concerned wrote on Jul 25, 2012 12:00 AM:

" I am concerned for the future when it comes to baseball. None of our teams made it to state. I remember my days playing (1994 to 1998)little league we would send at least two teams to state. What is going on here? Is it the players? Is it the parents? Is it the coaches? Lets try to get back to winning....maybe we should talk to the old coaches and ask if they could come back and volunteer. Hey, it worked for the High School Football team (Keith)...Although some of those coaches may not be around, but lets try...Lets talk to the parents during my time..I have a feeling parents play a big part with the losing atmosphere. They want their kid to play every inning and if they don't they have a fit and jump all over the coaches. Bruce Whetten, I hope you can come back (again)as pres. and take my advice. You cleaned it up once, now we as parents from baseball and from softball (prior comments) are begging you to return. I hope you can write an article in this weeks edition about the concerns we as parents from baseball and softball have. Maybe if you do, some changes may occur. "




softball parent wrote on Jul 24, 2012 11:41 PM:

" Maybe us as parents should get together and bring the softball girls over to softball little league. Lets get rid of the old board and elect new officials. That way there won't be any problems when all stars come around. The team that Mr. Martinez had were good ball players. Its ashame the girls had to pay for the ignorance of the board and the coaches. I hope Zinnia realizes that the majority of the league are calling for her resignation. Lets hope she does resign so we can put softball under little league. Lets get back to winning ways both in baseball and softball. "




Meeting wrote on Jul 23, 2012 1:45 PM:

" Does anyone one know when the next board meeting / election meeting is going to be? "




To Martinez wrote on Jul 21, 2012 11:53 AM:

" Of coarse most of the girls on other teams are travel ball players. Common sense. The difference is they are apart of a league they are playing for. Douglas just had your travel ball team in a Little League tourny. You have been practicing together for a very long time. That is against the rules. Plain and simple. Come on coach, give it up. Our Sunnyside girls play on different travel teams, but THEY ALL PLAY TOGETHER in our Sunnyside Little League. Do get the concept? We choose our team from our entire league. Please refrain from mentioning us in your excusses. "




To Jesus wrote on Jul 20, 2012 3:11 PM:

" Yes, there were players from other travel ball teams. The difference is they belong to a league and were pulled from a pool of players not like your team. Stop making excuses already. "




to play by the rules wrote on Jul 19, 2012 11:09 AM:

" every single team in the district and state tournament had travel ball players,queen creek is travel ball,sunnyside is made of different travel ball teams(scramblers,thundercats,az cats)so if we didnt play by the rules,nobody did.jesus martinez "




Well Said...... CC from other article. wrote on Jul 18, 2012 7:47 PM:

" Play by the Rules wrote on Jul 18, 2012 3:44 PM:

" The girls are not at fault, the Douglas coaches and Brooks Bishop are responsible. When you play Little League you know you play according to rules that are followed all over the country, national. Brooks Bishop drives a car with little league stickers all over it and has been the administrator in 3 different districts, he knows better and shame on him. It is also not fair to let a group of girls play exclusively for over a year just to put them in a little league tournament against teams that have followed the rules and put teams together a month ago from a pool of girls. The Douglas girls are a travel team and that is what they should play, travel ball. You are not allowed to have girls play together all year and just join a tournament, even if they did find 12 games to play. Are these the only ten 12yr olds in Douglas? Why weren't there 2-3 teams from Douglas in little league? Want to know why, because Douglas wanted to use their best girls, play them in travel tournaments and get them ready to play in a little league tournament which is ILLEGAL. So say what you want but the bottom line is that they were not a little league team, they did not follow the rules and were disqualified and Brooks Bishop should be asked to resign for allowing it and creating this mess. For an old man who likes to talk like he is God Almighty and he knows it all, he tried to skirt the same system he represents. Douglas needs to put all 200 of their girls in the little league system and make it fair, funny how they have 200 girls playing softball in the city league but only 10 girls playing Little league, Hmmmmmmm, want to talk about fair, give me a break! " "




Tell the truth wrote on Jul 18, 2012 6:20 PM:

" What about you Zinnia. What about all the money you have taken from the little girls league to fund your traveling team? You do not fund raise. And if you do it's once in a very long time. Your team parents dont help. How can you afford entry fees all your fancy equipment, everything. Ill tell you how, on the softball leagues dime. You know you were using Alvarados sisters name. That's why people quit on you! Look in the mirror before you start pointing fingers. It's not the players fault. Congratulations Dawgs! Good job ! "




zinnia wrote on Jul 18, 2012 4:47 PM:

" to set things straight> especially to Mr Rio Rico &Mr Queen Creek. The Douglas girls were legit Not using bad birth certificates get your info right. As far as being disqualified this had nothing to do with the "girls coaches or parents" little league officials failed to get these girls games. Mr Rio Rico you should know that your coaches refused to come down to Douglas to help these girls get games in> even though we went there to play.It is to bad that adults like to jump and make conclussion without the facts. These are 11 12 yr old girls that were ripped from a once in a lifetime event to be in the championship game for state.how many girls can say that.Queen Creek needs to teach there girls to lose with their heads held high instead of contesting a number of things to get to go to championship game on a technicallity! In the long run only ones hurt here are the girls!! Sunnyside congrats on your win!! the best team won and will represent Arizona
!! to the community of Douglas please help select a new board for little league! before your son daughter grandson granddaughter makes it all the way and in 3hours before game time its all taken away!!! hard work sweat blood down the drain for 9 girls!! we your coaches and parents are proud of you girls!! "




Chuey wrote on Jul 17, 2012 11:58 PM:

" don't take anything away from the kids that played the games... in regular season play, the dodgers and yankees took 1st and 2nd and for the tournament, it was the dbacks beating the dodgers and the cardinals beating the yankees to play in the championship game... do not take any credit away from the players... they earned those wins... the other stuff, No Comment "




douglas girls softball coachjesus martinez wrote on Jul 17, 2012 11:45 AM:

" my name is jesus i help coach the 11-12 girls little league all-star team that won the district 8 title and were one game away from winning the state title,when we got disqualified for not having played 12 games in the regular season.eddie gonzalez and eliseo daniels are to blame cuz they never took the time to schedule games for us.we talked to eddie all he could say was sorry.we are going to make sure eddie and iliseo dont run little league anymore,with the calls i made there is not going to be doulas little league until both of them era replaced,williamsport has launched an investigation on both of them and including district 8 president brooks bishop. "




Writing on the wall wrote on Jul 17, 2012 8:37 AM:

" The Hot Foot Plumbing Diamondbacks won the majors tournament for the third straight year. Look who the coaches are. Coincidence, I think not. Eliseo, Eddie Gonzalez, and theyre "do this for me" man, Tapia. Its not good coaching, its called stacking your team and taking the players you want. "




Its Time wrote on Jul 15, 2012 1:58 PM:

" To make some phone calls and let people know whats going on here...

Little League West Region: Regional Staff

Jim Gerstenslager
Regional Director jgerstenslager@LittleLeague.org 909-887-6444

Dave Bonham
Asst. Regional Director dbonham@LittleLeague.org 909-887-6444

Brian Pickering
Assistant Regional Director bpickering@LittleLeague.org 909-887-6444

Bill Carter
Umpire Chief dugout@prodigy.net 530-626-3711

Supply Department
Supply Department wsupply@LittleLeague.org 909-887-6444

Little League Advisory Board Members

The Western Region currently has two members who serve on the Advisory Committee for CEO Stephen D Keener and Little League Baseball Inc. They are, Dave Wetmore, District Administrator CA 57 dswetmore1@yahoo.com, and Irwin Altman, District Administrator AZ 06 AZ6LL@cox.net

You can contact them by their email above, or through the Western Region Headquarters office 909-887-6444 or by email westregion@LittleLeague.org. This will be their page to communicate to the Little League Volunteers in the Western Region. "




Plain and Simple wrote on Jul 14, 2012 7:03 PM:

" Douglas Little League board, please submit publicly your books/budget so all these comments can come to an end. By not doing this plain and simple act, you are admitting to guilt... "




Disappointed wrote on Jul 14, 2012 3:32 PM:

" I have been a life long Douglas resident. I am extremely disappointed in situation that our two youth leagues are experiencing. Even more in the people running them. My grandson told my daughter and I, that he did not want to play anymore because how the president and vice presidents team seem to get all the calls from the umpire.

I witnessed that at the next game when Mr. Gonzalez's team was playing, that the umpire would look at Mr. Gonzalez as if to get his approval. He did this numberous times. It is a shame that something like this would be done against the kids of this league. Mr. Gonzalez, you should be ashamed of yourself. "




Grandparent wrote on Jul 14, 2012 1:32 PM:

" It is truly a shame what is happening here in Douglas with our youth sports. We need to remove these people. I just worry that the same friends will end up taking over and nothing will change. I agree with one of the previous comments that the city needs to hold the elections for both leagues and the city appoints the new boards for both respective leagues. I hope the city does ask for both financial records. "




To Our New Mayor wrote on Jul 14, 2012 9:05 AM:

" Please step in Sir! These two leagues are for our children. Please help! "




Chuey wrote on Jul 14, 2012 12:47 AM:

" A Year in the Life of Hometown Little League® A practical, season-by-season guide to The operation of a Chartered League is a great resource that all the persons posting here should read. In the first 2 chapters it outlines how membership is determined and how elections should be conducted. Instead of just pointing fingers, we should read it and then demand that Little League and more importantly state law is followed in the advertisement of meetings and elections. It is not very productive to make accusations without signing your name to it. If people care so much to make the change, throw your name into the mix and use your name for comments. If we want change, then we must make it happen. And I do thank Eliseo and Eddie for stepping up to run the league this past season. I did not always agree but at least they did something. If people want them out so be it but we all need to get involved. It is for the kids. "




put me in coach wrote on Jul 14, 2012 12:21 AM:

" this quote is straight from the Little League website: "Although leagues may assess a registration fee, used to purchase uniforms and equipment, maintain fields, etc., the fee cannot be a prerequisite for playing. The Little League philosophy does not permit any eligible candidate to be turned away. Emphasizing the spirit of Little League, rules require that every child plays in every game.

Good to know... not only did the league not provide new equipment to all teams, it still turned away some players... where's the money? show me the money! "




Board wrote on Jul 13, 2012 10:34 AM:

" As long as Eddie, Eliseo, Mona, and Grace keep having the elections at their homes and at night, (so no one shows up), they will reelect themselves again. Mark my words. "




Curious and interested wrote on Jul 13, 2012 10:16 AM:

" I made multiple calls as to time and the location of the "secret" board meeting to vote in a board and amazingly no one knew when, where or what time the meeting was to be held...on the day of the meeting! I believe meetings need to be publicly announced and posted! Give us a chance to be involved. I agree books need to be opened and the power needs to be taken away from individuals. Little League is for our children not adults...it is shameful how some make it about them and not their children! "




Stand Up for Douglas wrote on Jul 13, 2012 9:34 AM:

" Both the Gonzalezs' and Zenia/Suzette should just leave. Why do these people like being in the middle of all this.
Oh yeah, MONEY!! "




Tranparency wrote on Jul 13, 2012 12:58 AM:

" $90 per player plus sponsors to pay for uniforms plus concession stand making more money... player fee $15, 1 dz baseballs per team, limited equipment and $15 per game to umpires and problably a $7 trophy per kid... then the ALL-Star teams still had to raise some money for their unis... just in player fees the league would have collected more than $20,000 alone... please provide to the Dispatch a copy of your annual budget and expenses to see who is right... maybe it can be submitted for publication in next weeks paper and lets get softball in there too. thank you "




tucson bulldog wrote on Jul 12, 2012 11:28 PM:

" my cousin plays softball in Douglas..I came down to watch her and it was disgusting watching her play with cheap equiptment. She is a catcher and all her equiptment was wore out. Embarassing for the girls..i asked some parents why the cheap equiptment? they all said the same thing..."their entry fee went to help Zenia's travelling team..I was like wow. She needs to leave.When I left Douglas Gina Tartaglia was the pres..maybe she can come back and bring some respect back to the game. All the parents were also complaining that Zenia stacks certain teams (friends)...Too bad,,Zenia, do everyone a favor and resign... "




Confussed wrote on Jul 12, 2012 11:42 AM:

" What do these certain people get out of being the way they are? Everybody in Douglas knows how they are, what they do, how they fix everything for themselves and their buddies. These questions that are being brought up on taking money by both Little League and softball league directors for their own activies needs to be looked at by our city government. Isn't it time for the City of Douglas to step in. Its complaint after complaint on these people. "




Upset wrote on Jul 11, 2012 2:28 PM:

" They (Certain Familys)won't go away with out a fight. Thats there money maker. This pays for there softball travel teams. (Eddie and Zinia). I am talking about both, the little league and softball league. Both of them, the people running the leagues, are liars, manipulators, and driven for there own personal agendas. They do not want to see other people succeed. They stack there teams, arrange drafts for friends, run their own concession stands, etc etc.

Ask for there Financial Books. They would really be in trouble then. These people have the nerve to ban or have a father removed because of a past incident with the law, but they don't look at there own family. They allow there friends to participate even though themselves and there friends all have had ISSUES ($$$, schemes, drug related)in the past. But I guess they live in a glass house, and can throw rocks at the same time.

Douglas, we need to remove these individuals. We need to ask for their league financial records. Do a good back ground on their money handling ways. (Bashas, etc. etc.) We need new boards. Didnt Bruce Whetten fix the Little League problem once? Lets vote him in. Let the old softball league director take over again. PLEASE!! Enough is Enough!!!! "




Disappointed wrote on Jul 5, 2012 2:13 PM:

" I am truly disappointed in this year's LL season and I believe that things will only get worse before they get better until a new board is elected and a certian family is not in charge. Where was the support for the 13-14 year olds? These kids were only able to play 5pm games because the league did not want to pay for the lights. Games were not completed as they ended in ties because there was no more daylight. Also there were only 9 games played this season! So as parents we paid $10/game this season, are you kidding me? Where is our money going? The focus needs to be made equally to all ages groups and not just the groups where board members children play! And we wonder why the youth in our community are not more active in extra curricular activites. Douglas LL parents we need to come together to support our children and need to voice our concerns to the board! I hope all are present during the next Douglas LL meeting and the right people are elected to serve this organization. "

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