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Post by bogan on Jun 22, 2021 15:00:14 GMT -5
Just saw an interesting documentary about the 1992 Little League World Series “champs” from the Philippines. They were called the “most illegal team ever.” Apparently, not only was every one of the players rostered over 12 (many were 15-16 yr olds) but they were also the best players from the islands. Further, none of the birth certificates matched the identity of the players -they were random kids who sold their identities to the team for money.
I remember hearing about the DR (Dominican Republic) doing this many times (playing over aged kids)-but this is ludicrous. Not soccer based but goes to show you the length some people will go to to get fame/recognition.
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Post by papacoach on Jun 22, 2021 17:02:32 GMT -5
Reminding you of a few GA Soccer clubs?
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Post by georgiasoccerdad on Jun 23, 2021 7:46:55 GMT -5
Just saw an interesting documentary about the 1992 Little League World Series “champs” from the Philippines. They were called the “most illegal team ever.” Apparently, not only was every one of the players rostered over 12 (many were 15-16 yr olds) but they were also the best players from the islands. Further, none of the birth certificates matched the identity of the players -they were random kids who sold their identities to the team for money. I remember hearing about the DR (Dominican Republic) doing this many times (playing over aged kids)-but this is ludicrous. Not soccer based but goes to show you the length some people will go to to get fame/recognition. So- to be fair, not all societies document age like we do in the West. Took me a while to process this but after working with some of the scholarship kids at our club whose families had just immigrated I noticed a number of kids didn't know their birthday. Not saying this is what happened here- but keeping exact DOB is not a priority in some countries. As another example. when I was in high school we had a player in my class who was fathered by an American in Vietnam. He was a good baseball and basketball player and made all league in both. A few years later we found out he was actually three years older than his classmates. This was news to him. Secondly, In many cases this is more than just winning at all costs. a 15 or 16 y/o pitcher playing against 13 yo players will most likely dominate and attract attention from minor league scouts. This was the case I believe with a Little League team from the Bronx 10-20 years ago. Parents hoping to cash in on a signing bonus were faking the Birth Certs of their kids. |
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Post by bogan on Jun 23, 2021 7:49:41 GMT -5
True -not all societies do-but when you are paying random parents to let them use their sons birth certificates, you know you are doing something wrong.
The DR has done this for years (and they get caught and banned a lot). And yes, teams here do it too-in baseball and GA soccer.
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