Posted: 8/25/2011 5:54:52 PM EDT
Four years ago we when our oldest tried out for a High School Team he didn't make it; OK, we can accept that until we learned from other parents that the "teams" were politically selected and by that I mean "...well he's got to be on the team because the Xxxxx's are his parents." Well it's happened again, and this time I'm going to the School Board with other Parents who've also been discriminated against. 
What I'm asking for here is advise-rules-laws or anything else that can be used to put a stop to this practice. Both my boys are tall, lean, and strong! I could understand it if they were/had slacked, were fat, or skipped practice/try outs, etc, but that was not the case. Of course I'm bias, however I AM honest. 
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| It's been going on since I was in school and I graduated in 86, good luck, as they say, you can't fight city hall. Matter of fact both my sister and I didn't get jobs a few years later because we weren't politically connected. NY state is very well know for this practice. It's just plain wrong. |
| Good luck with everything. It could be like that in my school too, last names definitely played a factor. Football wasn't an issue but baseball was another story. I made varsity baseball in 10th grade, the following year they brought up our JV coach(him and I never got along) to be head Varsity coach. After tryouts I was told "I wasn't needed". I'm not saying I was the best player but I made it the year before and was tall, fast and had a cannon. I was a good outfielder and an OK hitter. My parents were pissed, called a meeting with school board and coach. In the meeting he admitted that he cut me due to "personal reasons" and offered me a spot on the team. I politely told him to go fuck himself. I wasn't going to be seen as the kid that made the team because mommy and daddy complained(not saying that is why your kids would make it, its just how I felt at the time). Looking back I probably should have played but pride is a hell of a thing. Hopefully your kids make it. At the very least it will bring attention to the bullshit and let the board/coaches know your displeasure. |
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Same thing here on Long Island with Little League. They stopped calling the process for choosing the travel teams "tryouts" because of this. There was no illusion that the best kids were on the team. It was always the kids of the coaches and their buddies and the coach spots were locked up every year so you couldn't even get your kid in that way. |
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Only advice I can think of is that if your meeting with the other parents and school board
doesn't change things then change the school board. Run for a seat on the board and have some say in the policies of the school; Change the system, make team memberships based on real performance criteria and not on who's chummy with who in the district. Make the coaches' accountable for their decisions and their jobs or maybe take them out of the loop in deciding who is on the team. It takes time but it can be done. Somebody I work with (in NJ) was having trouble with the school's policies (academics not athletics issue). They went to the school board meetings and were ignored. Ended up running for seats on the board with other like minded parents and they changed things. This advice will not help the immediate situation but it can someday make a difference for somebody. Am I saying "if you can't beat them then join them" by becoming a board member?. No, politics at any level suck, people should do the right thing and not the politically motivated thing but they don't. (in this case real performance criteria is the right and fair thing to do and not Mr and Mrs So-and-so's kid has to make the team) Okay I'll get off my soapbox now........ Good Luck |
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FP, we have run across the same shit in GB for the past several years. The good ol' boys will do whatever it takes to keep their's in the spotlight. It's hard to change it but with enough cage rattling, someone will listen. Try to keep your cool is all I can say, the greasy bastards will look for any reason to have you removed from their office. Oddly enough, the people that are in "power" at most of the schools hate the idea of being held accountable.
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Quoted:
Same thing here on Long Island with Little League. They stopped calling the process for choosing the travel teams "tryouts" because of this. There was no illusion that the best kids were on the team. It was always the kids of the coaches and their buddies and the coach spots were locked up every year so you couldn't even get your kid in that way. This is exactly what's been happening here; it's complete bullshit. If we were trailer trash, in trouble with the law, academic failure, et.al. that would be one thing, but we've been tax paying home owners in this district for twenty years, 15 years volunteer EMS service, very active in the Church, School functions, and the like. Life's not fair, and I don't expect sub-standard players to "make the team" however I demand that all eligible be afforded the chance to compete base on their abilities, not their last name. In the past I've contemplated running for a seat on the school board, perhaps now is the time. Until then, and especially since I know most of them, we will send the President a certified letter outlining our grievances and then make an appearance before the Board for a reply/answers. Ironically, in his Senior year a Coach approached the oldest and essentially begged him to join the team; he told them that they should have thought about that when they selected the fat-boy son of the Coaches best friend over him.
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