- Target:
- Stephen Keener, President and CEO, Little League International
- Region:
- United States of America
- Website:
- youthsportssafetynow.blogspot.com
Little League International's current safety program puts players at risk. These risks include:
Sex offenders and criminals are able to volunteer due to ineffective screening methods.
Needless facial, dental and eye injuries happen due to their choice not to mandate proven safety equipment.
Player deaths have been underreported or 'forgotten' by headquarters, therefore negating ways to prevent similar ones in the future.
The President of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the President of Klaaskids.org, the President of the American Medical Association and many others have sent letters to Mr. Keener in their efforts to get Little League to change their safety policies.
Despite Mr. Keener's knowledge of these gaps in Little League International's safety program,
NONE of these practices have been stopped by the organization.
Medical studies, newspaper articles, Consumer Product Safety Commission reports, USA Baseball statements and Little League International's own studies, interviews and safety newsletters indicate the necessity and urgency of the need for these policies to CHANGE and mandates be made.
All details and supporting documentation appear on the website, http://www.youthsportssafetynow.com
We, the undersigned, call on President and CEO Stephen Keener of Little League International to take the following actions:
1) Require all Little League programs to run full criminal background checks on all volunteers effective immediately;
2) Require that batting helmets with faceguards be mandated for use by players ages 12 and younger, effective no later than January 1, 2013;
3) Cease presenting insurance figures as total numbers of injuries;
4) Recalculate the number of player and volunteer deaths using all available data to include in future statistics;
5) Require local leagues to report any baseball player or volunteer deaths occuring within practice or play to Little League headquarters within 72 hours of the incident. Non-compliance will terminate the league's charter after 3 business days;
6) Little League International will report any deaths of players or volunteers to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and USA Baseball within 3 business days of the incident;
7) Within 30 days of the death of a player or volunteer, Little League International must initiate a full investigation with the cooperation and supervision of USA Baseball's Medical/Safety Committee.
A report must be submitted to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and USA Baseball within 45 days after the investigation is complete. This report will be used to identify trends and to understand the cause of the accidents in efforts to prevent future deaths.
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The Stop Little League HQ Practices Which Put Players At Risk petition to Stephen Keener, President and CEO, Little League International was written by Sandra Austin Goldstein and is in the category Youth at GoPetition.