Needville Little League 12U All Stars Defense

        We need your help to #RightTheWrong that has happened to our 12 year old boys and our entire community. These boys worked tirelessly from T-Ball to fulfill their dream of going to the Little League World Series. For the first time in the 60 year history of our small town league, they had a very realistic chance of realizing that dream as they were only two wins away.  

        Despite playing their entire season and four All Star Tournament’s where they had won the Texas East Little League State Championship, they embarked on a journey to Waco for the Southwest Regional Tournament where they would soon find their dream of a once in a lifetime trip to Williamsport for the Little League World Series would be suddenly ripped from them by circumstances outside of their control.  This team would have their dream, the dream shared by millions of Little Leaguers across the country, painfully taken away from them not by their play on the field, but a false positive Covid test on a coach. 

        Around July 24, the team received instructions on a new Covid testing program that they would be subjected to at the Southwest Regional. Despite not being tested all season or at any tournament through the State Tournament, the team would be subjected to a Covid test upon arrival and follow up tests every other day for Only those who were Not Vaccinated against Covid. They were told that they would be tested individually and kept separate until they received their initial test results and that they Would be Allowed to play as long as they did not fall below 9 rostered players. However, on Monday, August 2, via a zoom call, the team was informed that one positive test by any player or coach would result in immediate disqualification.

         They arrived in Waco on August 4, after socially isolating, daily testing, and two weeks of practices designed to limit their risks. They spent time away from their families and endured uncomfortable daily nasal swabs for testing. They carried the unbelievable mental weight and anxiety of worrying if they would be the one to test positive on a test and destroy the dream of all of their friends on their team to complete their goal and compete at the Southwest Regional and then the Little League World Series. After all of their preparation, they were shocked to find the protocols and procedures that were in place for their testing.

        They were tested in an open an air room with another team via an open air test where they were shoulder to shoulder spitting in to tubes. Approximately 36 people filled the small room. The tests were not administered by medical professionals, instead they were handled by the kids themselves, just 12 years old, and then handed to staff. In addition, they then ate dinnerwith another team in the same room going through a buffet style line where all 8 tournament teams had just tested. This trend continues for the next two days that the team was in Waco. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner with buffet style lines, in close contact with other teams.

          Finally, their last testing occurred on Friday, August 6, under the same protocol and then they were forced to remain in that room with another team while hotel staff brought out buffet style breakfast for both teams to eat. At approximately 11:45 am while about to practice, the team’s manager received a phone call informing him that the team had a positive test amongst their coaches and would have to exit the tournament. This positive test was not a result of that mornings test, but instead, just the results of the first test taken upon arrival, August 4. No exit protocol was in place, the team did as instructed, returned to the hotel, packed up, and exited. The coach who tested positive, instantly took a rapid test. That test result was negative. He then seeked out a test at a medical facility where he took both an instant test and a pcr test, both of those tests returned negative. Finally, he received his results from the test that Little League administered on August 6, and they were negative. This teams hopes, dreams, and aspirations of enjoying a once and a lifetime experience was dashed by a false positive test on a coach. 

     Little League has refused repeatedly to address and remedy the situation for these boys even though they are aware that their test is not 100 percent accurate, their second test showed the coach is negative, and finally, the coach has been tested by medical professionals, and that test is negative. At this time, we have no choice but to pursue legal recourse and relief in order to exhaust all avenues in hopes of helping these boys realize their dream of finishing it on the field. This remedy is not only crucial to the benefit of these boys, but to all of the boys and girls in our community, and millions across the country who share their same dream and should never have to endure this heartbreak, disappointment, anxiety, or mental anguish that these boys have.

      Please help us with our defense and for the betterment of the future of baseball in our community. Thanks!