Title Stripped From Champions

The Little League 2014 World Series champions, Jackie Robinson West, from Chicago, Illinois, were stripped of their medals in February because players illegally played on their little league team. The players were from outside the boundary map and should not have been allowed to play on the team, but the coach and officials in the local organization allowed it to happen. Unfortunately, this is a prime example of what we discussed in class on January 29 when we focused on sport and societal values, specifically how young athletes suffer from the over involvement of parents and coaches because of the emphasis that they place on winning regardless of the cost. In the article “Little League National Title Stripped from Jackie Robinson West,” it stated that the coach knowingly recruited players from outside the boundary map to play for his team so that they could ensure having a good chance at winning. It is very frustrating to see that a coach would do something like cheat when I know from what I learned in class that sports are supposed to help build a value system that focuses on admirable traits like honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect and responsibility. It even states in the article that one of the little league’s core values they want to teach the players is fair play over wins and losses.  Everyone knows, or should know, that “fair play” means there has to be an emphasis placed on honesty. This coach certainly didn’t do that. Sadly, the ones to lose out were the kids who worked hard to win that title all because of adults who cheated. Finally, a tournament like the Little League World Series should instill in everyone a sense of national pride. In class we discussed how playing sports should help build the core value of nationalism for the players as well as for the fans, but with over 80 countries competing, how good does it look for us to cheer on the team that cheated even if they are from our own country? How can we have pride in our country if we are cheating to win? 

For more information visit:

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/sports/us-little-league-champions-jackie-robinson-west-stripped-title

Article discussed in blog post:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-jackie-robinson-west-stripped-little-league-title-20150211-story.html#page=1

For more information and a video click here:

http://espn.go.com/chicago/story/_/id/12308988/little-league-strips-chicago-team-us-championship-suspends-coach