Boys & Girls Clique
While I was on vacation, I received an email from a local resident (hereafter referred to as "S") who has been trying to resolve an issue with the Albany Boys & Girls Club and the Albany Democrat-Herald. S and her family are being ignored and dismissed, to the detriment of her grandsons (more on that in a moment) and other kids in the Albany area, but this situation may creep into surrounding towns, including Corvallis.
The Boys & Girls Club is a nifty organization that provides sports programs, homework assistance, after-school care and computer training, as well as games and activities for kids from kindergarten through the teen years. Membership costs are amazingly low, in the $40-per-year range, with additional fees for some programs, but there are scholarships for those who just can't afford it otherwise. Their mission statement includes this compelling statement: Every child deserves equal access to community programs and resources.
Well, S has two grandsons who want to play football. However, the Albany Boys & Girls Club has dumped their all-inclusive football program in favor of the more discriminatory Pop Warner football program, which only permits kids who fit in a narrow "age-weight matrix" to play in the league. The organization claims that this is to ensure safety of all the kids in the league, but the Corvallis Boys & Girls Club manages to find room for all kids. Safety concerns are addressed by matching kids up with positions that suit them best, rather than excluding kids entirely.
Like the rest of the family, S's grandsons are quite tall, and height-weight proportionate. The 12-year-old is 5' 7" and 135 pounds. The 11-year-old is 5' 5" and 145 pounds. They're tall boys, but they are well within their healthy weight range. The 12-year-old was offered an overflow spot on a team of larger boys, but the 11-year-old was denied entirely. His older brother declined the overflow league in an act of protest; if his younger brother can't play, he won't play either. Both boys can play in Corvallis, but isn't that sort of beside the point of having a Boys & Girls Club in each town?
While trying to address this issue, both S and her son M, the father of the boys, wrote letters to the Democrat-Herald. The newspaper called S to ask if she would mind terribly if only M's letter was published, since they both addressed the same issue. She said that was fine, assuming the letter would be treated as most letters to the editor. Instead, it was buried in the sports section. Subsequent letters from several family members have also gone unpublished. Of course, the DH is a major sponsor of the Albany club. Hmmmm.
A woman named Jean Smith wrote into the DH the following week crowing about how her grandson had also been rejected for his weight, but had made the decision to diet and exercise until he met the weight limits. She didn't say what size he was to start with, but S's grandsons are not even tipping the scales into the overweight category. Yeah. Pressuring healthy adolescents to lose weight is a fantastic idea. Maybe we can drive those anorexia numbers up yet!
S. did receive a brief response from Ryan Graves, executive director of the Albany B&G Club, promising to consider her comments. I emailed both Graves and John Radetich, athletic director, and received no response whatsoever. I also sent an email to Steve Bason, CEO of the Corvallis B&G Club, and Robert Thornberg, associate director of athletics, urging them to reject any proposal to switch the Corvallis football program over to Pop Warner.
This isn't the NFL. It's not the NCAA. It's not even high school. It's a program for elementary and junior high kids, which should inherently be inclusive. What a shame that the Albany Boys & Girls Club doesn't mind leaving kids behind.
Addendum: At 4 p.m. this afternoon, I received this response from Mr. Bason at the Corvallis Boys & Girls Club:
The Corvallis Club will be staying with the Club football program and not Pop Warner.
The Boys & Girls Club is a nifty organization that provides sports programs, homework assistance, after-school care and computer training, as well as games and activities for kids from kindergarten through the teen years. Membership costs are amazingly low, in the $40-per-year range, with additional fees for some programs, but there are scholarships for those who just can't afford it otherwise. Their mission statement includes this compelling statement: Every child deserves equal access to community programs and resources.
Well, S has two grandsons who want to play football. However, the Albany Boys & Girls Club has dumped their all-inclusive football program in favor of the more discriminatory Pop Warner football program, which only permits kids who fit in a narrow "age-weight matrix" to play in the league. The organization claims that this is to ensure safety of all the kids in the league, but the Corvallis Boys & Girls Club manages to find room for all kids. Safety concerns are addressed by matching kids up with positions that suit them best, rather than excluding kids entirely.
Like the rest of the family, S's grandsons are quite tall, and height-weight proportionate. The 12-year-old is 5' 7" and 135 pounds. The 11-year-old is 5' 5" and 145 pounds. They're tall boys, but they are well within their healthy weight range. The 12-year-old was offered an overflow spot on a team of larger boys, but the 11-year-old was denied entirely. His older brother declined the overflow league in an act of protest; if his younger brother can't play, he won't play either. Both boys can play in Corvallis, but isn't that sort of beside the point of having a Boys & Girls Club in each town?
While trying to address this issue, both S and her son M, the father of the boys, wrote letters to the Democrat-Herald. The newspaper called S to ask if she would mind terribly if only M's letter was published, since they both addressed the same issue. She said that was fine, assuming the letter would be treated as most letters to the editor. Instead, it was buried in the sports section. Subsequent letters from several family members have also gone unpublished. Of course, the DH is a major sponsor of the Albany club. Hmmmm.
A woman named Jean Smith wrote into the DH the following week crowing about how her grandson had also been rejected for his weight, but had made the decision to diet and exercise until he met the weight limits. She didn't say what size he was to start with, but S's grandsons are not even tipping the scales into the overweight category. Yeah. Pressuring healthy adolescents to lose weight is a fantastic idea. Maybe we can drive those anorexia numbers up yet!
S. did receive a brief response from Ryan Graves, executive director of the Albany B&G Club, promising to consider her comments. I emailed both Graves and John Radetich, athletic director, and received no response whatsoever. I also sent an email to Steve Bason, CEO of the Corvallis B&G Club, and Robert Thornberg, associate director of athletics, urging them to reject any proposal to switch the Corvallis football program over to Pop Warner.
This isn't the NFL. It's not the NCAA. It's not even high school. It's a program for elementary and junior high kids, which should inherently be inclusive. What a shame that the Albany Boys & Girls Club doesn't mind leaving kids behind.
Addendum: At 4 p.m. this afternoon, I received this response from Mr. Bason at the Corvallis Boys & Girls Club:
The Corvallis Club will be staying with the Club football program and not Pop Warner.
posted by Corvallist at
8:44 PM
4 Comments:
I hope those boys get to play. Sports is so good for kids (and adults)---getting exercise, getting team spirit, working together for a common goal by standing basically on the strength, as a team, of individual differences (some good at some things, others good at other things), learning to win and lose with grace, getting contact with other kids (learning social skills). I hope those boys get included so they can play. It's important.
By
Strayer, at 6:05 PM
Imagine what a great place the world would be if everyone took the initiative you have in trying to make life better for "someone-else's kid." Kudos.
By
Anonymous, at 10:33 AM
I'm so disappointed that this happened to 2 boys that were so looking forward to playing football, just like their big brother only to find out that they were too tall??? that is crazy...How does anyone control their height? Why isn't there a team for the bigger/taller kids and a team for the smaller/shorter kids....I'm having a real hard time understanding why any kid that wants to play is being left out...Does anyone see the vandalism in town from kids, thats because they are bored and have nothing else to do...It is so pitiful that Pop Warner did this to these 2 boys.
By
Anonymous, at 6:56 AM
Not just football, Albany B&G Club openly allow discrimination against all kinds of kids in favor of the elite. My child and several other players spent most of soccer season on the bench while other players got to play every minute of every game. I contacted the B&G Club after every single game, gave then minute by minute of every players play time, it was quite obvious there was a huge discrepancy. The coach admitted early on that he had not been playing the boys fairly but none of the 3 coaches ever changed they way they played the boys. 70 minute games and some kids played 70 minutes while others as little as 8 minutes! It got to the point where the favored boys would refuse to leave the field at all and when they weren't put back in if they were benched they threw tantrums and point blank told the other boys they don't get to play because they are lousy players and coach did nothing to stop them, he encouraged them by letting them play and not teaching them good sportsmanship. It has been a month or so now since season ended and not one B&G Club person has responded to my 15 or more calls and e-mails, and I have emailed every employee listed on their website. I even contacted the club and the Albany School District when 2 boys who were suspended from school came to practices and games during their suspensions. This is totally against the school suspension an club policy, but no one ever did anything, apparently the rules don't apply to "the best players"?
By
Clubdescrimination, at 3:36 PM
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