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T-ball coach allegedly paid to have disabled boy hurt

LoKyBuckeye

I give up. This board is too hard to understand.
As a parent of a kid with a physical disabilty this makes me sick. I can't imagine what kind of person it takes to do something like this over a fucking T Ball game.

T-ball coach allegedly paid to have boy hurt
Dunbar allegedly didn't want to play mentally disabled 8-year-old

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8587599/

The Associated Press
Updated: 4:52 p.m. ET July 15, 2005

PITTSBURGH - A T-ball coach allegedly paid one of his players $25 to hurt an 8-year-old mentally disabled teammate so he wouldn’t have to put the boy in the game, police said Friday.

Mark R. Downs Jr., 27, of Dunbar, is accused of offering one of his players the money to hit the boy in the head with a baseball, police said. Witnesses told police Downs didn’t want the boy to play in the game because of his disability.

Police said the boy was hit in the head and in the groin with a baseball just before a game, and didn’t play, police said.

“The coach was very competitive,” state police Trooper Thomas B. Broadwater said. “He wanted to win.”

Downs has an unpublished telephone number and couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Friday. It was unclear whether he had an attorney.

He was arrested and arraigned Friday on charges including criminal solicitation to commit aggravated assault and corruption of minors. He was released from jail on an unsecured bond.

The alleged assault happened June 27 in North Union Township, about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, authorities said.

The boy’s mother asked state police to investigate her son’s injuries because she suspected Downs wanted to keep the boy off the field, despite a league rule that required each player to participate in three innings a game, Broadwater said.

Eric Forsythe, the president of the R.W. Clark Youth Baseball League, said Downs had two daughters on the T-ball team.

League organizers investigated accusations against Downs before the T-ball season ended earlier this month but could not prove that he did anything wrong. If Downs is convicted of any crime, he won’t be allowed to be a coach next year, Forsythe said. The league is not affiliated with Little League International.
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 
Witnesses told police Downs didn’t want the boy to play in the game because of his disability.
Disgusting. But, I guess if we don't want this guy to coach anymore because of his moral disability... I guess he'd have no complaints if we all showed up with bats and took him out?
 
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Brutus1 said:
T-ball isn't even real baseball, it's basically instructional.
Exactly. Hell I don't think they keep score in most tball games it's for the kids to learn how to play and get out there and have some fun. This guy is an ass, and I really hope they get some evidence so they can nail this asshole to the wall
 
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My sons first year in T-Ball he was one of the youngest on the team. His first game his coach - an excellent coach of fundamentals who won the vast majority of his games - forgot to put him in. So focused on winning he simply forgot the most important part of his job - to treat the children under his care fairly.

I coached many years of youth soccer and basketball and used to pride myself on giving every player a fair shake. The more time that passes the more I realize that I didn't get it either.

There is only one (unimplementable) way to determine 'champions' in youth sports (what age that refers to is another topic).

1) Measure the skill level of every kid in the league.
2) Play your games.
3) Measure the skill leves again - every kid.
Whatever team has shown the most improvement is the league champ.

Then this shit stops.
 
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Oh8ch said:
My sons first year in T-Ball he was one of the youngest on the team. His first game his coach - an excellent coach of fundamentals who won the vast majority of his games - forgot to put him in. So focused on winning he simply forgot the most important part of his job - to treat the children under his care fairly.

I coached many years of youth soccer and basketball and used to pride myself on giving every player a fair shake. The more time that passes the more I realize that I didn't get it either.

There is only one (unimplementable) way to determine 'champions' in youth sports (what age that refers to is another topic).

1) Measure the skill level of every kid in the league.
2) Play your games.
3) Measure the skill leves again - every kid.
Whatever team has shown the most improvement is the league champ.

Then this shit stops.
The sad thing, Oh8ch, is that if things were done that way coaches would have their players sandbag their talent in the first appraisal.

When I coached soccer I had a chart to keep track of every player and every substitition. We didn't win a lot of games, but every kid played at least half of every game.
 
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The sad thing, Oh8ch, is that if things were done that way coaches would have their players sandbag their talent in the first appraisal.

Already seen it done. Coached basketball in a league where the kids were asked to do a pre-draft skills demonstration. They ran, shot, did layups, etc so all the coaches could have an idea of who was who. Purpose was to keep coaches who knew many of the players from loading up using inside knowledge.

Some coaches did exactly what you suggest. Think about that for a second. These were 10-11 year old kids. The coach, the parents (I would think) and the kids all had to agree to sandbag - to cheat - in order to load up a team. And people thought this was OK. Wonderful lesson.
 
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Just a follow up, with this that I saw

They were interviewing the attorney for the coach and asked him why this child that said the coach offered him 25 dollars to hit the autistic kid would say that. And the attorny said well the coach earlier in the year offered the kids 25 dollars to hit the umpire, who had just yelled at him, with a line drive. Of course according to the attorney that comment was in jest:roll2: . So the guy I guess does discriminate at least it seems. He doesnt like you, he offers 5-8 years olds 25 dollars to take you out
 
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Its just inconceivable to me how someone can think to himself that intentionally injuring a disabled kid for the sake of winning a ball game is okay.

Although, maybe, just maybe, the coach isn't at fault. Consider the possibility that the kid did the deed on his own and made up the story to get out of trouble.

The story never states the kid produced the $25. And it says the league was unable to prove he did anything wrong.
 
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Youth baseball coach to stand trial

http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/3835808

Associated Press
Posted: 1 hour ago

UNIONTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A youth baseball coach on Thursday was ordered to stand trial for allegedly paying one of his players $25 to hurt a 9-year-old mentally disabled teammate.

Eight-year-old Keith Reese testified at a preliminary hearing that Mark R. Downs Jr. made the offer before a playoff game June 27.

"He told me if I would hit (the teammate) in the face, he would pay me $25," Reese said.

Reese warmed up before the game with his mentally disabled teammate, Harry Bowers. His first toss hit Bowers in the groin area. As Reese walked away, he said his coach told him to "go out there and hit him harder."

"So I went out and hit him in the ear," Reese said.

The 27-year-old Downs will be arraigned Sept. 15 on two counts of criminal solicitation to commit aggravated assault and one count each of corruption of minors, criminal conspiracy and recklessly endangering another person.

Downs' attorney, Thomas W. Shaffer, on Thursday again denied the allegations.

Reese's father, Keith Reese Sr., also testified Thursday. He said Downs admitted after the game to offering his son money to hurt the other boy.

The team was part of the R.W. Clark Youth Baseball League, which ended its T-ball season earlier this month.

League organizers have said Downs won't be allowed to coach again if he is convicted of criminal charges.
 
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