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Trying to revive Little League in the District
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WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Paris Inman has accomplished quite a bit in his three months as the district administrator for D.C. Little League.
He has made connections with Washington’s business community to attract sponsors. He has hired an agent to deal with finances. He consolidated leagues to make them more competitive.
He also uncovered several leagues that seemed to exist only on paper.
“All the leagues were noncompliant — paperwork, insurance, everything,” he said. “The Department of Recreation had paper teams. In many cases, there wasn’t any real coaching or organization going on. [Paid employees] were holding down titles and not doing anything.”
So he hired an enforcer to ensure that all registered teams were playing, and held an equipment drive with the Washington Nationals and the Urban Initiative. He got a credit line with the Greater Washington Sports Alliance with a promise to raise funds.
“All the reasons why people said they weren’t playing” were being taken care of, he said.
Now, Capitol City Little League and Northwest Little League boast impressive numbers, with 460 and 554 players, respectively, registered this season.
But Inman estimated that it would take four or five years to get D.C. Little League where he thought it could be.
“It’s not that kids aren’t interested in the sport,” he said. “There’s not enough effort in taking it right to the kids.
“If you tap resources in the community, nobody says no to kids playing baseball in the community,” he said. “It’s just a matter of people asking.”
Local baseball booster Brendan Sullivan Jr. said Inman’s efforts have given baseball a shot in the arm, but made no bones about the difficulty ahead.
“Paris is a step in the right direction, but it’s a Herculean task,” he said. “Baseball in particular needs a ton of volunteers and an active parent base — for better or worse — for many wards in the city.
“If Paris is able to duplicate what Cap City and N.W. has done, it will be one of the greatest recreational victories the city has ever seen,” he said. “Period.”
Comments from Examiner Readers
11:39 AM MST on Fri., Jul. 25, 2008 re: "Empty Diamonds: Baseball loses its mythic grip on area youngsters"
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Examiner Reader said:
JJ said: little league in da district, HA! You couldnt aford the security or the bullet proof vest JJ you're an idiot!
2 agree | 1 disagree
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Rudy said:
The press can help with this situation by doing a little research and helpiong to get the word out about the oppurtunities that have long existed in the District. There are organizations out side of Little League and Ward 2, 3 and 4. Babe Ruth Baseball League has, in recent memory, been a much more competitive league than Little League. There are 12 or more clubs that play in this league from almost every ward in the city. Some of these teams play in both Little League and Babe Ruth League. There are several clubs that have a very rich tradition in baseball, Such as, The Woodridge Warriors, Takoma Rangers, #10 B&G Club and others. Most of these organizations are comunity based and don't have the budgets that NWLL may have, but still produce a great product and create a positive program for the kids.
3 agree | 2 disagree
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JJ said:
little league in da district, HA! You couldnt aford the security or the bullet proof vest.
2 agree | 3 disagree
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Rob said:
It's simply amazing how the local press and the so-called baseball experts in the District continue to ignore and refuse to acknowledge the level and quality of baseball being played by the Woodridge Warriors Youth Organization (NE DC). For over 40 years, the program under the leadership of Mason Clark, has fielded baseball teams for youth between the ages of 5 through 16. While this season may not have been one representative of past baseball seasons with our younger teams, we still have a great deal of pride in the efforts of our kids and coaches. Although it wasn't mentioned in the recent Washington Post article, Manny Burris of the San Francisco Giants played for 3 years with the Woodridge Warriors. There have been many former Warriors that have or are currently playing at the high school and college level. All we read about is the baseball that is played west of the park. These type of articles seem more intent on dismissing or trivializing the baseball efforts outside of upper NW
8 agree | 1 disagree
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Ron W. Alameda said:
If you were to listen to the Korach broadcast, and ever hear the name "Oakland", I would be shocked. They refuse to acknowledge the teams home. They dumped Oakland, so Oakland's dumped them.
3 agree | 3 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
I had previously written to you about the insufferable A's TV play-by-play guy, Glen Kuiper. He rarely focuses upon the game itself, with his constant emphasis upon trivia ranging from uniforms to fans' signs. I suspect that is because he knows so little about the game. When fans don't attend, they usually watch the A's on TV and because of the television delay, can no longer silence Kuiper by turning to Korach on the radio. Kuiper alienates fans with his yawning trivialities and monumental ineptitude. I believe Kuiper's manifest boredom with broadcasting the A's leads to fan boredom and thus contributes to the scant attendance. Get this amateur off the air!
5 agree | 3 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
I didn't see any "carrying" done by Lebron. I saw someone who choked and struggled AGAIN when facing REAL competition (like last year against the Spurs). Lebron played HORRIBLY in the Celtics series. Everyone thinks Lebron has carried the Cavs through the playoffs the last several years, when the fact is that all Lebron did was beat the Wizards 2 years in a row without Gilbert Arenas or Caron Butler playing, and the first year they met he made 2 game winners while traveling. If he plays in the west, he wouldn't even sniff the second round of the playoffs.
7 agree | 6 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
lebron the best player in the game? what a ridiculously inane conclusion. until he masters even 2 fundamentals of the game, let alone most of the aspects of basketball that kobe has mastered, lebron is nothing but hype. no wonder this statement is relegated to "random thoughts", because there is no cogent analysis that even remotely leads to the conclusion that lebron is the best player.
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Examiner Reader said:
I don't get it. He didn't really write this letter, but did he actually write a letter to all the GM's looking for a job?? Confusing??
9 agree | 7 disagree
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CHC Alum said:
Congratulations to the Cardinals! Now, if only they could transfer some of that talent to the football team and start winning the Turkey Bowl...
310 agree | 282 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Ryan Rivers is by far one of the best pitchers in the county,his mechanics and smoothness, will fool you.
477 agree | 321 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
how come there are no articles on calvert hall players in the area they are 32-0 they have beat carvel academy, st.johns d.c.,notre dame of virgina,and 5 teams from other states in the disney world classic. can they get some print thanks
353 agree | 330 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Jacobs is no doubt best pitcher in the state
427 agree | 355 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
The score was 9-3 not 7-2 and STA also beat prep for the championship 9-1. Just cuz we didnt play St. Johns doesnt mean you can look past us.
345 agree | 364 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Albans has a good record, but who have they played? Their obvious DC competitors are St. Johns and Gonzaga. Have they played them? The premier private school is Notre Dame. Have they played them? How good is the IAC this year?
799 agree | 403 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Brady dominating on the mound. Best pitcher in state
626 agree | 399 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Good Luck to the Panthers. PVI has a great program!
406 agree | 380 disagree
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