After being a resident of Roslyn for a few years I am writing to share my experiences, frustration and disappointment with the "organized" athletic sport programs offered to the children of this community. Specifically, my experience with the Roslyn Little League, Albertson Soccer League and Roslyn Booster Basketball have left me wondering just who is running the show and whether the system is as good as it can be. I would be interested in hearing from other readers about whether my experience is unique and, if not, what suggestions they have to remedy the situation.
I'll begin with Little League. Terrific organization for the sign-up and collection of the $90 in November but it ends there; this league is not about instruction. After a particularly dismal season two years ago when the head coach begged off at the last moment and the assistant coach was convinced to take over, making little effort to do any instruction and getting no assistance from any of the commissioners, another disgruntled parent and I volunteered to coach a team ourselves last year. We hoped to ensure a better experience for our sons but even participating as a coach I was appalled at the degree of disorganization that permeated every aspect of the brief spring season. Despite starting the season in early April, we had not received a schedule of games times by April 11. When we finally received it, I expressed surprise that most of the games were on Thursday nights and not on Saturdays as they had been the previous year. I was told "that is the way it has always been" although no communication was given to me about this either at sign-up or at the tryouts. I guess the commissioners believe that everyone has grown up in Roslyn and just knows when games for 8-year-olds are played! The communication from the commissioners was limited to game cancellations due to inclement weather and notifications for make-up games which were consistently last minute with several games simply not made up. No assistance with coaching per se was offered to us, despite the fact that this was our initial attempt at coaching. Virtually all of the coaches were repeaters and, of interest, many coaches coach all the sports (baseball, basketball, and soccer) year-in and year-out. It is well recognized by the parents who is capable and who is not but no attempt is made to improve the coaching styles in Little League except for a three-hour inservice by professional coaches to all of the coaches at once in the winter.
The week prior to "League Day," the final event of the season, the commissioners notified the coaches as to the time it was supposed to be held so we could inform the parents. When a parent complained to a commissioner that the time conflicted with the time of "League Day" for her daughter's team and asked why the entire league could not celebrate at the same time and place, as had been done, previous years so that she did not have to choose between children. He dryly responded that it was not planned that way this year. After she walked away, he asked me who she was and what her child's name was (obviously for future reference). By the way, "League Day" was a bust. We were told by the commissioners to engage in a baseball game with parents and kids and then we would have pizza supplied by the league (we were told to bring beverages).
Unfortunately, the pizza ran out well before we even finished the second inning. I thought it was a rather fitting finale, reflecting the lack of planning and organization that was reflected during the entire season.
Soccer this year for my son was a big disappointment and he has already put me on notice that he is reluctant to resume in the spring. His team did not win one game and it was no surprise as there were hardly any team practices. For a team sport no sense of team was developed. Four of the 12 boys never showed up from the outset and no replacements or team consolidations were done so the boys never had substitutes during the game and in fact frequently had to borrow players from the opposing team to have sufficient numbers to play at all. What was obvious was a kind of disinterest shared by most of the team and coaches so it came as no surprise when my son walked off the field in disgust and tears at the beginning of the last game of the fall season.
And finally, there is Booster Basketball. This week I drove my son to his weekly 6:30 p.m. practice at East Hills only to be met at the locked door with a sign that all practices were canceled. When I arrived home I called the coach who was equally annoyed as he had learned of the cancellation the same way. He suggested that I call the commissioner to complain which I did. The commissioner claimed he got a call that day that the gym would be unavailable due to the holiday concert. I informed him that the concert was an annual event, the date of which is published in the school's Scope calendar which is distributed at the beginning of the school year. He said that the practice is not always impacted by the concert because it is not always held in the gym and that this was an "unavoidable situation." I checked with East Hills School and learned that the concert is held every year in the gym since it is such a big event. The other time a practice was canceled was due to the Book Fair that is held in the gym but fortunately it was canceled with a few days notice. Scheduling weekly practices when it conflicts with known school activities makes no sense and in my opinion is completely avoidable with a little advance planning. Who is responsible? The commissioner stated he had no children in East Hills School and thus did not know the school calendar. He offered me my money back if my son wanted to quit. My son does not want to quit and that is not a solution that is either appropriate or reasonable.
I am totally unimpressed with the level of commitment to offering our children a first class, organized, thoughtful sporting experience. I'd like to know just how monies are allocated (no annual report is offered), how teams are put together (amazing how some teams remain intact year after year, coached by the same guys) and why everything is so haphazard and last minute when there is plenty of time to get organized. I am afraid to complain too loudly to this inbred, highly political group of men who might take it out on my son. Perhaps a single, overarching entity that would oversee all the sports for the community would provide a structure and organization that would improve the current mediocre approach to athletics in Roslyn.
Thank you for giving me an opportunity to air my views. I'd like to hear from others.
A Concerned Parent
