A softball team was disqualified right before the championship game over a social network post that the team posted before the game. People revealed the news about exactly what went down. Virginia’s Atlee Junior League softball team was disqualified from the World Series. The Atlee manager, Scott Currie, said that someone got word of this post and ran to the Little League Office with it, and they ended up getting disqualified.
A coach for Atlee explained that during the semifinals they played against a team who had bad sportsmanship. He shared that the post that was decided to be inappropriate was one that the players posted in response to the way the other team acted. Little League spokesman Kevin Fountain gave a statement explaining about the team being removed and the reason behind it.
“After discovering a recent inappropriate social media post involving members of Atlee Little League’s Junior League Softball tournament team, the Little League International Tournament Committee has removed the Southeast Region from the 2017 Junior League Softball World Series for violation of Little League’s policies regarding unsportsmanlike conduct, inappropriate use of social media, and the high standard that Little League International holds for all its participants.”
Sportsmanship, social media and rules. Food for thought. https://t.co/BimrmlNcup
— AHSPatriotPALS (@AHSPatriotPALS) August 5, 2017
The team that Atlee actually beat in the semifinals ended up replacing them in the championship game since they were disqualified.
The Richmond Times Dispatch shared a few more details about what actually went down. The game they were supposed to play was going to be on national television and was a huge game for these girls. This is an event that is for girls ages 12 to 14, and this team had been undefeated all week long. It is obvious that they stood a great chance of winning it all. This picture only had six members of the team in it, but of course, all of the girls are being punished. It was originally posted on SnapChat and a version can be seen here . Atlee manager Scott Currie said that as soon as he found out about the post, he made sure it was deleted, but it was too late. He doesn’t feel like the punishment really fits the crime in this case.
Are you shocked that this softball team was disqualified over this post? Do you feel like this was the right thing to do? Sound off in the comments section below.
[Featured Image by Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images]
