to in the event that the point gets across that this is a huge problem.
    How do we know the problem is fixed? Simply because they say it is? They said they had a policy in place. “What if” it was your child and your personal information- would you feel differently? To think that someone might be ok with this situation because it was only ONE coach, who ended up being a felon, is mind-boggling!
    The fall-out form this “mistake” could be devastating to these families.
    You may not agree that severe disciplinary action be imposed for fear it may jeopardize the program, I ask you this, what program? I personally know after hearing this that I will not anytime soon be entrusting my kids in any activity that is put together by the Parks and Rec.
    We are human and mistakes are made, this isn’t one of those mistakes that can afford to be made. The only thing the rest of us can do is thank these people for doing the right thing and coming forward. We need to take this situation and learn from it, I know personally the next time I put my kids in ANY activity I will be asking a few different questions.
    One other note, it amazes me that some people are so quick to judge the intentions of others. Let’s all remember one thing, no one knows truly what has happened or what has been said but the parents and employees involved and it is not fair to assume what any intentions would be.

  • Julie // August 22, 2008 at 3:16 pm

    While everybody is so busy pointing fingers at the guy who stepped up to be a coach who had a shady background, and pointing fingers at the parks and rec department for not doing better screening and writing letters to the mayor and making phone calls of no one short of the president….it’s kind of funny that NOT ONE OF THESE PARENTS wanted to put there precious time and energy on the line and volunteer to coach. If these ANGRY parents are SO CONCERNED then why are they not stepping up to the plate? From what I understand the coach with a felony also had a full time job, so what excuse is there for any other parent no to coach? Long work hours
    lack of knowledge…..
    I’m very curious to know. Im saying all that to say this: I would like to see half as much energy poured into the childrens extra curricular activties as has been poured into this fiasco.

  • Generosa // August 22, 2008 at 3:48 pm

    I see a theme from others that this wouldn’t have happened if more people were involved.

    My family and I are part of this and I have lived in Orting for 12 years. As soon as my children were old enough, I started coaching, became a team mom for other sports, volunteered in classrooms, went on field trips, etc. I too, have done all of this with a full-time job.

    I have forced family members to purchase countless candy bars, raffle tickets, pizza cards, flower bulbs and even wrapping paper to support our community sports, schools and trips for Seniors I never met. I AM INVOLVED!

    This is why I feel so wronged by the City. I am the parent that many of you are calling for as were the other parents directly involved. Between several of the parents that were involved, you had a cheerleading coach, wrestling volunteer, two t-ball coaches, a scout leader, a paraeducator, a soccer coach and classroom volunteers. We were not just parents who dropped off our kids and complained at the games. We were/are the people helping make a diffrence.

    This is the first time my son has ever been placed on a team where I was not the coach or had a personal friendship with the coach and look what happened. I do support Orting and its programs, just not the Parks and Rec program at this time.

    They need to make a lot of changes in regard to following procedures, mandatory trainings and supervising their employees before the trust that has been lost can be rebuilt.

    As for the person who was assigned to be my son’s coach without a background check. I hope you are moving on and do put all of this behind you. I thought the Mayor’s letter was wrong in that it all but gave out your name. I felt it could’ve been better written, and even voiced that opinion. They felt it was ok as they feared if they weren’t specific enough too many people would be calling and be upset.

    I still am not sure why you thought you could be a coach with your record, but the City failed you as well by not doing the background check before making you the coach. Good luck to you~

    As to anyone else- this is everyone’s wake up call. Don’t just assume because this is a small town that these things do not happen or can’t happen again. Ask questions, make sure you are satisfied as to whom you are giving out information to, why it is needed and what other alternatives are if you won’t share the info. Before meeting your coach check with whatever organization you signed up with about the practice of background checks and other trainings coaches/volunteers may be required to do. But also, if you haven’t coached or volunteered, you should.

  • Jake // August 22, 2008 at 4:13 pm

    I don’t noramlly blog, but I couldn’t help after reading the comment by Julie. She believes it is the parent’s fault this happened????

    As she states “NOT ONE OF THESE PARENTS wanted to put there (her grammar error , not mine) precious time and energy on the line and volunteer to coach”.

    Does she feel that this is what these families deserved? They deserved this to happen to them since they didn’t volunteer to be a flag football coach? Is this what all children signing up for sports deserve? They deserve felons for coaches since their parents can’t or won’t?

    Wow, statements like this is why there is a problem. From what I can tell (since I don’t know them, I won’t judge), these parents are not just pointing fingers. They are demanding change, they are drawing attention to a matter that effects all children and their families.

    Thanks to them, we hopefully won’t hear about background checks not being done again. We can assume that coaches and volunteers will get the proper background check and training where necessary. Thanks to them, more parents will hopefully start asking questions, and yes, get involved.

  • Pete // August 23, 2008 at 12:13 pm

    See what happens when you go out of town for a week? No background checks for coaches? I can see this happening by a small organization, but by the City? That is a bit scary.

    I see a lot about needing more people to be involved, needing more volunteers. Is the parks and rec department saying they needed volunteers to do the background checks? Since they are overworked and underpaid something had to give and background checks is what slips off the plate??? Why did they start the league without completing the background checks, what would the harm have been to put off the start of flag football until the background checks were completed? From the Mayor’s letter, she reports they were all completed in an afternoon. If she could get them done in an afternoon why couldn’t parks and rec get them done, but had time to hand out folders to coaches with supplies?

    I think the City needs to look more closely at what their employees are doing (or not doing) and do some serious PR to rebuild this program. I agree Parks and Rec are needed for our kids and community, but we need to know it can be run properly by a staff knows their job and takes responsibility for their actions.

  • Cleatus // August 24, 2008 at 3:33 am

    I would like to know how this parent knew this coach was a convicted felon. Does this person have access to private information that others don’t???

  • Jerry Simpson // August 25, 2008 at 11:10 am

    The Mayor and or City Manager need to be held accountable for hiring felons to work with our children. Impeachment is costly but remember at the ballot box next election. If you forget, I’ll remind you.

  • Jennifer // August 26, 2008 at 8:05 pm

    This is a response to Cleatus’s question in regards to how the parent got the information on the coach. Well I too was curious and after a little research it turns out that one of the parents happens to be a Bonney Lake Police Officer. Now don’t quote me on this, but I believe that that is abusing your badge!!!! I tried to look people up online to get background information and needed middle names, date of birth’s as well as other information that could be considered private. So, just out of curiousty, does this person also run the name of his childs dentist, doctor and teacher??? I’m just wondering????

  • Jo // August 28, 2008 at 1:31 pm

    Cleatus and Jennifer,
    I find it sad that concerned parents come forward with information to protect the children of this community and we are the ones treated like criminals. We did not want to have to bring out details, but I cannot allow you to drag an innocent officer into a situation that you know nothing about. I am an involved parent who has volunteered at the schools since I moved into this community. I worked every day with the coach’s child and he talked openly about the fact that both of his parents were in prison. Obviously, you can understand how deeply this affects a child. You can imagine my shock when he and his father came to practice and his father turned out to be the coach of my son’s team! As for the details on his criminal record, it is a very simple search online and I am sorry that you could not figure out how to access the information.

  • Pete // August 28, 2008 at 6:18 pm

    Well said Jo! I apologize on behalf of all the concerned citizens who do care about our children and can now have some confidence that background checks will be done in the future.

    It seems that people continue to miss the point! Why do you blame the people who found this out and reported it? I saw the Mayor on TV last night, she freely admitted that background checks were not done, indicated she reprimanded the employees involved and vowed to make changes. Why wouldn’t you thank the parents for stepping forward? Instead you point fingers at them and make accusations without proof?

    I have heard a lot of gossip about this incident in town. It seems that information is being passed around by City employees in hopes to deflect the criticism from where it rightly should be. This level of unprofessionalism shows me that they have a long way to go in proving they can actually gain back my trust.

    People should be standing together right now to get our Parks and Rec program back on track instead of trying to lay blame where it doesn’t belong.

    P.S.- I did a few online searches myself and found that it is quite easy to run checks on people. I just found out how much my neighbor sold his house for and what his taxes are as well.

  • Valerie // August 29, 2008 at 11:15 am

    I am truly amazed at the reaction of people that have posted messages criticizing the people that came forward. I personally know the person that brought this information forward and it was an extremely difficult decision. The only motivation was to protect our kids, verify that the City was running background checks and determine what their rules for hiring coaches were. I don’t think anyone believed that it would be revealed that the City didn’t think it was important to run background checks before this all happened.

    Maybe the people criticizing are friends of the terminated coach?? I think that the City failed him also. He should be just as upset with the City for allowing him to even end up in this situation. Perhaps people criticizing are friends/employees of the City…if so, you should be ashamed.

    This has been a horrific experience for all involved, but I caution those people bringing judgement against the people that brought this forward. I can only assume at this point that you would prefer for people who know potentially harmful information to keep completely quiet for fear of the backlash that has happened here. You would prefer that a sex-offender, drug dealer, etc be coaching your children and nobody speak up? WOW!

  • jim rasmussen // September 2, 2008 at 2:32 pm

    It takes parents to raise children not a village!Its the parents who should have asked these questions before enlisting your child in any activity you wont be present at.And I believe the city should have the correct answer,if not my child wouldnt be playing.

  • Tom // September 3, 2008 at 7:41 pm

    Considering that it was a parent who recognized the coach at practice, I do not think anyone was planning on leaving their 7- year old alone.

    I believe the real issue is the City’s lack of supervision of their employees that lead to the selection of a coach without a background check. I am waiting to see what the City publishes to all the residents of Orting about this issue and what policies they have changed.

  • Cory Newingham // October 7, 2008 at 9:36 pm

    PLEASE HELP ME! My son plays on the 5th and 6th grade football team. The so called Coach thinks he is a professional coach and cares more about winning then letting all of the kids have fun and learn the game. We are half way thru the season and my son and about 6 or 7 other kids have not stepped foot on the field. We nearly got into a fist fight after the game tonight because of it and now he is going to kick my son off of the team. I have contacted the City of Orting parks and recreation and even went as far as to contact the Mayor of Orting with no results. The Orting football program is horrible. They do not teach the kids that having fun is the most important part of the game! They have ruined my sons self esteem and made him feel like he isn’t good enough to play on the team. This is my sons first year playing football so he is not the best at the game but he deserves to get to have fun and learn like the rest of the kids. I don’t know what else to do because I have tried everything. I really just want him to enjoy the game and have fun but this coach is ruining his love for the game. What are your thoughts?

  • Nancy // October 14, 2008 at 9:29 am

    My thoughts for Tom are- PLAY SOCCER!

  • Russ // November 7, 2008 at 2:20 pm

    I realize that this matter is old news, but I am reading all of this for the first time, so forgive me for beating a dead horse.

    Did the city mess up? Yup. Big time. I think we can all agree that the failure to conduct a background check on those working with our kids was a terrible oversight. Thankfully, no sex offenders slipped under the radar and no one was hurt. I keep seeing people talking about being vicitimized by this. What crime were you a victim of? I realize that personal information was given to this coach, but like Pete discovered, that same information can be obtained by anyone through public records and online searches. You are not a victim if no crime has been committed. Are your feelings hurt? Sure. But having your feelings hurt is not the same as being the victim of a crime. I read some of the comments on how horrific and devestating this has been for some people and can only guess that these people have been very fortunate to have not experienced much hardship in their lives. People say their trust in the city is ruined. Is it lonely for those of you up there on your pedestals?

    I applaud people like Monica Haman and others who have done what parents all over this country have done for years… investing hours of their own free time each week to allow their children to have the opportunity to be involved in a successful sports program. I am from the South, originally. The fact that the City is involved in youth rec leagues shocked me. To me, it sounds like the very best thing for everyone involved is if the City hands the leagues back over to the parents to run. The Parks and Recs department can maintain the fields and provide a location for the leagues to use. The government should not be overseeing this program. The comments by Cory Newingham really highlight this fact. Does the fact that the Mayor is being called because you aren’t happy that your child isn’t getting playing time and you don’t like the way the coach runs the program set off red flags for anyone else? I don’t care how small our city is, the Mayor should not have anything to do with this matter! The great thing about a league being run by volunteers is that parents are forced to take more active roles in their childrens lives or the leagues disappear. The old saying is true, “if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself!”

  • Mike Jones // January 9, 2009 at 5:47 pm

    How do you feel about your childs safety when it comes to community sports?

    oh give it a rest.. quit trying to scare people to drum up interest. Youd have a long career at the major networks spreading lies about how “make believe terrorist” want to kill us all because were “free” lol

    Yes, they hate us because were FREE!!! what a load of bull.

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