Illegal/Ineligible Players?

[stonebeltkelsy]

I recognize that I may be naïve as is this our first year in travel ball (8u). At nearly every tournament we have played there have been players that were too old for the division. Is this just the way it is? By any means necessary? Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[CoachKevin]

Well not sure what association you play, but in ASA the player has to be the age on 1 Jan... So in your case, if the player turns 9 on Jan 2nd, she can still play 8U. Many times, parents "think" the other team has illegal players but in reality they are not.

 

[Little Angels Softball]

Yeah, I have never seen the use of illegal players due to age. At least not that I am aware of.

I have seen many, many teams pick up ringers for important tournaments, though.

 

[stonebeltkelsy]

Thanks for your response. Every association tournament we have played in so far as been January 1 cut off (so 2006 or later). In two cases I don't think- I know. I know the parents and know the children- I know their birth dates (2005). In fact, in one of the cases the director of the tournament acknowledged the player was too old but advised the coach not to protest because it would "piss everyone off." I had mentioned to the parents in advance that she would not be eligible to play 8u as she turned 9 prior to Jan 1- the response was well the coach wouldn't have recruited her if she couldn't play. In the 3rd case the child was sitting next to my mother, and the child was asked how old she was and she responded 10. Only to be corrected by an adult standing next to her who said, "no, no she is 9." I'm sure everyone "thinks" players are older when they are larger, better, or losing. After two for sure and a 3rd possibility. I was just wondering if this type of thing was common place or just an anomaly this season for us.

 

[grcsftbll]

I've suspected this before, just because of a girl's appearance. Then we got a girl on our team who was a good 6" taller than my daughter, who's already 97th percentile for height for her age. And she was definitely within the proper age. So mostly, I give people the benefit of the doubt now. I've never had a situation where I knew for sure that the girl was older. I think I'd probably want to protest. There is nothing fair or right about doing that.

 

[redhotcoach]

I recognize that I may be naïve as is this our first year in travel ball (8u). At nearly every tournament we have played there have been players that were too old for the division. Is this just the way it is? By any means necessary? Thanks in advance for your input.

Yes have seen it in many tourneys that never check the players. We got second in a 14u and were suspicious about a few players being called names that didn't seem to match any names on the roster. The girls did checking after tourney, found one player posted a photo, so our girls fwd the photo to a cousin at a high school we knew many from that team were from. The cousin confirmed, several of the players were seniors. I told the girls we are not going to do anything, but just be proud we almost beat a team of cheatin ringers.

Soccer requires every player to present their players card to the ref before every game. Each and every association, from rec to professional. Why hasn't softball started this?

 

[3bmama]

Why would you want to keep your kid down at 8u? That's just stupid.

 

[rdbass]

Why would you want to keep your kid down at 8u? That's just stupid.

For the 'little trophy'.....

 

[JAD]

I would make sure you understand the age requirements of your league. Unless the suspected overage players are STUDs I personally would not make a stink about it. Sometimes you get siblings and friends who want to play together and 8U is not worth getting worked up over....just my $0.02.

 

[PA SB Dad]

I was just wondering if this type of thing was common place or just an anomaly this season for us.

It happens more often than you know. Remember Danny Almonte? The reason youth sports associations have age certification requirements is because unscrupulous adults will use any means possible to get an edge.