Thrown A Curve Ball

Public outcry over decisions to change the youth baseball and softball programs at St. Andrews Parks & Playgrounds (SAPP) has grown louder than any umpire’s third strike punch-out call.
SAPP executive director Kevin Walsh put out a statement last week that at a recent board meeting, the members voted to create its own youth baseball program, and that it will no longer be affiliated with a national youth ball organization.
For the past few years, SAPP had affiliated itself with Cal Ripken Baseball.
Walsh stated it also meant that SAPP would no longer offer post-season all-star teams, which would be eligible to play in post-season district, state and regional championships. One playground team won a national championship 10 years ago, with a few members going to have successful baseball careers.
In place of that tradition, SAPP will create its own post-season tournament.
Outcry, especially on SAPP’s social media, has been loudest over the decision to not have all-star teams.
One mother, posting to SAPP’s Facebook page, said that all three of her kids had played ball at St. Andrews, and that all-stars was one of their “fondest” memories, and that all of her kids recall their time on the diamond as “the most exciting years of their childhood.”
Another poster asked, “How come there are no supporting comments?”
And another, “So, no more scoring, everybody wins, trophies all around … If so, that is a sad, sad shame.”
Walsh said this week while on a business trip to Connecticut that the move was pushed by several factors, the most powerful being the bite travel baseball had taken out of participation numbers.
Going back to 2008, Walsh said the rise in local travel ball options had reduced the numbers of kids playing rec baseball by somewhere close to 20 percent, with close to 1,000 kids playing ball on Playground Road.
On SAPP’s Facebook page, a youth coach from Mt. Pleasant said that to “use travel ball as a cop out is nonsense.”
Another issue is the lack of teams and communities taking part in Cal Ripken ball. Before, when SAPP was aligned with Dixie Youth Baseball, Walsh said there were eight to 10 teams in state tournaments.
“While I don’t know Cal Ripken’s numbers, I do know that at some post-season tournaments, there would only be four teams, and we would have already played one of them,” said Walsh.
Walsh said that scores haven’t been put up on the playgrounds two award-winning scoreboards for younger age games for years, and that that would continue. “Does that mean everyone in the stands and on the field doesn’t always know what the score is? No,” said Walsh with a laugh.
SAPP currently partners with the City of Charleston in youth sports, with the playground running programs in tennis, baseball, softball, basketball and basketball cheerleading. The city runs soccer, football, lacrosse, and football cheerleading.
Walsh said close to 3,000 kids participate in youth sports at SAPP, with baseball and soccer taking an equal chomp, of about 1,000 kids each. He added that if there was increased interest in SAPP’s travel ball teams, the Rocks, he would consider increasing the number of teams for kids more interested in higher levels of competition
City Councilman Aubry Alexander said he was concerned about the changes, as he “grew up playing ball on those fields,” and was checking with city staff to see if the decision violated any of the agreements between the St. Andrews Public Service District and the city.
Jeff Brown, who has a very intimate relationship with SAPP, has mixed feelings about the decision.
Brown grew up around the corner from the ball fields, his father still living in the house on 5th Avenue in Maryville where playground officials and coaches came to make a stand years ago.
Brown is an African American, and some of the other playgrounds in the area said they wouldn’t play against the St. Andrews team if he were on the field. The coaches and officials came to his house and said they wouldn’t play without Brown on their team.
“That meant a lot,” said Brown. “That made me want to go back to the playground.” Brown went one to coach at the playgrounds as an adult, even erecting a batting cage in the side yard of his Melrose neighborhood home so kids on his teams could get more practice.
His son, Bishop England senior Jeffery Brown, played for him and is poised to play baseball at The Citadel next year.
While Brown said he is “really disappointed” about the decision to do away with all-stars, he said travel ball places too much pressure on kids, and too much focus on parents’ wallets and egos.
“The problem with travel ball (teams) is that that don’t allow kids to be kids anymore,” said Brown. “For me, when kids get up to 13, 14 years old, then they can think about playing a little bit of better competition, but anything 13 and under needs to be at a structured playground program.”
“You see so many parents who think their kids are superstars; let them play, if they are good enough, they will find them,” Brown said, referring to college and beyond baseball.
Walsh said the decision could be reversed, and that the playground wants more public input. “That’s why we are holding a public hearing,” Walsh said, referring to a 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24th event at SAPP’s gymnasium.
“Bottom line is, if we come up with the best program in the world, and no one signs up for it, then it’s not much of a program,” said Walsh.