Rich Irving

To the editor:

In the past week there was an article written by Ed Engler entitled “Parents Fight Over Soul of Lou Athanas League” and a column written by Ed Philpot entitled “The Problem With LAYBL”.

I applaud the fairness of Ed Engler’s article and respect Ed Philpot’s use of his column to articulate his opinion. As League Director though, I am writing to challenge the notion parents are “fighting” or there is an overall “problem” with the league.

No one should not be surprised that these programs can be detrimentally “political”. It is for this very reason, the LAYBL board is trying to remove politics from the governance of our League.

I relish the opportunity to defend the leadership structure, policies, and curriculum of the Lou Athanas program. Realistically however, this letter does not afford me the space to defend every criticism mentioned in both articles. Instead, I will communicate some facts about the true feelings of parents, coaches and players towards the new direction LAYBL is moving.

It should first be noted that of the approximately 450 parents who have children in the program, only a vocal minority is driving current coverage of the league. To prove my point, this past season (91) 2-5th grade parents were surveyed regarding the program. Six questions were asked:

1. How would you rate this season?

2. How would you compare this season to last?

3. How much basketball do you think your child learned?

4. How would you compare this season to other sports (i.e. soccer, baseball, football)?

5. Do you plan to enroll your child in the program next year?

6. What suggestions do you have for changes or improvements to next year’s program?

The vast majority of responses were very positive. This reinforced an even larger survey done of almost 200 parents, players and coaches three seasons ago when LAYBL was last implementing its current programming in grades 2-4.

If there are parents who don’t want to place their children in a research-based mission-driven program, that is certainly their prerogative. It is our responsibility, however, to offer programming that makes sports an extension of a child’s education and promotes youth development.

We welcome all to our Annual Meeting May 13th 6:30 at the Community Center

Rich Irving

Lou Athanas Youth Basketball League