Pineville Legion Coach Randy Rummage---Q&A

Coach Rummage-Q&A--Legion age

I stand to be corrected but believe I am right on the issue of 19 yr.olds playing American Legion baseball.Not all 19 yr. olds can play. Next years eligibility date is Jan.1,1987.This eliminates a number of 19's.This date makes little sense. A more reasonable date would be Sept.1,1986.This date would allow ALL 19s to be eligible.The ALB national tournament is in Aug.All players would be 19 or younger at the conclusion of play.
It is my understanding that Babe Ruth baseball will be using April 30,1986 as its eligibility date. Give them credit for being inclusive.Someone could have a heck of a team with the players ALB is eliminating.It seems to me that both senior and junior American Legion would be stronger if more players are included and not eliminated by an arbitrary date established for no other reason than lack of thought.
If I am correct about the age requirement ,I am considering expressing my thoughts with those at the national level. Won't do any good but may be that others have given it some thought too.
First but hopefully not my only post.

 

Broncho,,,, you are right about Jan.1, 1987 being the deadline for next year,,,, and you are right that date don't make much sense. Its eliminating a lot of 19 year olds, those who turn 19 before Dec.31 are simply out of luck with the Jan.1 deadline...

If you contact anyone nationally, I would be curious to hear the explanation you get if you will share that with me. Thanks...

 

By Coach Rummage: RESPONSE to Broncho72: Based on the latest information available to us, you are correct- players born on or after January 1, 1987. A few years ago ( less than 10 not sure of exact year ) the cut-off was either July or August. The move to January 1 extended player
eligibility by about 6 months. I like many others are not sure of all
the reasons. I do know that assured all high school graduates an
opportunity to play ALB. Prior to the change some players who turned
19 near the end of HS or in June were too old. If the date is moved any
further back you could possibly have players who have completed their
sophomore year of college eligible.

Great question. Thank you.

 

Question

How many Legion Posts are in The Charlotte/Mecklenburg area?

 

Question

Back in the late 90's and 2000, Matthews had a good legion program.
Why did that legion program fold?

 

Not all Legion posts sponsor Legion baseball. Footing the bill for a baseball program can be very time-consuming and expensive. There's numerous reasons why Matthews may no longer support a baseball program.

Are you asking how many TOTAL legion posts you have in Mecklenburg County,,, or are you asking how many Meck posts support baseball teams? Theres simply a difference.

I believe its been stated that only "4" posts in Meck support baseball.

 

Another Question

Just today I read in the Charlotte Observer that the Charlotte/ Mecklenburg erea has almost 1 million residents, with 17 high schools.
I know that there are only (FOUR) American Legion Teams from the area. My question was; (How many Legion Post are in the area). Not teams.
With 17 LARGE HIGH SCHOOLS; are we still to believe that the Charlotte/Mecklenburg area can only field Four teams?

 

Trock,,,,, my previous answer was intended to show you that it don't matter how many millions of people live in Charlotte, or how many high schools they have either, or (for that matter) how many legion posts they have also,,,,,,,, the FACT is,,, whenever any legion post applies to field a legion baseball team, there's a lot of red tape (paperwork before and during the season), a lot of FINANCIAL support is needed (to the tune of approx. $15,000 per season), and its VERY TIME-CONSUMING for someone to be ACTIVELY involved either working at the stadium during games, seeking sponsors, concessions, uniforms, working the gate, etc. For these reasons, not all legion posts support legion baseball.

In many counties, there may be more than one legion posts (some 4-5 posts) who work together to field one baseball team.

If your wondering why there's only 4 teams in Charlotte,,, I thinks it simply due to the sacrifice and committment that is involved in running a team.

Just like you mentioned Matthews fielding a team years ago,,, its not uncommon for legion teams to fold when the money gets low, or (more importantly) if there's not baseball people in that specific post to run the program any longer. Maybe the ones running the team in Matthews got out because they had sons playing who aged out,,, I don't know...

Trust me, running a legion baseball team is very time-consuming and there's a TON of behind the scenes work that 99% of the fans never see. You've simply got to have people to do it because they love it.

I'm sure if you got involved in one of the other legion posts in or around Charlotte that didn't have a team, and if you tried to start your own team, you would quickly find out how much is involved. A 5th team in Charlotte would be approved by the legion state commissioner, so go ahead and try to get one started,,,, but you'd better get you a team of workers ready and get out your checkbook...

 

Why?

Why is it so expensive?

 

By Coach Rummage RESPONSE to TROCK: I do not know the number of Legion Posts. The only buildings that I have seen are Charlotte 262, Paw Creek 353, Steele Creek 221(does not support team). Huntersville and Newell may have
buildings, I do not know. Pineville does not have a building. No one
can tell any one what to believe. When I agreed to this interview I
stipulated that I preferred to try to answer with what I knew as
opposed to what I thought. 2 of the 4 Mecklenburg Legion teams had difficulty fielding teams. Neither had 18-man rosters. In the latest NCHSAA
alignment at least 6 Mecklenburg high schools have been moved to lower
size classifications.Example- Huntersville Post 321 drew players from
a Zone that covered almost all of North Meck,Hopewell,Vance, some of
Garinger, some of Independence(I think) and any private school players
in their Zone.( They might have some of West Charlotte too)Coach
Hinson is an excellent coach. They had to drop out of the playoffs. We
work hard to field teams in Mecklenburg.It is difficult. PLAN "A" and
PLAN "B" recruiting are very different.Based on my understanding and
experience with PLAN "A" zones in Mecklenburg (as limited as I am and
as dim as my light may shine) I stand by my position that 4 is the
maximum number of teams Mecklenburg can competitively field and I can
make a strong case for 3.(Using more DEAD ZONES). You also ask about
Matthews Post from a few years back. I do not know why they folded. I
do know Coach Bob Couick worked hard and did an excellent job. Their
zone is now parts of Pineville and Charlotte. Thank you for your
questions.