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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsOhio youth team kicked out of rec league over offensive jerseys
Dan Devine
Yahoo SportsJan 9, 2018, 10:55 AM
https://sports.yahoo.com/ohio-youth-team-kicked-rec-league-offensive-jerseys-185930020.html
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Four weeks into the Cincinnati Premier Youth Basketball Leagues season, parents of players on a team from West Clermont, Ohio, saw that the team from Kings Mills, Ohio, against whom their children were playing was named The Wet Dream Team. They also noticed that the names on the backs of the high-school-aged boys jerseys included phrases like Knee Grow and Coon.
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By no means are we perfect parents or assume our teenage boys are innocent and dont speak of things like this, but I could never imagine allowing my teenage son to represent his school and league in this manner, let alone representing our family with such filth, Rue wrote. [
] There is enough hate, bullying, and aggressive behavior in the world that these kids, parents, and schools shouldnt have to deal with bigotry and lewd innuendos on jerseys and in team names in a school district represented recreational basketball league. This isnt a typo, this isnt a mistake, these are ideas that were thought of, discussed, agreed upon by adults and kids alike, printed on uniforms, social media accounts registered and manned and no one thought this was a bad idea or inappropriate?
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CPYBL was developed to provide the best possible basketball experience for the youth of our communities and their families and has always been committed to bringing a positive experience to all of our members, wrote Cincinnati Premier Youth Basketball League spokesman Ben Goodyear in a statement to the Enquirer. Based on the information that we received, the actions and conduct of the team in question did not comply with our stated mission and expected standards and that team has, therefore, been dismissed from our league.
Theyve also been restricted from any further use of district facilities, according to a spokesperson for the Kings Local School District, who emphasized that this team of students and the league in which they were playing isnt affiliated with the district itself.
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The teams coach, Walt Gill, apologized to anyone that was offended by the jerseys in a statement to WLWT. He noted that the team offered to cover them up or change, but that the league still chose to eject the team, and we have accepted that decision.
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This is a teachable moment for [the teen players] to understand how these words are hurtful, Cincinnati NAACP first vice president Joe Mallory told Cincinnati Fox affiliate WXIX-TV. Theyre inflammatory, and theyre divisive to the entire community. [
] Its everybodys problem. Its everybodys business that when these things happen we all stand up and speak out on it.
Dan Devine is a writer and editor for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@oath.com or follow him on Twitter!
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Parents did this. Kids learn racism and sexism. The parents did this and the kids get the punishment. Why did the league take two quarters to shut it down? Why wasn't the offer to cover up or change the jerseys an acceptable alternantive?
sarah FAILIN
(2,857 posts)Which makes me think they may have played 3 teams that didn't complain and that is pitiful imo.
marble falls
(57,333 posts)sarah FAILIN
(2,857 posts)Should have been handled the 1st week or better yet, never been allowed to be printed.
Response to sarah FAILIN (Reply #1)
whathehell This message was self-deleted by its author.
appleannie1943
(1,303 posts)When I worked with 4-H, our goal was to teach kids inclusiveness, how to work together and respect each other, not call each other names and make fun of each other.
sarah FAILIN
(2,857 posts)appleannie1943
(1,303 posts)No wonder Trumpery won Ohio.
whathehell
(29,096 posts)to me that parents would send their children out like that.
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Last edited Wed Jan 10, 2018, 09:46 AM - Edit history (1)
They were in high school - up to grade 12.
whathehell
(29,096 posts)Captain Stern
(2,201 posts)whathehell
(29,096 posts)HopeAgain
(4,407 posts)but giving the kids real consequences will teach them that such behavior is totally unacceptable and that they and their parents were seriously wrong. I knew better than this as a teenager. If the kids were allowed to just cover it up, the message would be that it isn't really so bad.
MaryMagdaline
(6,856 posts)Anything less would be offensive. You don't bring ugly racism into a youth league. Their plan was to infect the entire group of kids, all the teams they played against and all the spectators. The adults should be banned for life from any participation in that league.