Jackie Robinson West Accused Of Quietly Expanding League Boundaries To Recruit Players
By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 23, 2014 2:45PM
The story of the Jackie Robinson West Little League All-Star team took a dark turn last week when a rival Little League district alleged the team recruited players from outside its district boundaries. DNAInfo Chicago’s Mark Konkol, who broke the story last week, has a follow-up. Konkol reports JRW and the administrator overseeing their league expanded the boundary from which the team could recruit players. They expanded those boundaries, however, without the permission of three other leagues in which those boundaries overlapped, and the presidents of those leagues were unaware that JRW expanded their recruiting boundaries.
Little League International rules state a league’s boundaries must not overlap with another league. Yet JRW and the administrator of District 4 “submitted an approved, new boundary map to the Little League Regional Office, in effect for the 2014 season.”
Compounding matters further, the new administrator of District 4, Michael Kelley, coached Jackie Robinson West for 25 years and was its league vice president for 20 years before he was appointed the new District 4 administrator this year. It’s a volunteer position yet one that has its benefits. Kelley’s predecessor, Victor Alexander Sr. resigned as District 4 administrator last year because, he told Konkol, he refused to approve affidavits certifying residency for numerous players in the district, including JRW, because they didn’t have proper paperwork to verify they lived within recruiting boundaries. Chris Janes, who first brought the scandal to Konkol’s attention, said at the time the success of the JRW team made their information readily available.
Then there’s the story of JRW player Jaheim Benton, whose family was homeless and sleeping at the homes of friends and family during the team’s Little League World Series run. Would Benton had even made the team had Alexander remained as administrator? Possibly not: Alexander told Konkol, “I know my decision (to not certify the residency affidavits) disappointed people, but I would not back down from what I believed in.”
Little League International officials sided with JRW but did say they would revisit the allegations if more information became available. If these allegations have merit, it’s a sad postscript for one of the feel good Chicago stories of 2014.