Should youth sports teams have to pay to be in their team’s play offs?
Submitted by Dr. Gwenn Is In
Here’s a question for you. When pro athletes win their championship games, do they have to pay to travel to their Superbowl game or World Series? Then, is it fair to expect youth sports champions to pay for their trips to their Superbowl games? If you ask Pop Warner, they’ll tell you, of course not. If you ask Disney who now runs the entire youth sports championship franchise at their Orlando Wide World of Sports, they’ll tell you, as I wrote two years ago when I first learned about this madness, To Play, You Must Pay!
Massachusetts teams seem to end up in the youth football championship playoffs a great deal. And, the teams who often have winning seasons are not necessarily the teams from towns with the most financial resources. They focus on playing football each and every season, hoping to earn a coveted spot to their Superbowl. But, there is a huge catch. To play in that highly sought after play off series, teams must raise nearly $45,000. And, to add insult to injury, Disney requires teams to stay on their property in Orlando, eat at their restaurants and buy theme park tickets.
Last weekend, I learned reading Yvonne Abraham’s “Wide world of greed” column in The Boston Sunday Globe that Disney isn’t a company that has a heart that can melt like Scrooge’s or the Grinch’s in those wonderful holiday movies. The practices of two years ago are continuing today.
The Massachusetts team that Abraham highlighted, the Dorchester Eagles, had an undefeated season this year. Truly amazing! However, as they headed to Orlando earlier this week, they had only raised $24,000 of the $45,000 between donations and a small grant from the NFL. If Disney allows them to participate, they likely will have to give up time in the theme parks or the main players party. So much for holiday spirit and generosity, not to mention taking the wind out of the sail of a team of kids who deserves to participate in every moment of the entire event, without strings attached. Given the profits of the Disney company each year, I highly doubt they’ll feel the pinch from helping out the teams that need the help, even it it amounts to a full ride.
If the kids on these teams did their homework before they boarded the buses, here’s what they will read on the Disney Wide World of Sports Football website page:
“Exhilaration knows no limits as your team fights for the extra yard on every down. Whether you’re competing for a national title, bragging rights or even a college scholarship, play like a pro and make memories your team will cherish for a lifetime.”
I’m not against youth sports championships occurring in places like Disney World. What I’m against is companies like Disney not be reasonable about the cost and forgetting that the ones who loose out are the players. What I’m against is the tiered mentality of companies like Disney who give free trips to Disney World to pro sports champions as a PR stunt but won’t pay a dime to help a youth sports team who understand more what it means to win than most of those million-dollar athletes they put on parade down main street.
Disney has it all wrong. The sports heroes we should be celebrating are not the ones paid the millions of dollars to play. The sports heroes we should be celebrating are the ones paid zero to play and win because of the love of the game. Those are the athletes who deserve the trips and parades down main street…and will appreciate it a heck of a lot more.
I bet Walt Disney is sitting up on a cloud right now in heaven, looking down on this scene unfolding, holding a football. If you look closely, you’ll see a tear in the corner of his eye. He shakes his head and says out loud: “What happened to the dreams? Those kids should be allowed to play - on the field and in my parks!”
Image: SI Kids Pop Warner 51st Super Bowl
Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.
Have a health issue you want to discuss or just a general issue regarding children? Register on Children's Health Blog now and get published within minutes. Before posting, it is recommended that you review our posting guidelines.
