This quote is from an English writer by the name of Steve Turner. You may ask, "why start with that quote?"

It is for a simple reason. This article.

Once upon a time, both recreation baseball and travel baseball were under the guidance of one sports provider. It did not work.

And putting them together now will not work. Let me share with you why it won't work.

In two simple words -- competing interests.

Recreation programs are primarily educational in nature. They are designed to give children the basics of the game and allows them to sample various athletic programs to find out which interests them the most.

Travel, sometimes referred to as competitive, teams are assembled to play against other teams from outside the local area.

And that's not all. Assuming there is a spot available, if your child signs up for recreational baseball, there is a "you pay, your child plays" standard.

Not so with travel teams. There are try-outs and only the best children are chosen for the teams. And there is no guarantee that you child will play in each game. That is just the nature of the beast.

Travel teams have higher costs than recreation teams. Higher enrollment fees and associated travel costs require a much higher commitment from children and parents in travel programs than in recreation programs.

Travel teams play almost year round. Recreation teams play 2 short seasons, roughly 2 months in the fall and 3, sometimes 4, months in the spring.

Those of you with short memories may recall what happened about 8 years ago when these two programs were run by one board. Conflict. Constant conflict that came to staff's attention and then to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board's attention.

In a compromise, to alleviate these conflicts, Debbie Brisson (then Parks & Rec Director) developed a plan that seemed to fit everyone's needs. It was fair and very structured on how the transition was to occur.

Frankly, it was a consensus between the two interests. To refresh your memory, a consensus is common ground where people can agree on most issues and can live with the decisions made on issues on which they do not agree. The fact of the matter is that it worked.

Occasionally, there were spats, but lovers (of the game) often have these. They were able to work things out and the two providers co-existed very well for years.

This brings a thought to mind. Actually a quote by George Santayana: "Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it."

Trust me on this, if the Village merges these two teams, both programs will be negatively affected. Yes, the recreation program will get sole access to the fields. The travel teams will be chased away. And the community will be worse off for it. In the end, the same old problems will rear their heads and the battle for separation of the two programs will begin anew.

Why has this come to the forefront you may ask.

All of this brouhaha revolves around a parent whose child did not make one of the travel teams and he raised enough stink about it to move it to this point. I have written on this before and will just say this is the squeaky wheel getting the grease.

The bottom line is this: the excuse of non-resident make-up of teams is being used as the scapegoat. I call bull on this. There is no requirement for Wellington residents to play in Wellington programs, so why should there be such a big issue over this. After all, if it is about money, non-residents pay more so the Village should be welcoming them with open arms.

What really cracked me up was this statement from the article: "With less money coming into the village after property tax reform, village staff said it was more efficient for parks and recreation staff to deal with only one governing body for baseball. The idea is that the staff member dealing with baseball could help with other duties."

Non-residents pay more, so that helps with economics. Besides, it is not the citizens' job to make staff's job easier. It is staff's job to make the programs available so the citizens can enjoy recreation in the Village.

The solution is easy if anyone really wants to solve this problem. Hire a program coordinator to run recreation baseball just like they do for soccer and bring baseball into the Village. Then let the travel provider run the competitive program. There's enough waste in the Village to find the funds to do this ... someone just has to stand up and say we can do it.

As I said earlier, merging the two programs is a mistake. This decision will alienate Village residents. Is this what we really want? Personally, I do not think so. That's not what local governments are supposed to do ... their job is to embrace the residents.

There are definitely some personal issues some folks have with travel baseball. And personal issues should be disregarded. After all the program is for the children of the Village ... not their parents. You all need to make sure the interests of the children are at the heart of the issue and nothing else.

This is a slippery slope for all of the travel providers. I hope Dr. Falzone and his organization keeps looking over their shoulder, because they are next.

There is a hidden agenda here and I will discuss that next week.

One final quote for your consideration from Karl Marx: "History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce." I think we are past the tragedy part.

Share with me your thoughts and feelings on the issue.

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