Kids Do the Right Thing
By Ken Reed
Sometimes kids can make better decisions than adults.
A youth (fifth grade) basketball team in a Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) league in Clark, New Jersey decided to forfeit the rest of its season rather than boot the team’s two female players off the team.
The CYO league recently told St. John’s school that the team wasn’t supposed to be coed, and as such, the girls wouldn’t be allowed to stay on the team.
St. John’s athletic director Jack Cajuste allowed the girls to be on the team this season. There weren’t enough girls at St. Johns to form a girls-only team. In fact, the team’s roster has been coed for the past four years without objections.
There is some confusion regarding CYO league rules as the rules in St. John’s CYO division — JV Black — don’t mention whether teams can or cannot be coed. However, rules in other CYO divisions do state that coed teams aren’t allowed.
Faced with making a decision, the St. John’s squad unanimously voted to not take the court without their female teammates to play a game against Scotch Plains’ St. Bartholomew the Apostle.
When St. John’s coach Rob Martel told the team the situation and asked them what they wanted to do, chants of “Unity!” broke out as the team chose to end its season. Instead of playing St. Bartholomew the Apostle, the team played an instrasquad game, girls included.
“Pride. Just pure pride,” said parent Denise Laskody when asked what she thought of the vote.
“These kids are doing the right thing. We don’t have to tell them what to do. They just know. It’s amazing.”
Yes, sometimes kids just know.
Take note adults.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #30 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The State of College Athletics with Dr. David Ridpath: Problems and Potential Solutions – Ridpath is a sports administration professor at Ohio University and a long-time member of The Drake Group, a college sports reform think tank.
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Episode #29 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The Honorable Tom McMillen Visits League of Fans’ Sports Forum – McMillen is a former All-American basketball player, Olympian, Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Congressman. We discuss the state of college athletics today.
Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world. We discuss problems in youth sports today.
Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families.
Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
Episode #25 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Physical Education Should Be a Critical Component of K-12 School Design – Michael Horn is co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- Reed Appears on Ralph Nader Radio Hour League of Fans’ sports policy director, Ken Reed, Ralph Nader and the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner discussed a variety of sports issues on Nader’s radio show as well as Reed’s updated book, How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan. Reed's book was released in paperback in February, and has a new introduction and several updated sections.
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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