Why Atoka Dixie Softball is Crooked.
I would like to expose the crooked, political world of what we call Atoka Dixie Youth Softball, Spring 2003, located in Atoka, Tipton County, TN. My daughter played this year in the ponytails, which is girls aged 11 and 12.
When the season ends, as we all know, it is time for all-stars. Dixie Youth Softball, for many of us, is a standard staple of summertime fun in Tipton County for our girls. Everyone knows the "all-stars" are "supposed to be" the best players of the league. But this year, it was coaches who wanted their daughters on all-stars. We expected them to follow the precedent set forth by the all-star coaches of the last three years. They made it to state the first year, and the following two years they went all the way to the World Series. They did not pick coaches' daughters, or friends, only the best players. But, those coaches are not in Dixie Youth anymore, and evidently their legacy went with them and these coaches did not learn a thing from them.
Let me tell you the make-up of this "all-star" team itself. Of the twelve girls, nine are coaches' daughters. Of those nine, six deserve to be there because they are either a great pitcher or great ball player. The three left, one is a great fielder with a power bat, but she struck out most of the time during the regular season. Another is a young, inexperienced pitcher, with questionable fielding ability and a weak bat, she too, struck out most of the time. The last, this girl was the most surprising of all, was a 2nd baseman during the season, could not hit the broad side of a barn and can hardly catch a routine ball. This last pick is what surprised me the most. There had to be some wheeling and dealing in that all-star vote for that child to be on the all-star team. The last three on the all-star team, two are on a traveling team of the coach and they are good ball players, and I expected them to be on the all-star team. The last is a catcher, who is great in the field, but again struck out most of the season. Ball games are not won on fielding alone, there has to be hitting involved and the five core traveling girls cannot carry this team the other girls are going to have to bat too.
The all-stars this year in the ponytails are a joke to the league and was not fair to our girls. Three girls who they passed up for all-stars, I was so surprised they were not included. One was a great utility player, a pitcher and a catcher and she could play anywhere on the field plus she had a great bat! Another was a pitcher and 1st baseman. The last, a girl who was probably the most consistent hitter of the league.
Another thing that was questionable this year, some parents already knew their child was on all-stars THREE WEEKS before the season even ended! From what we were told, all-stars were notified at about 10:00 the night before and her parents already had a custom sticker on their vehicle the next day!
Well, an update, riding on the two best pitchers, they were able to win the district. But Dyersburg proved if you can hit off the pitchers they would win. One child missed every ball in the outfield that came to her. The majority of the non-traveling girls struck out when it came to batting. Atoka is riding on the two pitchers and the traveling girls who are on their team.
