To the editor:
To the editor:
I am writing this as a concerned and confused parent.My son plays on the Wayland 5/6th Youth football team. He has played with this league since starting in third grade and was in flag before then.
Since starting tackle, things have been a little confusing to me and I am not the only parent wondering these things.
There are two Wayland teams in the league — team 1 has 14 players and team 2 has 16. That is a total of 30 players altogether.
With injuries happening throughout the season/sickness/travel, how does that work with having few to zero subs for the players? Watching the last four weeks of games, there have been five to 10players on the sidelines for subs (for other teams). While our two teams have had two to four players tops (one of the kids being over the weight limit so he wouldn’t be able to sub even if he wanted to, that means our boys have to play the entire game (which I know some parents will not complain about) but I as a parent working in the medical field seeing these football injuries happening so frequently — Isn’t safety the most important thing about this sport?
The first half is OK, but the second half is just sad because kids are getting injured due to exhaustion and that is also how mistakes get made.
Since my son has played in this league his team has won only one singular game (I know it’snot about winning. Clearly if I have had him in this league for this long, that doesn’t matter to us, but being stretched so thin with players causes not to be as successful as other teams.
I recently found out that Dorr Rec has a football team as well in the league for each grade. Can I please know the reasoning behind this? The 5/6 boys go to Pine Street with my son. Some are in the same class and they talk about being undefeated and just brag and brag about it and I just simply want to know why aren’t these kids who are in the same school district playing WITH each other?
I get that Dorr is not in Wayland, the town, but Dorr is in Wayland school district! Looking at the schedule roster on the web site that Dorr has a team makes me quite upset as my son just simply wants to enjoy this sport but having this additional Dorr team makes absolutely zero sense to a lot of the parents.
I was told Dorr has about 25 players on each team. Why not take the Dorr Rec team and divide it up to make two larger 5/6 Wayland teams that could potentially BOTH be successful?
These boys will eventually ALL play together anyway and are brought together in fourth grade once going to Pine Street, so the divide is something I would like to have answered. I truly feel like we are getting the “sh*t end of the stick when it comes to the full experience of youth football.
This whole thing is just sad and I am trying my hardest to stay positive for my son this year, but watching this go on like this year after year needs to have some sort of resolution OR explanation.
They work so hard all week long and to watch the disappointment in their eyes every Saturday is just exhausting for a parent. This is supposed to be FUN and most of it is, but its just truly not fair to the Wayland teams. Even making Wayland just one team would be better.
I have already reached out to the head of the Wayland program with zero response. If i do not start getting responses from people, I will continue to climb up the tree of who I need to speak with to get this resolved.
I have two medical doctors standing behind me on this that it is NOT safe for our children.
The fact that our Wayland kids are getting bullied at school by the Dorr Rec team is where I end this. I am from Wayland, born and raised and as a child I didn’t understand the divide, but now as a parent of a child suffering, I will not let this continue.
I have multiple parents willing to make this right after this season. This divide between towns is not OK. It’s quite sad that after all these years the divide is still happening between the two towns and now its making it unsafe for these boys to play because they’re short handed while Dorr is thriving. It’s just UNFAIR, end of story.
If there was a flag football team for Dorr, that is one thing but once these kids go to school together there is no reason to have them separated.
— A Wayland football mom
Wayland and Dorr have had separated football programs for many years. I imagine it started this way to keep the kids close to where they live for practices, etc. And in the past the programs were a lot bigger, player numbers are down considerably. The issue with Wayland’s program is their director. Many of the coaches left Wayland and went to the Dorr program and they took many players from Wayland with them. This is due to the Wayland director’s constant micromanagement, dictatorship and overall lack of ability to coach and/or run a football program. Both the 3/4 and 5/6 grade coaches for Dorr are excellent and knowledgeable coaches and do not need a baby sitter. The only possible way these programs may ever come together is with a change in Wayland’s youth football program leadership.
I appreciate all the volunteers of Wayland and Dorr youth sports programs. You just can’t make everyone happy.
BTW both 7th and 8th grade middle school football teams are 3-0. Their rosters have kids that played at Dorr Rec and Wayland Youth leagues. Something is going right in these programs!
Our varsity program has improved dramatically recently and one reason is because all the youth teams are running the HS schemes or at least some of them.
Dorr used to have its own rec basketball league just a few years ago. Now all the youth basketball kids (DORR and WAYLAND) play at Wayland. For basketball all the kids are together. IDK why maybe participation?
My child played in the football unity game at the end of the season. All the Wayland and Dorr kids moving to MS were mixed up and fielded teams against each other. IDK if this still happens.
Last year Dorr only had 1 3rd/4th grade football team with 25+ kids on it. Safety was a reason; why have 2 teams with 11-12 kids on each? Exactly what the poster is concerned about. They were undefeated but parents complained about playing time even though the coaching staff informed every one of the situations before the season began. You just cant make everyone happy.
Dorr has always had its own identity and history; I get it. You have kids with grandparents and great grandparents that have lived in Dorr for generations cheering the kids on. If Dorr can field their own club team thats great!
So this is an age old “problem”. My suggestion would be to speak with other parents whose child is NOT playing football at Wayland and get them on the field. Losing is not a bad thing either, we all learn from defeat in sports and in life. My son played in Dorr rocket football 20 years ago then onto Wayland JV then varsity. Wayland rec teams usually came out on the short end of the stick back then too but you didn’t hear them demanding changes. At the varsity level my sons team went 0-9 his junior year!! Complete failure. They didn’t demand the coach get fired or other changes to the program. Instead, they dedicated themselves to offseason workouts and running the plays in the gym at lunch time. Their senior year they won 6 games including the first playoff win in over 10 years! That’s learning from defeat and taking positive action. As for the safety factor, fatigue creates mental error which can lead to an injury. So back to participation. Dorr is a much smaller community but has greater participation.? That is what I’m hearing, so again, talk to the parents of kids who are not playing and get them on the field. This is the real answer not demanding changes to the entire program.
If kids/families are leaving the Wayland rec program and driving further to play for the Dorr program, that says a lot of about the current state of the Wayland program. Sounds like the first step is getting someone new and fresh to run the Wayland program.
Rec Baseball is no different. Dorr isn’t the issue, the director of Wayland Youth Sports is.
The author should post this on one of the Wayland community groups to get more traction and support.