BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: MI 2 AZ on March 04, 2017, 05:03:17 PM
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/bowling-st-pats-wrong-pants-1.4002840 (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/bowling-st-pats-wrong-pants-1.4002840)
A youth bowling tournament in St. John's has caused a stir over the colour of a participant's pants.
Seven-year-old Grayson Powell bowled the game of his life on Saturday during a non-league tournament, putting up a high game of 171 en route to a championship win for his team of three.
Grayson was given some harsh news immediately after the provincial gathering — he was disqualified for the colour of his pants.
"The rule is you have to wear black pants," his father, Todd Powell, explained. "The problem I have with it, they allowed him to bowl prior [to disqualification]."
Grayson took part in a 15-minute warm-up. Nothing was said. He then bowled three games — the best three of his young life — and nothing was said.
It wasn't until he was lined up next to his teammates, ready to accept a gold medal for winning the just-for-fun tournament, that Youth Bowl Canada provincial director Gordon Davis pulled Grayson's mother into an office.
Her son, who was wearing faded black jeans, was disqualified.
His pants were just not black enough to meet the tournament's dress code.
"Parents ruin it for kids," Powell said. "If this is what sport is about when it comes to kids...shame on them."
While semantics can be argued — how black were his jeans, really? — Grayson's father has a deeper theory than the colour of his son's pants.
Davis also coaches teams out of a bowling alley in Corner Brook. The teams finishing second and third, who were bumped up to the top spots, were both from his lanes on the island's west coast.
"He should be ashamed of himself," the senior Powell said. "For [Davis] to go back to Corner Brook saying that, 'We won a provincial medal' — no. The three individuals that bowled on Saturday, they are the ones that won that medal."
Davis ejected the Riverdale team to use the provincial win to bolster his own club, Powell alleged.
"He owes these three individuals — three kids — a written apology."
Davis did not return messages left by CBC News.
As for Grayson, he went home feeling dejected, his father said.
When asked by a CBC reporter how the disqualification made him feel, he had only one word.
"Sad."
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So the kid ran around the center with faded jeans, warmed up for 10-15 mins, and bowled three games only to be told he and his team are disqualified after coming in 1st? If the kid and his team came in second or lower, would his pants be an issue?
The Richard works at A car dealership..... I wish it happened here.....
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Only an issue when you win. After seeing the pictures I'd say that's a reach to take away a win from somebody. Not surprised.
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I suspect there is more to this story than we are being told.
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I wonder if the issue also was that "jeans" are not "pants"?
Perhaps the usage of "pants" in their rulebook implies something nicer than jeans?
In any case, I agree it is wrong to rob someone in this fashion. If there was a violation, the young bowler should have not been allowed to bowl (or be eligible for a medal at least).
Small-minded people indeed must be in charge over there in Canada.
And this is bad publicity for the sport of bowling.
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TERRIBLE!
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Pants color do not affect scores. If he was allowed to BoWladimir, then he deserves the win. This should be appealed to the governing body. This is unfair and outright disgusting!
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As a high school coach our rules don't allow "denim" at tournaments
All of our bowlers and coaches wear "khaki's"
We also require black.
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This is a sad commentary of where we are. Instead of helping young kids to love the game we (adults) do the opposite. If he were allowed to compete, he should have been allowed to win.
If they intended to enforce the rule then don't take the entry fee, and don't let them compete, otherwise their silence on the rule makes it a "non-rule".
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Very sad, feel bad for him and his team, what a shame.
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Terrible, ruin the impression the kids get from the sport and wonder why our numbers decline consistently. When they're that young, exceptions can be made. Only reason this was brought timing wise was because some shit*y parent had a kid bowl like sh*t and they found an excuse to ruin the winners day.
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Agree Alonzo. :-[
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Bad publicity or not, it should not only be appealed to the local governing body, it should be in the media... It's up to the parents to take steps to correct this injustice... I'm one of the largest sticklers for rules, but this is outside the rule IMHO. How black is black?
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Based on what was posted in the comments section of the original article, the rules stated no jeans and also stated it was the bowler's responsibility to ensure compliance with the dress code. Is the tournament director now supposed to look at the attire of every participant at check-in and say "you will start on lane 12, but you cannot wear those jeans. Go change in to black pants and come back for my final approval."
Dress codes are a part of life whether it be at a bowling tournament, a restaurant, a cruise ship, school or at work. We have all had events in our life that required us to go find specific clothes items to meet various dress code requirements. The boy [and his parents] will learn a painful lesson from this and move on. Why make rules if they are going to allow people to bend them? It is an unfortunate situation, but if the boy and his parents had not taken for granted that "faded black jeans" counted as "black pants" this whole thing could have been avoided.
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Unless it explicitly states black khakis or dress pants, black pants are pants which are black. The kid shot the number, someone got their nuts in a bind that the kid tore it up, complained to someone in power, and shot this kids accomplishment down like a scud missile. I have a 7 year old that loves to bowl, and if this was my kid, I can't say I wouldn't have been taking swings at someone's face in the parking lot. It's petty, and you take out your petiness on a kid? Screw that.
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If he didn't adere to the dress code he should not have been allowed to even start Bowling. The fact that he was allowed to bowl then disqualified shows poor integrity on the people running the tournament
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What makes it look really bad is that the person who made the decision to disqualify the first place team had his teams in second and third place.
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There is a story in USA Today now about this.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/03/05/bowler-disqualified-pants-newser/98776258/
A 7-year-old bowler in Canada just learned a tough lesson about rules, or pants, or ... something. After Grayson Powell bowled a terrific game and prepared to collect a gold medal with two teammates, he was told he was disqualified for wearing pants that weren't black enough. So reports the CBC, which photographed Grayson's outfit and, sure enough, his black jeans are faded to a gray. "If this is what sport is about when it comes to kids ... shame on them," said his angry father, Todd Powell. This odd controversy, however, was just getting started. In a long rebuttal, Gord Davis, provincial head of Youth Bowling Canada, insisted the organization "did nothing wrong" and is "not to blame for how this went down." The black jeans dress code has been in place "for decades," he said, and rules are rules.
The boy's dad smelled a rat. He accused Davis of disqualifying his son's team so the second- and third-place teams, which bowl at lanes owned by Davis, could take higher honors. Davis fired back that Powell was "full aware of the dress code" and sent his kid anyway. He pressed: "What parent would do this?" As the Guardian reports, one of Powell's complaints is that his son was disqualified only after bowling a 171-point game that propelled his Riverdale team to the title in the Newfoundland city of St. John's." After the story made headlines in Canada, an odd-sounding compromise was reached. The disqualification stands, but the kids get their gold medals. In the future, however, all rules must be followed "no matter what," wrote Davis on Facebook.
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Mainzer once again +1000 exactly. This game will NEVER have to integrity it once did. The game is what it is.
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If he didn't adhere to the dress code he should not have been allowed to even start Bowling. The fact that he was allowed to bowl then disqualified shows poor integrity on the people running the tournament.
I agree with this.
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If he didn't adere to the dress code he should not have been allowed to even start Bowling. The fact that he was allowed to bowl then disqualified shows poor integrity on the people running the tournament
The people running the tournament may not have noticed until the end of the tournament . I've been to a few youth tournaments where there were several hundred kids and it would be hard to go to each and every lane to visually inspect each child.
In my opinion, this is on the a$$hole parent. There are rules. The parent KNEW the rule. Don't blame poor parenting on someone else.
Actually, the good part of this is that the kid probably learned a valuable lesson.
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"Parents ruin it for kids"...
Sadly, that goes both ways. If you know the dress code, and it seems it was pretty explicit, then prepare your child for said dress code.. (I agree with milo)
I hear that the decision has already been reversed though!
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Unless we see an actual copy of the rules, we're beating a dead horse. If it said dress pants, jeans are out. If they just said black pants, jeans should be in.
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Unless we see an actual copy of the rules, we're beating a dead horse. If it said dress pants, jeans are out. If they just said black pants, jeans should be in.
http://bowlontario5pin.ca/wpfb-file/policy-dress-code-pdf/
Disclaimer: I only knew because I saw a link on the comments page.
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From the rules.
1.2 Pants / Shorts
The following items are acceptable attire for the lower portion of the body:
Dress pants
Khaki pants
Golf-style / khaki shorts (solid colour, no designs or patterns)
Skirts
Skorts
Capris
Black yoga pants (solid black, full-length, no designs or patterns; may contain centre or zone identification).
Black track pants (solid black, no designs or patterns; may contain centre or zone identification)
The following are NOT acceptable attire for the lower portion of the body:
Jeans / Denim
Sweat pants
Leggings / tights
Basketball / gym shorts
Looks pretty cut and dry to me. The parents need to take responsibility and shut up. OR, if their precious little spawn of evil is upset, then the parents need to explain how they(the parent) was lazy, or just tried to skirt the rules and screwed the child out of their trophy.
Blaming it on the tournament director is just a low life move.
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OK, with clarification, the parents should have taken better care of that.
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Its sad that this was the first bowling story that made the newspaper in Vancouver in a couple years
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From the rules.
1.2 Pants / Shorts
The following items are acceptable attire for the lower portion of the body:
Dress pants
Khaki pants
Golf-style / khaki shorts (solid colour, no designs or patterns)
Skirts
Skorts
Capris
Black yoga pants (solid black, full-length, no designs or patterns; may contain centre or zone identification).
Black track pants (solid black, no designs or patterns; may contain centre or zone identification)
The following are NOT acceptable attire for the lower portion of the body:
Jeans / Denim
Sweat pants
Leggings / tights
Basketball / gym shorts
Looks pretty cut and dry to me. The parents need to take responsibility and shut up. OR, if their precious little spawn of evil is upset, then the parents need to explain how they(the parent) was lazy, or just tried to skirt the rules and screwed the child out of their trophy.
Blaming it on the tournament director is just a low life move.
how are "yoga pants" (allowed) and "leggings/tights" (not allowed) actually any different from each other?
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Here's the Rebuttal that was posted by the official: (Its long!)
https://www.facebook.com/nlyouthbowling/posts/970958279703255 (https://www.facebook.com/nlyouthbowling/posts/970958279703255)
basically it reads like the officials all knew at the start, they just kept passing the buck around and dragging their feet till the tourny was going. Saying the program director should have took care of it and we didn't want to embarrass the kids.
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we didn't want to embarrass the kids.
...until the kid embarrassed our own kids...THEN we HAD to step in and play ogre to a group of 7yo kids in a funsy tournament.
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we didn't want to embarrass the kids.
...until the kid embarrassed our own kids...THEN we HAD to step in and play ogre to a group of 7yo kids in a funsy tournament.
So punish the kids who followed the rules? What is the point of having rules then?
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Here's the follow up he Davis posted
https://www.facebook.com/nlyouthbowling/posts/971378789661204 (https://www.facebook.com/nlyouthbowling/posts/971378789661204)
"As a representative of our NL YBC Executive, I just spoke to Todd Powell and advised him of our decision to have the YBC program in Riverdale Lanes honor their combo mixed team with a ceremony for gold medals. We both realize that this was blown out of proportion for simple communication problems. I informed Todd that the kids had bowled magnificently and yes they deserve to be recognized for their accomplishments even though we could not reverse our decision provincially because of the rules in place. We will make sure these kids are taken care of first because that is what we are all about. We apologized for what decision we had to make and the fact that they were not relayed any information during the first or third game. We will have to make sure in the future that any infractions are brought to the tournament director's attention before it starts. That way all situations are handled immediately and no surprises. In future all rules should be followed no matter what. We want to ensure these kids stay in bowling and we do the best we can to help them grow with our sport. Todd's kids love bowling and we have two other members of his son's team to think about. Thanks again Todd for your understanding and we will do what we can to help the kids stay in our sport.
Gord Davis"
Also
The Canadians have ended their youth bowling pants crisis
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/03/01/youth-bowling-gets-ugly-in-canada-after-organizers-disqualify-7-year-old-over-his-pants/?utm_term=.eae3ef5f933f (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2017/03/01/youth-bowling-gets-ugly-in-canada-after-organizers-disqualify-7-year-old-over-his-pants/?utm_term=.eae3ef5f933f)
Basically kid get medal but has asterisk by his name ;)
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Well as long as everyone got a trophy....
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So punish the kids who followed the rules? What is the point of having rules then?
Ordinarily I would be inclined to agree with you except for the fact that a conscious decision was made by the 'adults' to ignore the situation UNTIL their kids got beat. Only then did it apparently become an issue...
If you are going to have a dress code, then you enforce it before the first ball is thrown. In the parlance of current day, doing otherwise is simply 'bad optics.'
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Well I run a lot of youth tournaments and things like this are the reason we have a check in and lane monitors for every other set of lanes. So we catch things like this before bowling start and often enough early enough the participant can make it to the store and get something before play starts.
Mostly I find it's the parents who don't bother to read. I hate to punish the kids especially the younger ones or the ones who the ones that are new to tournament bowling for the parents inability to read
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So punish the kids who followed the rules? What is the point of having rules then?
Ordinarily I would be inclined to agree with you except for the fact that a conscious decision was made by the 'adults' to ignore the situation UNTIL their kids got beat. Only then did it apparently become an issue...
If you are going to have a dress code, then you enforce it before the first ball is thrown. In the parlance of current day, doing otherwise is simply 'bad optics.'
Sorry, but that's a fail of an argument. While I agree the tournament organizers should have addressed this from the beginning, there is something to be said for not wanting to embarrass the kid.
However, the "other" kids, DID follow the rules and this kid did not. The rules said no jeans/denim.
The dad of this kid is an ass, it's his fault. Stop putting parental responsibility on everyone else but the parents.
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Ordinarily I would be inclined to agree with you except for the fact that a conscious decision was made by the 'adults' to ignore the situation UNTIL their kids got beat. Only then did it apparently become an issue...
If you are going to have a dress code, then you enforce it before the first ball is thrown. In the parlance of current day, doing otherwise is simply 'bad optics.'
+1
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Sorry, but that's a fail of an argument. While I agree the tournament organizers should have addressed this from the beginning, there is something to be said for not wanting to embarrass the kid.
Which is more embarrassing? Call the kid out before the first ball or wait until he bowls the game of his life and THEN tell him 'too bad?'
Once they made the decision to let him bowl, they effectively punted the dress code issue. Had the kid and his team NOT performed well, I doubt anyone says anything about his attire...
However, the "other" kids, DID follow the rules and this kid did not. The rules said no jeans/denim.
The dad of this kid is an ass, it's his fault. Stop putting parental responsibility on everyone else but the parents.
It isn't about shifting PARENTAL responsibility. It IS about noting that this could have been handled in a far different manner that does not become a viral incident. This was a FUN tournament. The manner in which it was handled looked more like the monkey poo-flinging that kids sports have become where the kids just want to have fun and the parents get their panties in a wad...
They very easily could have called the dad to the side afterwards and said 'look, your kid was not properly attired...we let him bowl and we won't penalize him this time, but next time...make sure the dress code is followed because there might be more at stake somewhere else."
To wait until after the event is over and your kid loses to whine about the dress code is the whelp of the beaten cur...
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If the kid had not had the "game of his life", then the whole thing would not have mattered.
But the other kids DID follow the rules, this one didn't. He didn't follow the rules, so he shouldn't have won.
If the tournament is just for fun, then why the rules? We need to make our young people understand that sometimes, there are rules that are required to be followed. Otherwise, we end up with people like the idiot dad, who is the instigator of this entire thing from what I have read. His "boo-hoo, my precious little snowflake got cheated" routine is childish and an piss poor example of what a parent should be. This could have been a great learning opportunity for the kid, instead, the kid probably learned the wrong lesson entirely.
He failed to ensure his kid followed the rules, the tournament management tried to do the right thing, but was shamed into doing the wrong thing in the end.
This is my opinion, you are entitled to yours.
By the way, does the PBA inspect/weigh your bowling balls BEFORE the tournament begins, or after you have won money?
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By the way, does the PBA inspect/weigh your bowling balls BEFORE the tournament begins, or after you have won money?
I have no idea what they are doing given that the last time I bowled in any manner of competition was 13 years ago. I know that the PWBA had durometer checks that had to be done prior to competition at the national level and they had scales available to check equipment prior to competition.
However, even that is an apples to oranges comparison given that, as far as the competitors go, adults are responsible for their own actions. A 7yo probably never saw the specific rules while an adult in membership competition is given (or at least used to be given) a decent sized rulebook...
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By the way, does the PBA inspect/weigh your bowling balls BEFORE the tournament begins, or after you have won money?
I have no idea what they are doing given that the last time I bowled in any manner of competition was 13 years ago. I know that the PWBA had durometer checks that had to be done prior to competition at the national level and they had scales available to check equipment prior to competition.
However, even that is an apples to oranges comparison given that, as far as the competitors go, adults are responsible for their own actions. A 7yo probably never saw the specific rules while an adult in membership competition is given (or at least used to be given) a decent sized rulebook...
Thanks for making my argument about "being a responsible parent".
Have a nice day.
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Thanks for making my argument about "being a responsible parent".
Have a nice day.
You're the type of person ruining bowling and chasing people away. Nice attitude. These are 7 year old kids. Rules are fine, but your attitude is pure nonsense. Again, we are talking about 7 year old kids. This isn't the PBA.
Bottom line, this should have been dealt with at the beginning of the tournament. Since it was not, rules or not, the dress code violation should have been ignored. This is the type of rule that needs to be addressed PRIOR to competition. Period.
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Thanks for making my argument about "being a responsible parent".
Have a nice day.
You're the type of person ruining bowling and chasing people away. Nice attitude. These are 7 year old kids. Rules are fine, but your attitude is pure nonsense. Again, we are talking about 7 year old kids. This isn't the PBA.
Bottom line, this should have been dealt with at the beginning of the tournament. Since it was not, rules or not, the dress code violation should have been ignored. This is the type of rule that needs to be addressed PRIOR to competition. Period.
I'm not talking about a 7 year old kid. I'm talking about a parent.
Of course the kid didn't know the rules, he is 7. And yes, the tournament people should have dealt with this before the end, but then again, the FATHER, who is obviously a tool, should have made sure his kid was within the published rules.
And have you met a 7 year old? This kid would have forgotten about the entire thing within a few minutes, but no, the a-hole dad wanted to make sure everyone knew he was an a-hole and didn't accept responsibility. So now the entire situation is ingrained in the poor kids mind about how he was cheated.
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It's not like the jeans affected his performance. I would kind of understand if his ball was out of spec. Parents and association are at fault.
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If a rule is important enough to be enforced then it is important enough to be enforced from the first point it is discovered. In this polarized black and white world we live in people tend to forget that not all rules are created equal, and therefore different punishments are appropriate. I bowl lots of tournaments that have dress codes. If I show up at such a tournament and am found to do something that illegally gives me a competitive advantage I get disqualified. If I show up with the wrong pants, or without my name on my shirt I pay a 5 or 10 dollar fine. Punishment should be proportionate to the severity of the infraction.
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If a rule is important enough to be enforced then it is important enough to be enforced from the first point it is discovered. In this polarized black and white world we live in people tend to forget that not all rules are created equal, and therefore different punishments are appropriate. I bowl lots of tournaments that have dress codes. If I show up at such a tournament and am found to do something that illegally gives me a competitive advantage I get disqualified. If I show up with the wrong pants, or without my name on my shirt I pay a 5 or 10 dollar fine. Punishment should be proportionate to the severity of the infraction.
Exactly! It's black-and-white thinking vs seeing the gray in the world. We shouldn't always "auto-eliminate" the middle ground by default.
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If a rule is important enough to be enforced then it is important enough to be enforced from the first point it is discovered. In this polarized black and white world we live in people tend to forget that not all rules are created equal, and therefore different punishments are appropriate. I bowl lots of tournaments that have dress codes. If I show up at such a tournament and am found to do something that illegally gives me a competitive advantage I get disqualified. If I show up with the wrong pants, or without my name on my shirt I pay a 5 or 10 dollar fine. Punishment should be proportionate to the severity of the infraction.
I agree...somewhat. The problem is we don't really have the actual details of what happened and if there was already history with this tool of a dad.
As for fines for the wrong clothing, if you show up at the USBC Open(Nationals) without the proper attire, then you will not be bowling. If you only have short pants, they do have some pants available to loan you, but it's not a fine as you suggest. To bowl in attire outside of the rules, you need some kind of medical issue with a note.
Our local Masters tournament is the same way. No shorts and shirts must meet specific criteria. Either you conform, or you don't bowl.
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Does anyone have a copy of the exact rules for this association or specific tournament? {in black & white?} bcuz otherwise these discussions are all fluff!
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If a rule is important enough to be enforced then it is important enough to be enforced from the first point it is discovered. In this polarized black and white world we live in people tend to forget that not all rules are created equal, and therefore different punishments are appropriate. I bowl lots of tournaments that have dress codes. If I show up at such a tournament and am found to do something that illegally gives me a competitive advantage I get disqualified. If I show up with the wrong pants, or without my name on my shirt I pay a 5 or 10 dollar fine. Punishment should be proportionate to the severity of the infraction.
I agree...somewhat. The problem is we don't really have the actual details of what happened and if there was already history with this tool of a dad.
As for fines for the wrong clothing, if you show up at the USBC Open(Nationals) without the proper attire, then you will not be bowling. If you only have short pants, they do have some pants available to loan you, but it's not a fine as you suggest. To bowl in attire outside of the rules, you need some kind of medical issue with a note.
Our local Masters tournament is the same way. No shorts and shirts must meet specific criteria. Either you conform, or you don't bowl.
Would have been nice to let the kid know before he bowled. If the rule is that important and grounds for immediate dismissal then officials need to check/double check everyone BEFORE bowling starts. Otherwise you risk situations like this where everyone looks bad.
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If a rule is important enough to be enforced then it is important enough to be enforced from the first point it is discovered. In this polarized black and white world we live in people tend to forget that not all rules are created equal, and therefore different punishments are appropriate. I bowl lots of tournaments that have dress codes. If I show up at such a tournament and am found to do something that illegally gives me a competitive advantage I get disqualified. If I show up with the wrong pants, or without my name on my shirt I pay a 5 or 10 dollar fine. Punishment should be proportionate to the severity of the infraction.
I agree...somewhat. The problem is we don't really have the actual details of what happened and if there was already history with this tool of a dad.
As for fines for the wrong clothing, if you show up at the USBC Open(Nationals) without the proper attire, then you will not be bowling. If you only have short pants, they do have some pants available to loan you, but it's not a fine as you suggest. To bowl in attire outside of the rules, you need some kind of medical issue with a note.
Our local Masters tournament is the same way. No shorts and shirts must meet specific criteria. Either you conform, or you don't bowl.
Would have been nice to let the kid know before he bowled. If the rule is that important and grounds for immediate dismissal then officials need to check/double check everyone BEFORE bowling starts. Otherwise you risk situations like this where everyone looks bad.
I agree with that. It was handled poorly from the start.
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Tournament Director's Facebook post:
https://www.facebook.com/nlyouthbowling/posts/970958279703255
After all day listening to the comments on facebook and watching the news this evening I decided that I needed to let everyone know the truth about what happened at St Pat's lanes on Saturday.
First of all some information to let you know prior to Provincials the situation and how it starts.
Many emails are sent to the Program Directors of all alleys before Provincials to advise of our dress codes for Provincials.
Riverdale lanes parents are given handouts when they register and start to advise of dress codes for Provincials, etc.
The parents of the Riverdale teams were advised of the dress code before Provincials and especially this parent Todd Powell. The Program Director had to arrange a shirt for Todd's child because the family never had a Riverdale shirt but did not advise he never had black pants.
Mr Todd Powell knew full aware of the dress code and sent his child to Provincials knowing that it was against the rules. There was another bowler on the team also with grey pants on who knew it was against our rules but sent their child anyway! What parent would do this? Was it to see if we would notice it or get away with it? Who knows but they knew it was against our rules. Why is NL YBC in the wrong here when parents knowingly broke the rules and we are the bad guys.
Saturday morning was the shift for the combos. The first shift finished and then the second shift of combos started around 11 a.m.. During the first game in the latter frames a coach and several parents brought it to my attention and complained that a team had players wearing faded jeans and grey pants. They asked why their players could not wear jeans and other pants too.
I then asked three to four more tournament supervisors to go over and look at the pants on the teams and advise me of their thoughts. All people involved agreed that the pants were not appropriate and I approached the Program Director, who was their coach, and advised her that the pants were illegal and I would have to get word from the other two Executive members who were at Holiday Lanes. Word never came through from those two members until the end of the second game. We could not stop the tournament and embarrass the kids when the tournament was already started. The Program Director actually told the other child when the kids first arrived that her pants were illegal and advise me of that when I gave her notice during the first game. However, the Program Director did not advise the parents of the problem or our Executive after we advised all Program Directors on Friday night that proper dress code was only accepted. That is the Program Director's and coach's responsibility and duty to police that to ensure all compliancy to our rules.
I spoke to the Program Director at the start of the third game and advised that their scores would be disqualified because that is what the other two members of our Executive said had to be done following our rules. I was not going to embarrass those kids by stopping play and making a scene. The Program Director should have taken her parents aside and explained to them after she had our ruling about the disqualification. Actually the Program Director should have advised the parents during the first game when I advised her that there could be repercussions from not following the rules.
Why parents would still send their kids to bowl in a Provincial tournament knowing they do not have the proper dress code followed doesn't make sense.
I did gather the parents after the shift was done to explain the situation to them because the Program Director/Coach did not inform the team or parents of our decision. It had to be done. While explaining the situation to the parents and family of the bowlers a lady stormed out of the room and obviously made a scene at the alley in taking her child Grayson crying out of the alley.
The other parents at the time understood the problem we were faced with understood why we had to make the decision we did. No one knows how hard this situation was to advise of the disqualification and to make this decision but it was made by the whole Executive and rules are rules.
Everyone is writing comments that are untrue and inappropriate due to not knowing the truth of the situation.
It had nothing to do with how the other teams were doing. The Program Director was put on notice during the first game not after the tournament was over or the third game.
Mr Todd Powell wasn't spoken to yet or the media because I have been just too busy with work and travelling back to Corner Brook. I ate supper 1:30 pm Saturday night after almost 14 hours at the alley. Mr Todd Powell called the alley at St Pat's and spoke to the Program Director Shawn Lewis. Mr Lewis would not continue to talk to him because he was cursing and raising his voice. I was running a tournament so I wasn't going to speak to him because I never had time and if he was speaking on the phone like that then I wasn't going to talk to him anyway. Once he had 24 to 48 hours to calm down I was planning to call him but he started all this media craze and did not deserve a call.
The rules that Mr Todd Powell has been posting everywhere for dress code is for the Provincial B tournament that is run on the east coast. That tournament allows you to wear what ever pants you want.
However for the Provincial A tournament for our elite bowlers, we have rules in place for dress codes and these rules have been in place decades. We have never had a parent willingly go against our rules and send their child to this tournament. We like to have our program and kids represented as a classy tournament for all parties involved and this shows true commitment through our bowlers for professionalism and self esteem! We had a similar problem in November during our Singles Provincials. There was no Program Director present so I had to inform the parents then.
People outside of bowling do not understand the policy on this but any coaches, Program Directors or kids that have gone through YBC know this rule and they all follow it faithfully.
Mr Powell admitted he knew about the pants so why did he send his child to the tournament if he never had the appropriate black pants or go out and buy a pair if he never had any. That is what all the other bowlers do that play in this tournament. They follow the rules. Also, if he never had pants and couldn't get his son a pair, why didn't he advise the Program Director of the problem to see if she could come up with a solution. A lot of things were done wrong here and NL YBC are not to blame for how this went down. It was all a matter of timing and being informed by your coach and Program Director during the tournament and parents not following the rules set out.
If we had let this situation go unaddressed the other parents, coaches and Program Directors would have lost faith in the YBC rules and broke the rules themselves in the future because they would have an example of nothing being done to address a problem. Our Executive was not going to set a precedence here by ignoring complaints from coaches or parents and other bowlers in attendance. If people can't understand that then that is not our problem. We were darned if we do or darned if we don't as they say!
However we had to follow our rules! Our rules are reviewed every September by our Executive and Program Directors. We have relaxed some of the rules on dress code but have kept the program professional with our changes.
You can't make a volunteer who is the messenger of the rules to be followed appear to be the bad guy. The Executive made a decision as a group and the coach/Program Director was made aware of this during the first game that there was a problem. That should have been communicated to her team and parents. Ignorance of a rule does not give someone the right over other bowlers who follow the rules. Imagine the scene if we stopped the tournament and stopped them from playing. That did not make sense. We only let them continue so they would not be embarrassed but in doing so we were in full communication with the coach/Program Director the whole time after we identified the illegal uniform. It was two kids on the same team not just one that never followed the rules in place.
I am a volunteer, alley owner, coach and more importantly a parent. Do you realize how hard this was for me to communicate this decision from the whole Executive! I will defend my character to anyone because I know how great my character is and anyone can verify that.
Mr Todd Powell has said some terrible things about me on CBC news without knowing all the facts. Everyone else is just jumping on his side because they only see me as disqualifying a team in order for a Corner Brook team to win. That is not the case!
The coach was informed during the first game of possible disqualification or some other repercussion but I had to wait for the full Executive to make their decision. Riverdale team was not leading at the time and scores were not a determining factor of making the proper decision governing the rules of the dress code.
The NL 5 pin Association has a similar rule enforced for their program and bowlers for dress codes during tournaments. Only difference is their alleys are fined and if it occurs the second time during a tournament then disqualification or some other action could be looked at then. We follow our own policies and we govern our own program. We are seperate from The NL5 Pin Bowlers Association and Bowl Canada. We govern provincially.
I couldn't apologize enough to the parents on Saturday so all my apologies are done. We did nothing wrong and our full Executive made a decision to enforce our rules that were tried to be ignored and challenged by individuals. These policies have been in place for decades but always adjusted to fit the times and give bowlers confidence, stature, self esteem and a sense of belonging to a great program.
There will be no more public apologies to Mr Todd Powell or their team. They need to search within their own program and see why this incident happened and stop blaming NL YBC and Gord Davis for something that should never had happened. Ignorance of a rule and making an Executive act on a policy is not the fault of the governing body. This situation should have been resolved between their team and Program director not defaming the name of a great volunteer who does all he can for bowling and puts the kid's first.
This team did deserve a medal if the rules were followed. They also would have won their medals if their parents sent their kids to the tournament properly dressed and if they had proper communication with their Program Director. I will personally discuss this matter with the Program Director for their alley and arrange a little ceremony for these kids to get recognized. This will be done on local level at their alley and I feel even worst for the child that was dressed properly. Communication leaves a lot to be desired and imporoved and all parents in the future need to ensure that rules are followed. These kids deserve some recognition for how great they bowled! It is not their fault their parents knowingly broke the rule and brought them to the tournament so they are not at fault for an adult's mistake. That is why we are holding a ceremony for them to get medals and be recognized within their own alley.
Just remember everything was communicated during the first game when the problem was identified and stopping the tournament and taking the kids off the lanes was not the right decision to do. This would have been a worse situation other than what the parents of the son created. Policies have to been followed and the policies were all communicated to these parents. Why were the kids sent to the tournament knowing they were breaking the rules? Blame should not be placed on The NL YBC Program.
This is a great program and many people would back me up in telling you that this is a classy program run by great volunteers. I would support these volunteers fully on our policies and what they do for our sport! They are second to none!
Yes this is a great program to have your kids be a part of. Any kid can play this sport. Lots of kids won't play sports because they feel they don't belong and they are bullied or just not good enough. Well bowling is not like that and we treat all kids equally. This is a sport that helps give your kids confidence, social skills, promotes teamwork and self esteem, not to mention allowing kids the opportunity to play in a sport that they determine their own destiny and chances to win to go to Nationals every year. This is one of the cheapest sports out there that give kids opportunities to grow and succeed in building their self esteem. Our coaches and Program Directors put a lot of time in this program for kids. These false accusations will never negatively affect what we do as volunteers for them! Bowling is a sport for life and we acknowledge our bowlers and volunteers/coaches for their accomplishments to the best of our ability.
I hope this satisfies all questions about our Program and our support for our kids and volunteers. Not too many programs out there run as effectively as NL YBC. We have a great Executive who do wonderful things for our program, kids and volunteers.
Social media is a bad place to easily post your thoughts and accusations without knowing all the pertinent and true information.
People should find out all the true information before making themselves look so bad with their unsupported comments.
The harassment, bullying and personal attacks on my myself, my family, our characters and our business has been totally unfounded and all comments will be looked at legally to see if they warrant further action so facebook users should look at their comments to ensure they are okay. My name has been slandered on the television with the news and on facebook and all these comments will be looked at legally for further repercussions and especially if they continue. I am sure once everyone reads the truth about what happened Saturday they will understand but I am sure they will not apologize for their stupid behaviour and wrongful accusations. You should be careful of what you put on facebook and what you say in the news!
I am asking all people to share this on your facebook so everyone can see how this unfortunate situation got blown out of proportion by an irate parent who never had all the correct information and dragged a volunteer's name through the dirt for just not following a policy after they were told about it and ignored it making someone make a negative decision against them. In turn, damaged their own children's chances of participation and belonging in a sport.
Now Mr Todd Powell can go public and apologize for how he handled this situation. Blame is on the parents and not adhering and listening to their own Program Director. All information should have been communicated to the parents and the team by the Program Director as soon as they knew there was a problem during the first game.
This situation would make volunteers think a second time about being a volunteer or looking at becoming one. Volunteers are too precious and not thanked enough in many cases for all they do and this needs to change.
-
Tournament Director's Facebook post:
https://www.facebook.com/nlyouthbowling/posts/970958279703255
After all day listening to the comments on facebook and watching the news this evening I decided that I needed to let everyone know the truth about what happened at St Pat's lanes on Saturday.
First of all some information to let you know prior to Provincials the situation and how it starts.
Many emails are sent to the Program Directors of all alleys before Provincials to advise of our dress codes for Provincials.
Riverdale lanes parents are given handouts when they register and start to advise of dress codes for Provincials, etc.
The parents of the Riverdale teams were advised of the dress code before Provincials and especially this parent Todd Powell. The Program Director had to arrange a shirt for Todd's child because the family never had a Riverdale shirt but did not advise he never had black pants.
Mr Todd Powell knew full aware of the dress code and sent his child to Provincials knowing that it was against the rules. There was another bowler on the team also with grey pants on who knew it was against our rules but sent their child anyway! What parent would do this? Was it to see if we would notice it or get away with it? Who knows but they knew it was against our rules. Why is NL YBC in the wrong here when parents knowingly broke the rules and we are the bad guys.
Saturday morning was the shift for the combos. The first shift finished and then the second shift of combos started around 11 a.m.. During the first game in the latter frames a coach and several parents brought it to my attention and complained that a team had players wearing faded jeans and grey pants. They asked why their players could not wear jeans and other pants too.
I then asked three to four more tournament supervisors to go over and look at the pants on the teams and advise me of their thoughts. All people involved agreed that the pants were not appropriate and I approached the Program Director, who was their coach, and advised her that the pants were illegal and I would have to get word from the other two Executive members who were at Holiday Lanes. Word never came through from those two members until the end of the second game. We could not stop the tournament and embarrass the kids when the tournament was already started. The Program Director actually told the other child when the kids first arrived that her pants were illegal and advise me of that when I gave her notice during the first game. However, the Program Director did not advise the parents of the problem or our Executive after we advised all Program Directors on Friday night that proper dress code was only accepted. That is the Program Director's and coach's responsibility and duty to police that to ensure all compliancy to our rules.
I spoke to the Program Director at the start of the third game and advised that their scores would be disqualified because that is what the other two members of our Executive said had to be done following our rules. I was not going to embarrass those kids by stopping play and making a scene. The Program Director should have taken her parents aside and explained to them after she had our ruling about the disqualification. Actually the Program Director should have advised the parents during the first game when I advised her that there could be repercussions from not following the rules.
Why parents would still send their kids to bowl in a Provincial tournament knowing they do not have the proper dress code followed doesn't make sense.
I did gather the parents after the shift was done to explain the situation to them because the Program Director/Coach did not inform the team or parents of our decision. It had to be done. While explaining the situation to the parents and family of the bowlers a lady stormed out of the room and obviously made a scene at the alley in taking her child Grayson crying out of the alley.
The other parents at the time understood the problem we were faced with understood why we had to make the decision we did. No one knows how hard this situation was to advise of the disqualification and to make this decision but it was made by the whole Executive and rules are rules.
Everyone is writing comments that are untrue and inappropriate due to not knowing the truth of the situation.
It had nothing to do with how the other teams were doing. The Program Director was put on notice during the first game not after the tournament was over or the third game.
Mr Todd Powell wasn't spoken to yet or the media because I have been just too busy with work and travelling back to Corner Brook. I ate supper 1:30 pm Saturday night after almost 14 hours at the alley. Mr Todd Powell called the alley at St Pat's and spoke to the Program Director Shawn Lewis. Mr Lewis would not continue to talk to him because he was cursing and raising his voice. I was running a tournament so I wasn't going to speak to him because I never had time and if he was speaking on the phone like that then I wasn't going to talk to him anyway. Once he had 24 to 48 hours to calm down I was planning to call him but he started all this media craze and did not deserve a call.
The rules that Mr Todd Powell has been posting everywhere for dress code is for the Provincial B tournament that is run on the east coast. That tournament allows you to wear what ever pants you want.
However for the Provincial A tournament for our elite bowlers, we have rules in place for dress codes and these rules have been in place decades. We have never had a parent willingly go against our rules and send their child to this tournament. We like to have our program and kids represented as a classy tournament for all parties involved and this shows true commitment through our bowlers for professionalism and self esteem! We had a similar problem in November during our Singles Provincials. There was no Program Director present so I had to inform the parents then.
People outside of bowling do not understand the policy on this but any coaches, Program Directors or kids that have gone through YBC know this rule and they all follow it faithfully.
Mr Powell admitted he knew about the pants so why did he send his child to the tournament if he never had the appropriate black pants or go out and buy a pair if he never had any. That is what all the other bowlers do that play in this tournament. They follow the rules. Also, if he never had pants and couldn't get his son a pair, why didn't he advise the Program Director of the problem to see if she could come up with a solution. A lot of things were done wrong here and NL YBC are not to blame for how this went down. It was all a matter of timing and being informed by your coach and Program Director during the tournament and parents not following the rules set out.
If we had let this situation go unaddressed the other parents, coaches and Program Directors would have lost faith in the YBC rules and broke the rules themselves in the future because they would have an example of nothing being done to address a problem. Our Executive was not going to set a precedence here by ignoring complaints from coaches or parents and other bowlers in attendance. If people can't understand that then that is not our problem. We were darned if we do or darned if we don't as they say!
However we had to follow our rules! Our rules are reviewed every September by our Executive and Program Directors. We have relaxed some of the rules on dress code but have kept the program professional with our changes.
You can't make a volunteer who is the messenger of the rules to be followed appear to be the bad guy. The Executive made a decision as a group and the coach/Program Director was made aware of this during the first game that there was a problem. That should have been communicated to her team and parents. Ignorance of a rule does not give someone the right over other bowlers who follow the rules. Imagine the scene if we stopped the tournament and stopped them from playing. That did not make sense. We only let them continue so they would not be embarrassed but in doing so we were in full communication with the coach/Program Director the whole time after we identified the illegal uniform. It was two kids on the same team not just one that never followed the rules in place.
I am a volunteer, alley owner, coach and more importantly a parent. Do you realize how hard this was for me to communicate this decision from the whole Executive! I will defend my character to anyone because I know how great my character is and anyone can verify that.
Mr Todd Powell has said some terrible things about me on CBC news without knowing all the facts. Everyone else is just jumping on his side because they only see me as disqualifying a team in order for a Corner Brook team to win. That is not the case!
The coach was informed during the first game of possible disqualification or some other repercussion but I had to wait for the full Executive to make their decision. Riverdale team was not leading at the time and scores were not a determining factor of making the proper decision governing the rules of the dress code.
The NL 5 pin Association has a similar rule enforced for their program and bowlers for dress codes during tournaments. Only difference is their alleys are fined and if it occurs the second time during a tournament then disqualification or some other action could be looked at then. We follow our own policies and we govern our own program. We are seperate from The NL5 Pin Bowlers Association and Bowl Canada. We govern provincially.
I couldn't apologize enough to the parents on Saturday so all my apologies are done. We did nothing wrong and our full Executive made a decision to enforce our rules that were tried to be ignored and challenged by individuals. These policies have been in place for decades but always adjusted to fit the times and give bowlers confidence, stature, self esteem and a sense of belonging to a great program.
There will be no more public apologies to Mr Todd Powell or their team. They need to search within their own program and see why this incident happened and stop blaming NL YBC and Gord Davis for something that should never had happened. Ignorance of a rule and making an Executive act on a policy is not the fault of the governing body. This situation should have been resolved between their team and Program director not defaming the name of a great volunteer who does all he can for bowling and puts the kid's first.
This team did deserve a medal if the rules were followed. They also would have won their medals if their parents sent their kids to the tournament properly dressed and if they had proper communication with their Program Director. I will personally discuss this matter with the Program Director for their alley and arrange a little ceremony for these kids to get recognized. This will be done on local level at their alley and I feel even worst for the child that was dressed properly. Communication leaves a lot to be desired and imporoved and all parents in the future need to ensure that rules are followed. These kids deserve some recognition for how great they bowled! It is not their fault their parents knowingly broke the rule and brought them to the tournament so they are not at fault for an adult's mistake. That is why we are holding a ceremony for them to get medals and be recognized within their own alley.
Just remember everything was communicated during the first game when the problem was identified and stopping the tournament and taking the kids off the lanes was not the right decision to do. This would have been a worse situation other than what the parents of the son created. Policies have to been followed and the policies were all communicated to these parents. Why were the kids sent to the tournament knowing they were breaking the rules? Blame should not be placed on The NL YBC Program.
This is a great program and many people would back me up in telling you that this is a classy program run by great volunteers. I would support these volunteers fully on our policies and what they do for our sport! They are second to none!
Yes this is a great program to have your kids be a part of. Any kid can play this sport. Lots of kids won't play sports because they feel they don't belong and they are bullied or just not good enough. Well bowling is not like that and we treat all kids equally. This is a sport that helps give your kids confidence, social skills, promotes teamwork and self esteem, not to mention allowing kids the opportunity to play in a sport that they determine their own destiny and chances to win to go to Nationals every year. This is one of the cheapest sports out there that give kids opportunities to grow and succeed in building their self esteem. Our coaches and Program Directors put a lot of time in this program for kids. These false accusations will never negatively affect what we do as volunteers for them! Bowling is a sport for life and we acknowledge our bowlers and volunteers/coaches for their accomplishments to the best of our ability.
I hope this satisfies all questions about our Program and our support for our kids and volunteers. Not too many programs out there run as effectively as NL YBC. We have a great Executive who do wonderful things for our program, kids and volunteers.
Social media is a bad place to easily post your thoughts and accusations without knowing all the pertinent and true information.
People should find out all the true information before making themselves look so bad with their unsupported comments.
The harassment, bullying and personal attacks on my myself, my family, our characters and our business has been totally unfounded and all comments will be looked at legally to see if they warrant further action so facebook users should look at their comments to ensure they are okay. My name has been slandered on the television with the news and on facebook and all these comments will be looked at legally for further repercussions and especially if they continue. I am sure once everyone reads the truth about what happened Saturday they will understand but I am sure they will not apologize for their stupid behaviour and wrongful accusations. You should be careful of what you put on facebook and what you say in the news!
I am asking all people to share this on your facebook so everyone can see how this unfortunate situation got blown out of proportion by an irate parent who never had all the correct information and dragged a volunteer's name through the dirt for just not following a policy after they were told about it and ignored it making someone make a negative decision against them. In turn, damaged their own children's chances of participation and belonging in a sport.
Now Mr Todd Powell can go public and apologize for how he handled this situation. Blame is on the parents and not adhering and listening to their own Program Director. All information should have been communicated to the parents and the team by the Program Director as soon as they knew there was a problem during the first game.
This situation would make volunteers think a second time about being a volunteer or looking at becoming one. Volunteers are too precious and not thanked enough in many cases for all they do and this needs to change.
Thanks for posting this, exactly as I suspected from the beginning. The father of the kid is an a$$hole.
A little parental responsibility goes a long way.
-
Tournament Director's Facebook post:
https://www.facebook.com/nlyouthbowling/posts/970958279703255
After all day listening to the comments on facebook and watching the news this evening I decided that I needed to let everyone know the truth about what happened at St Pat's lanes on Saturday.
First of all some information to let you know prior to Provincials the situation and how it starts.
Many emails are sent to the Program Directors of all alleys before Provincials to advise of our dress codes for Provincials.
Riverdale lanes parents are given handouts when they register and start to advise of dress codes for Provincials, etc.
The parents of the Riverdale teams were advised of the dress code before Provincials and especially this parent Todd Powell. The Program Director had to arrange a shirt for Todd's child because the family never had a Riverdale shirt but did not advise he never had black pants.
Mr Todd Powell knew full aware of the dress code and sent his child to Provincials knowing that it was against the rules. There was another bowler on the team also with grey pants on who knew it was against our rules but sent their child anyway! What parent would do this? Was it to see if we would notice it or get away with it? Who knows but they knew it was against our rules. Why is NL YBC in the wrong here when parents knowingly broke the rules and we are the bad guys.
Saturday morning was the shift for the combos. The first shift finished and then the second shift of combos started around 11 a.m.. During the first game in the latter frames a coach and several parents brought it to my attention and complained that a team had players wearing faded jeans and grey pants. They asked why their players could not wear jeans and other pants too.
I then asked three to four more tournament supervisors to go over and look at the pants on the teams and advise me of their thoughts. All people involved agreed that the pants were not appropriate and I approached the Program Director, who was their coach, and advised her that the pants were illegal and I would have to get word from the other two Executive members who were at Holiday Lanes. Word never came through from those two members until the end of the second game. We could not stop the tournament and embarrass the kids when the tournament was already started. The Program Director actually told the other child when the kids first arrived that her pants were illegal and advise me of that when I gave her notice during the first game. However, the Program Director did not advise the parents of the problem or our Executive after we advised all Program Directors on Friday night that proper dress code was only accepted. That is the Program Director's and coach's responsibility and duty to police that to ensure all compliancy to our rules.
I spoke to the Program Director at the start of the third game and advised that their scores would be disqualified because that is what the other two members of our Executive said had to be done following our rules. I was not going to embarrass those kids by stopping play and making a scene. The Program Director should have taken her parents aside and explained to them after she had our ruling about the disqualification. Actually the Program Director should have advised the parents during the first game when I advised her that there could be repercussions from not following the rules.
Why parents would still send their kids to bowl in a Provincial tournament knowing they do not have the proper dress code followed doesn't make sense.
I did gather the parents after the shift was done to explain the situation to them because the Program Director/Coach did not inform the team or parents of our decision. It had to be done. While explaining the situation to the parents and family of the bowlers a lady stormed out of the room and obviously made a scene at the alley in taking her child Grayson crying out of the alley.
The other parents at the time understood the problem we were faced with understood why we had to make the decision we did. No one knows how hard this situation was to advise of the disqualification and to make this decision but it was made by the whole Executive and rules are rules.
Everyone is writing comments that are untrue and inappropriate due to not knowing the truth of the situation.
It had nothing to do with how the other teams were doing. The Program Director was put on notice during the first game not after the tournament was over or the third game.
Mr Todd Powell wasn't spoken to yet or the media because I have been just too busy with work and travelling back to Corner Brook. I ate supper 1:30 pm Saturday night after almost 14 hours at the alley. Mr Todd Powell called the alley at St Pat's and spoke to the Program Director Shawn Lewis. Mr Lewis would not continue to talk to him because he was cursing and raising his voice. I was running a tournament so I wasn't going to speak to him because I never had time and if he was speaking on the phone like that then I wasn't going to talk to him anyway. Once he had 24 to 48 hours to calm down I was planning to call him but he started all this media craze and did not deserve a call.
The rules that Mr Todd Powell has been posting everywhere for dress code is for the Provincial B tournament that is run on the east coast. That tournament allows you to wear what ever pants you want.
However for the Provincial A tournament for our elite bowlers, we have rules in place for dress codes and these rules have been in place decades. We have never had a parent willingly go against our rules and send their child to this tournament. We like to have our program and kids represented as a classy tournament for all parties involved and this shows true commitment through our bowlers for professionalism and self esteem! We had a similar problem in November during our Singles Provincials. There was no Program Director present so I had to inform the parents then.
People outside of bowling do not understand the policy on this but any coaches, Program Directors or kids that have gone through YBC know this rule and they all follow it faithfully.
Mr Powell admitted he knew about the pants so why did he send his child to the tournament if he never had the appropriate black pants or go out and buy a pair if he never had any. That is what all the other bowlers do that play in this tournament. They follow the rules. Also, if he never had pants and couldn't get his son a pair, why didn't he advise the Program Director of the problem to see if she could come up with a solution. A lot of things were done wrong here and NL YBC are not to blame for how this went down. It was all a matter of timing and being informed by your coach and Program Director during the tournament and parents not following the rules set out.
If we had let this situation go unaddressed the other parents, coaches and Program Directors would have lost faith in the YBC rules and broke the rules themselves in the future because they would have an example of nothing being done to address a problem. Our Executive was not going to set a precedence here by ignoring complaints from coaches or parents and other bowlers in attendance. If people can't understand that then that is not our problem. We were darned if we do or darned if we don't as they say!
However we had to follow our rules! Our rules are reviewed every September by our Executive and Program Directors. We have relaxed some of the rules on dress code but have kept the program professional with our changes.
You can't make a volunteer who is the messenger of the rules to be followed appear to be the bad guy. The Executive made a decision as a group and the coach/Program Director was made aware of this during the first game that there was a problem. That should have been communicated to her team and parents. Ignorance of a rule does not give someone the right over other bowlers who follow the rules. Imagine the scene if we stopped the tournament and stopped them from playing. That did not make sense. We only let them continue so they would not be embarrassed but in doing so we were in full communication with the coach/Program Director the whole time after we identified the illegal uniform. It was two kids on the same team not just one that never followed the rules in place.
I am a volunteer, alley owner, coach and more importantly a parent. Do you realize how hard this was for me to communicate this decision from the whole Executive! I will defend my character to anyone because I know how great my character is and anyone can verify that.
Mr Todd Powell has said some terrible things about me on CBC news without knowing all the facts. Everyone else is just jumping on his side because they only see me as disqualifying a team in order for a Corner Brook team to win. That is not the case!
The coach was informed during the first game of possible disqualification or some other repercussion but I had to wait for the full Executive to make their decision. Riverdale team was not leading at the time and scores were not a determining factor of making the proper decision governing the rules of the dress code.
The NL 5 pin Association has a similar rule enforced for their program and bowlers for dress codes during tournaments. Only difference is their alleys are fined and if it occurs the second time during a tournament then disqualification or some other action could be looked at then. We follow our own policies and we govern our own program. We are seperate from The NL5 Pin Bowlers Association and Bowl Canada. We govern provincially.
I couldn't apologize enough to the parents on Saturday so all my apologies are done. We did nothing wrong and our full Executive made a decision to enforce our rules that were tried to be ignored and challenged by individuals. These policies have been in place for decades but always adjusted to fit the times and give bowlers confidence, stature, self esteem and a sense of belonging to a great program.
There will be no more public apologies to Mr Todd Powell or their team. They need to search within their own program and see why this incident happened and stop blaming NL YBC and Gord Davis for something that should never had happened. Ignorance of a rule and making an Executive act on a policy is not the fault of the governing body. This situation should have been resolved between their team and Program director not defaming the name of a great volunteer who does all he can for bowling and puts the kid's first.
This team did deserve a medal if the rules were followed. They also would have won their medals if their parents sent their kids to the tournament properly dressed and if they had proper communication with their Program Director. I will personally discuss this matter with the Program Director for their alley and arrange a little ceremony for these kids to get recognized. This will be done on local level at their alley and I feel even worst for the child that was dressed properly. Communication leaves a lot to be desired and imporoved and all parents in the future need to ensure that rules are followed. These kids deserve some recognition for how great they bowled! It is not their fault their parents knowingly broke the rule and brought them to the tournament so they are not at fault for an adult's mistake. That is why we are holding a ceremony for them to get medals and be recognized within their own alley.
Just remember everything was communicated during the first game when the problem was identified and stopping the tournament and taking the kids off the lanes was not the right decision to do. This would have been a worse situation other than what the parents of the son created. Policies have to been followed and the policies were all communicated to these parents. Why were the kids sent to the tournament knowing they were breaking the rules? Blame should not be placed on The NL YBC Program.
This is a great program and many people would back me up in telling you that this is a classy program run by great volunteers. I would support these volunteers fully on our policies and what they do for our sport! They are second to none!
Yes this is a great program to have your kids be a part of. Any kid can play this sport. Lots of kids won't play sports because they feel they don't belong and they are bullied or just not good enough. Well bowling is not like that and we treat all kids equally. This is a sport that helps give your kids confidence, social skills, promotes teamwork and self esteem, not to mention allowing kids the opportunity to play in a sport that they determine their own destiny and chances to win to go to Nationals every year. This is one of the cheapest sports out there that give kids opportunities to grow and succeed in building their self esteem. Our coaches and Program Directors put a lot of time in this program for kids. These false accusations will never negatively affect what we do as volunteers for them! Bowling is a sport for life and we acknowledge our bowlers and volunteers/coaches for their accomplishments to the best of our ability.
I hope this satisfies all questions about our Program and our support for our kids and volunteers. Not too many programs out there run as effectively as NL YBC. We have a great Executive who do wonderful things for our program, kids and volunteers.
Social media is a bad place to easily post your thoughts and accusations without knowing all the pertinent and true information.
People should find out all the true information before making themselves look so bad with their unsupported comments.
The harassment, bullying and personal attacks on my myself, my family, our characters and our business has been totally unfounded and all comments will be looked at legally to see if they warrant further action so facebook users should look at their comments to ensure they are okay. My name has been slandered on the television with the news and on facebook and all these comments will be looked at legally for further repercussions and especially if they continue. I am sure once everyone reads the truth about what happened Saturday they will understand but I am sure they will not apologize for their stupid behaviour and wrongful accusations. You should be careful of what you put on facebook and what you say in the news!
I am asking all people to share this on your facebook so everyone can see how this unfortunate situation got blown out of proportion by an irate parent who never had all the correct information and dragged a volunteer's name through the dirt for just not following a policy after they were told about it and ignored it making someone make a negative decision against them. In turn, damaged their own children's chances of participation and belonging in a sport.
Now Mr Todd Powell can go public and apologize for how he handled this situation. Blame is on the parents and not adhering and listening to their own Program Director. All information should have been communicated to the parents and the team by the Program Director as soon as they knew there was a problem during the first game.
This situation would make volunteers think a second time about being a volunteer or looking at becoming one. Volunteers are too precious and not thanked enough in many cases for all they do and this needs to change.
and here was his follow up facebook post:
https://www.facebook.com/nlyouthbowling/posts/971378789661204 (https://www.facebook.com/nlyouthbowling/posts/971378789661204)
"As a representative of our NL YBC Executive, I just spoke to Todd Powell and advised him of our decision to have the YBC program in Riverdale Lanes honor their combo mixed team with a ceremony for gold medals. We both realize that this was blown out of proportion for simple communication problems. I informed Todd that the kids had bowled magnificently and yes they deserve to be recognized for their accomplishments even though we could not reverse our decision provincially because of the rules in place. We will make sure these kids are taken care of first because that is what we are all about. We apologized for what decision we had to make and the fact that they were not relayed any information during the first or third game. We will have to make sure in the future that any infractions are brought to the tournament director's attention before it starts. That way all situations are handled immediately and no surprises. In future all rules should be followed no matter what. We want to ensure these kids stay in bowling and we do the best we can to help them grow with our sport. Todd's kids love bowling and we have two other members of his son's team to think about. Thanks again Todd for your understanding and we will do what we can to help the kids stay in our sport.
Gord Davis"
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So did Todd Powell offer up a mea culpa?
Did he show any contrition?
Anything at all that shows he might be at least partly at fault for this situation? ::)
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It sounds like miscommunication on a lot of parties parts and a parent not thinking that their child should suffer for his (or his wife's) mistake. So let's raise a drink and ruin it for everyone.
I know parents like this, and it upsets me.
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Learning experience for all involved. Personally I would change either the language of the guidelines to allow for some flexibility or make sure to check every bowler BEFORE the tournament to make sure everyone is in compliance. Disqualifying someone after the fact just looks BAD (especially on something as innocent as clothing which doesn't affect performance at all) for everyone
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Unless we see an actual copy of the rules, we're beating a dead horse. If it said dress pants, jeans are out. If they just said black pants, jeans should be in.
http://bowlontario5pin.ca/wpfb-file/policy-dress-code-pdf/
Disclaimer: I only knew because I saw a link on the comments page.
Given if these were the actual dress code rules, It doesn't say anything about being DQ'd. The penalty is just the loss of some points.
1.3 Penalty for infraction
Infractions will result in a penalty of 15 points per game. Infractions can only be assessed by the Tournament Director.