First let me state that I am not a peewee division coach, nor do I have any ties to Beaumont. I have coached for several years, and have been on both sides of the scoreboard. I do feel that to punish Beaumont for their success is wrong. When they started in this league, they took their lumps and lost their share of games, but they kept working and built a good program. Every team in every division of the STJFL has had up and down years. It's not like the same team wins every single super bowl. We stress that it's about the "kids" so teach good sportsmanship, but apparently that only means teach the kids who win to show good sportsmanship. What about teaching the other side of this lesson. It is ok to lose. It is ok to get your tail kicked in sports. Teach them to not be sore losers. Instead, if we lose or lose badly, we show them that "it was those darned refs that cost us that game" or "their second string was stacked." These kids don't go to school on Monday stewing over this stuff, it's the adults in the equation that do. This is one of the life lessons that youth sports are supposed to bring. Sometimes things are tough, and you want to give up, but you have to keep on fighting. 90 percent of these kids will not go on to college ball, some not even into high school ball. Just let them play. If the league has modified the rules to accomidate complaints of underperforming teams then shame on them. That just goes to show that "safety" is not the real issue, it is the pride of the adults associated. If safety is the heart of the concern, then call a game at the end of the 3rd quarter, don't make kids who have no business carrying a ball go out there and get pounded by the first string of the losing team. Besides, who determines which players on your team are a "premier player." That's a joke. It is to subjective of a rule. Any upset coach who gets scored on by a second string is going to consider that player "premier."
