Issue date: April 01, 1998

Foul ball: making sure kids -- and coaches -- play fair

"People here are very successful, they lead very challenging lives, and are very serious about Little League," says Jim Kauffman, president of Alpine Little League.

In the past he has felt that pamphlets and the player's handbook outlining the importance of sportsmanship were sufficient. Now, he thinks more may be needed. "We've talked to the board of directors about whether we shouldn't engage the services of an expert on childhood development, or something, to come in for a seminar with the coaches."

The Alpine league board will meet soon to draw up lists of what they're looking for from such a seminar, and whom to interview. "The great thing about this area is that between San Jose State, Stanford, and all the other colleges in the area, there's a whole lot of places to look to for guidance," says Mr. Kauffman.

For now, Alpine coaches are warned to avoid excessive competition and to lead by example, by reinforcing the importance of effort.

"You can win even when you don't win; kids can walk away from a game feeling like they've won if they try hard," says Mr. Kauffman. "Of course, when there's enough bad behavior, the parents will go to a coach. Especially around here, parents do a great job of being the conscience of the league."

At M-A, on the other hand, sportsmanship is embodied -- literally -- by Mike McPherson, the vice president of competition and sportsmanship. Appointed at the end of last season, Mr. McPherson has been on the job for almost six months, first making sure that the registration and tryout processes ran smoothly, and now working with the coaches themselves.

"In the past few years, we saw a little more tension on the sidelines, and a higher dropout rate than we would have liked, from kids who weren't having fun," Mr. Umphreys admits. "Last year there were a few incidents where parents were asked to leave the game, or coaches forgot that they were there to help the kids (and not just to win games)."

Normally, parents and coaches can discuss tensions informally, or appeal directly to the league president, Mr. Umphreys says. "But it's nice to go to an objective third party; Mike was a Little League commissioner last year, and he knows a lot about the game."

To help make competition fair and behavior more sportsmanlike, the league is "trying to make sure that teams are as equal as possible, so that one or two teams don't dominate," says Mr. McPherson.

Coaches attend clinics and are given books such as "Positive Coaching" and "Coaches Who Never Lose: Making Sure Athletes Win, No Matter What the Score" -- both published by Menlo Park's Ward Publishing Inc.

"Most of us are exposed to lots of other youth sports, where things happen that, as adults, we'd prefer not to occur," says Mr. Umphreys. "They're small things, but kids see that kind of behavior on TV or in the pros. We want to make sure that they know how good it is to win, but when a game's over, it's over."

Additionally, Mr. Umphreys says, the league has added a player's representative, Gabe Whelan, to whom kids can appeal when they feel that a decision or a policy is unfair.

"If you get kids involved in the process, they tend to own it more, and feel more listened to," he says.

Kids in the M-A league follow certain practices the national Little League doesn't: All kids on a team are required to bat, for example, not just the best nine batters on the squad.

"The focus is on teamwork as much as winning," says Jeff Morris, a Little League board member and parent. "As long as there's the enjoyment, there's the commitment to get better."

And, says Mr. Umphreys, easing excessive competition can be achieved by reward, as well as role-modeling: The leagues plan to restructure playoff formats, adding more brackets to make more first- and second-place finishes possible for teams.

"We want to structure it so that even the last-place team gets recognition," says Mr. Umphreys.



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