Jackie Robinson Little league: The real problem behind the scandal.

The joy that baseball fans felt while watching a little known little league team from the south side of Chicago has now turned to utter and complete disappointment.
The blame for what transpired to the Jackie Robinson little league team must land on the parents, coaches and the league itself for forgetting the point of little league baseball. The point is not to win it all, or to try and win the little league world series. The point is to build bonds of friendship that can last a lifetime, to learn that you will fail many times in this life but that it isn’t our failures that make us who we are. It is what we do after failure that builds us in to the people we will become, when parents push the idea of win at all costs, including cheating, we are robbing these kids of a true little league experience. Once we lose that we are taking away the purity that is little league baseball.

                That being said, discipline is not the course of action that should be taken after this scandal. By fining or banning the league you are now punishing kids who had no part in the matter itself, since most if not all the players from the team have now moved on to older leagues of play. What needs to be done is a change in how we regulate and manage little league baseball itself.  This is not the first time a little league team has made national headlines due to cheating or ineligibility. And honestly if nothing is done to improve how we background check players, it will not be the last. Heck those are the only teams that have made national headlines, the amount of teams grabbing players from neighboring towns or using players who are too old that didn’t even make it to the World series could be even higher.  

                Little league baseball at its core might be one of the most pure sporting events in America, players don’t leave early to go to the next level, they are not paid ( besides with snacks and juice after the game win or lose). The Little league World Series is supposed to be a once in a lifetime event for the kids, something they will never forget for the rest of their lives. And while they may have their fame and title taken away, no one can take away the experience these kids had on their journey to Williamsp