The suburban coach who asked Little League officials to investigate Jackie Robinson West for residency violations has now had a similar claim made against his own team by the mother of a former player.
Renee Cannon-Young said she was outraged when she learned a coach from Evergreen Park had reported Jackie Robinson West for allegedly adding players from outside their boundaries in order to boost their team.
“I know that others do it too because my son was in the Evergreen Park ball club and we clearly have been living in Chicago all of our lives,” she said.
Cannon-Young claims in 2011 her then 10-year-old son was recruited by Evergreen Park to play for their team, even though he lived on Chicago’s South Side.
“What they did was they told me that it was OK, they would change the residence and he would be able to play,” she said. “In other words they’d give a fake address to make it appear as though he was an Evergreen Park resident.”
Chris Janes, the vice president of the Evergreen Park Athletic Association who prompted the initial investigation into JRW, acknowledged that the team “breaks the rules” by allowing a handful of kids in the league to join them, but said those children are told up front they can’t play on an all-star team.
“We’re not in the business of turning away kids,” he said. “If mom or dad feel this is the best place to play baseball because it’s most convenient or whatever their reasons are we’ll let them play. That’s the whole mission behind this. We are not in the business of stacking a team or recruiting kids for the purpose of that.”
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Janes sent NBC Chicago a registration form he claims is from Cannon-Young's son showing the address as a Chicago residence.
"I can give you 100 percent assurance that we have never ever submitted an all-star roster or tournament team roster that didn't consist of anybody that wasn't 100 percent eligible to play in or league," Janes said.
A Little League International spokesperson would not comment on the matter, simply referring to the league’s rule book.
According to the Little League website, a player living outside boundaries must get a waiver from Little League in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
