The youthful innocence of youth sports

A Northern Virginia 12-14 year old boy's football team will miss the remainder of its season after its coached was fired by the league commissioner. The coach was fired because he decided to move the commissioner's son from defensive end to offensive guard for the last game of the season. The following quote by commissioner Dan Hinkle sums up the man's thinking about the situation.

"Scott does not sit out on defense -- ever," the commissioner, Dan Hinkle, had warned the head coach, James Owens, in an e-mail sent before the season began about how he should play Hinkle's son, 12. On defense, the father said, "he goes in and stays in. That includes all practices, scrimmages and games. This entire league exists so he can play defense on the best team in his weight class. . . . He is my son, I own the league, and he plays every snap on defense."