Over the past three weeks, Little League has consumed my life, and I don’t just mean watching games on the ESPN family of networks.
During that time span, Tulsa National Little League has had its major softball and baseball teams removed from the Southwest Region Tournament in Waco, Texas.
To understand how we got here, I need to take you back to July 19.
That date is important because it was during the softball tournament when Industrial Little League (Texas East) filed the first formal protest against Tulsa National.
Industrial claimed that Tulsa had six players on its roster who were ineligible because they allegedly did not meet residency or school attendance criteria and none of the players participated in regular-season play.
Things spiraled from there, as two more protests followed.
It came down to one player from Tulsa National being ineligible. She was named student of the month for her school in Arkansas during the spring semester and her school posted about it on social media. The evidence was not confirmed to The IX Sports by Little League International, but it was confirmed by the other participating teams in the Southwest Region.
Tulsa National’s softball team was disqualified on July 21.
Fast forward three weeks and the baseball team spent Tuesday afternoon in court as its parents had hired an attorney after they were removed from the regional tournament for using an ineligible player.
The difference was, the player in question never played in Waco. His time with the team ended after the state tournament. The problem was, the state tournament is considered part of the Little League International Tournament.
Ultimately, four protests were filed in two weeks against Tulsa National. The final protest had the evidence Little League needed to make its decision to remove the team from competition.
Once the last protest was filed, Oklahoma’s District Administrator responded with an email stating the baseball player was ineligible and that his waiver was approved by the Southwest Region.
But the controversy reached a new level when Team Oklahoma was granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Monday. The TRO granted Tulsa National a spot in the championship game that was originally scheduled for Tuesday before it was DQ’d.
However, Little League filed a motion to dissolve the TRO on Tuesday morning with a 330-page document that included the rulebook.
At 4:03 p.m. CT, Judge Ryan Luna of the 414th District Court in McLennan County, Texas, ruled to dissolve the temporary restraining order.
It seemed like the drama stopped there.
Oh, how wrong I was.
Listen now to The IX Sports Podcast and Women’s Sports Daily
We are excited to announce the launch of TWO new podcasts for all the women’s sports fans out there looking for a daily dose of women’s sports news and analysis. Stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen to podcasts, and make sure to subscribe!
Tulsa National parents released a statement shortly after the ruling, calling for change at the top of the region and within their own league.
“To our own Oklahoma administration, the Southwest Regional administration, and Little League International: this one is on you,” the statement reads.
“They deserved better. We are reviewing the Tulsa National Charter to see what is needed for a change so this doesn’t happen to a different team.”
The whole situation is unfortunate for both teams, softball and baseball. But there is a bigger issue here than just using ineligible players. Why are the adults in charge willing to lie about where kids live or how old they are?
In my opinion, look no further than the NCAA.
It seems like we see a new injunction every week to allow players to continue playing in college for an extra year or to make more money.
This mentality has trickled down to youth sports and it’s getting uglier by the day. I understand that winning is fun and getting free stuff is cool. Hell, being on TV is super cool, but at what cost?
A group of adults decided the fate of innocent children, it will affect them for years to come and for what? Some airtime on ESPN?
My question to all of the adults involved is simple: was it worth it?
Full coverage of the Tulsa National Little League controversy:
Texas judge rules on Tulsa National Little League temporary restraining order
Court document shows Tulsa National used ineligible player in Little League International Tournament
Tulsa National Little League hit with new protest just weeks after softball disqualification
Little League International explains Tulsa National softball’s removal in exclusive interview
Little League Softball World Series contender disqualified from Southwest Region Tournament
Two more protests filed at Little League softball Southwest Region Tournament
New eligibility protest emerges at Little League softball Southwest Region Tournament
Rep The IX Sports at your next game!
Shop the logo collection or special “Women’s Sports are Front Page News” collection now on Shopify.
Soccer: Annie Peterson, @AnnieMPeterson, AP Women’s Soccer
Tennis: Joey Dillon, @JoeyDillon, Freelance Tennis Writer
Basketball: Howard Megdal, @HowardMegdal, The IX Sports
Softball: Maren Angus-Coombs, @Maren-Angus, The IX Sports
Golf: Marin Dremock, @MDremock, The IX Sports
Hockey: @TheIceGarden, The Ice Garden
Gymnastics: Jessica Taylor Price, @jesstaylorprice, Freelance Writer
