Youth Coaching Gone Horribly Wrong
AdventureDad | October 13A while back I read about an incident that made me really fucking pissed off angry. A baseball coach for a little kids team paid a player to injure a mildly autistic 9-year old boy on the team. The coach was apparently unhappy about the boy not playing as well as other players on the team. A judge just sentenced the asshole to well deserved “consecutive six-to-36-month sentences for corruption of minors and criminal solicitation to commit simple assault.”
Authorities said Downs offered to pay one of his players $25 to hit Harry Bowers, a mildly autistic teammate, with a ball while warming up before a June 2005 playoff game. Prosecutors said Downs wanted the 9-year-old out of the game, because the boy didn’t play as well as his teammates. Player Keith Reese Jr. said he purposely threw a ball that hit Bowers in the groin and another that hit Bowers in the ear, on Downs’ instructions.”
I’m not sure if the baseball coach has any children but I count him as a parent since he was responsible for the team. What a horrible role model. Can you image how confused the children on the team must feel after seeing what their coach did? And what about the 9-year old victim? His injuries were not serious but I assume an incident like this can cause scars for a very long time. The mother of the boy says she now struggles in trying new activities with her son since he’s still scared of being hurt. I don’t know what my reactions as a parent would be in a similar situation but I’m guessing something in between uncontrollable rage and a total loss of faith in human beings.
What’s your reaction? What would you do if you were the parent of the 9-year old victim?
