[IPSM] Victory in case of Mohawk Softball Pitcher

[Mike D]

Thanks to all those who phoned OASA! (orginal email to follow below.
NOTE: The Court has imposed a publication ban on the players name

By TIM LAI

Saturday, August 6, 2005 Page A2

With a report from Oliver Moore

TORONTO -- An 11-year-old star pitcher who left his old club because he said his coach used a racial slur toward him can stay with his new team after a judge granted a temporary injunction yesterday.

The Ontario Amateur Softball Association had refused to release the boy from his old team and give him eligibility for his current club in time for this weekend's provincial championships. If an injunction had not been granted, the team would have had to forfeit its games if the boy had played.

"I'm happy because I can play and I don't really have to go through this again," the boy said from Tamworth, Ont., near Kingston. The championships take place in Milverton, Ont., and he said his team's chances of winning are strong.

The boy, who can't be named due to a publication ban, had signed up for the 2005 season with the Stone Mills Stingers, a team he had been on for three years. However, he moved to the Kingston Kobras before the season started because the person he said made the racist comment became the Stingers' coach. An affidavit presented in court yesterday said that the incident was alleged to have happened in 2003 during a tournament, when the man shouted, "What do you think we're fucking niggers," toward the opposing bench.



The boy's mother, Amy Salter, wrote in the affidavit that because her son is half Mohawk and half black, and the only visible minority on the team, the comments were directed at him. When the two learned that this parent would become the coach, they appealed to the league to release the boy. After two requests, the league found no "extenuating circumstances" to do so under its bylaws.

Madam Justice Frances Kiteley of the Ontario Superior Court said the league didn't give any reasons for its refusal to release the boy.

"Simply saying that there are no 'extenuating circumstances' as referenced by the bylaw is insufficient," Judge Kiteley said.

Members of OASA and the Stone Mills Baseball Association were not in court, but were given notice of an application for the injunction. Al Hamilton, the head of the Stone Mills Baseball Association, said that it is extremely rare for player issues like this to end up in court.

The boy's lawyers, Howard Morton and Selwyn Pieters, will be back in court on Wednesday seeking a permanent injunction.

The ruling could have a significant impact on the way amateur sports leagues are operated.

"It's not sufficient for someone, especially senior officials of the Ontario Amateur Softball Association, to ignore the issue of racism and think because they ignore it, it's going to go away," Mr. Pieters said. Mr. Morton said he hopes the ruling will return the game to the players.

"What I hope it means is that organized sports for kids will finally give way to ensuring that the game really is for the kids," he said.







Ontario Amateur Softball Association appears to tolerate racism
within its ranks.
10-year-old victim refused release to Kingston team

after raising concern over racial slur.



The Ontario Amateur Softball Association, a member affiliate of Softball Ontario and Softball Canada, has team operating from Stone Mills, Ontario.



The 10-year-old pitcher for the Stone Mills team was ----.  --- carries an obvious mix of black and Mohawk heritage and was the only child of black ancestry on the team.  During a tournament in 2003, another child's parent identified as RL yelled to the opposing team, "What do you think, we are all fucking niggers!"



---'s mother, Amy Salter was standing only a few feet away when this comment was made.  None the less --- was looking forward to playing for Stone Mill in 2005 until it was learned that the Coach for the team would be RL.



OASA correspondence sent in response to the family's formal request for release state "No extenuating circumstances were found to warrant the OASA granting a 'Special Permission'" for the child's release.



A gross vulgarity has been directed against a 10-year-old boy.  Racial comments of this nature are not accepted anywhere in our society.  Surely the OASA should recognize this situation as both 'special' and 'extenuating', show this boy even the most basic level of compassion and understanding and transfer him from a team where he feels neither welcome nor safe.



The OASA Mission Statement speaks of "promoting accessibility to the game". Apparently their version of "accessibility" is one in which children are subject to racism, their parents and friends are expected to quietly tolerate it and those who perpetrate it are brought into positions of respect and authority within the Association.