(The following is an editorial by RVA Sports Network's Rob Witham concerning the situation involving the Atlee Junior Softball All-Stars that caused their disqualification from the World Series this weekend....)
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Saturday August 5th, 2017 was the most difficult day of reporting I've experienced in 32 years of media. By late evening, I purposefully closed my laptop and phone, and walked away for a couple of hours so that I, as a person, could decompress from, not as much the news of the day involving the disqualification of the Atlee Junior Softball All-Stars from the World Series due to the now infamous Snapchat post, but from the myriad of reaction to it.
The reaction continues, from all directions, hot and heavy today, Sunday, just as these girls will return to what should be their safe haven. Home.
Before I continue, readers should understand that there is, and always will be, a clear line between what I do as a reporter, and what I do as a private citizen.
So, going forward, this is how the RVA Sports Network will handle this situation:
1) We will continue to follow, and report, the story and any other possible developments, if there are any. The outcome of the tournament will not be changing. Poland, Ohio won the World Series over Kirkland, Washington on Saturday and that will go into the record books. But if there are any follow-up stories or details that should be reported, we will endeavor to do so.
2) We will continue to treat this story the same way we do with all stories about student-athletes under the age of 18. We will never post the infamous picture in question. While TV stations and, now, national newspaper outlets, are posting it while blurring out faces and the inexcusable gesture, we have chosen not to post it at all. We've received complaints about it being "the center of the story", and, thus, we should post, and while that is true, a description of the picture suffices.
Now, we're not naive. We know the picture has gone viral on phones and texts and via other channels over the past 24 hours. What private citizens do is their business. RVA Sports Network has never been about attempting to gain web hits at the expense of 12 to 14 year old children or any teenage student athlete. I can guarantee you that is part of the motivation of some national media to run with the story. We are in an age where long-time reputable media members have, at the bottom of their web pages, "click bait" with ridiculous headlines in the hopes of you clicking on it to better their page results so they can attract more advertisers. You don't see that here.
3) We are here to celebrate the achievements of our area's student-athletes, and in the case of this site, @hanoversports on Twitter, and our Facebook page, we also do our dead level best to report the truth. And sometimes the truth is very tough. This was the case on Saturday.
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Now, let me explain to you how I will handle this situation as a person, taking off my media hat for a moment.
1) I choose to celebrate the on-field accomplishments of the Atlee Junior Softball All-Stars. They were clearly the best team at the World Series, and likely would have been bringing a championship trophy home today were it not for such poor judgment off the field. Their work on the field should be applauded.
2) I choose to use this as a teachable moment. I understand the perils of social media, and understand the platform I have in Hanover County that, perhaps, no other person has, on the very social media that is at the heart of this story. As we have spotlighted important issues over the past year from teenage depression and suicide (which is on the rise) to equality in athletic opportunity in this, the 45th anniversary year of Title IX legislation, we will also spotlight how to use social media in today's rapidly-changing world.
3) After talking long and hard with friends and family privately Saturday night, I spent hours trying to place myself as the parent of a player involved in the photograph. I've decided that there was no punishment I could give my child in this situation that could be any more effective or long-lasting than the one they've already received.
When they turn on the TV or their smartphone to watch the World Series in October, or next year's College Softball World Series, they'll remember. When they step on the field in high school, they'll remember. I don't need to go further to prove my point.
The members of this team will have to deal with this forever. So I choose to support these young ladies, pray that they have and will continue to learn from this error so that they can turn it, both personally and in other ways, into a positive so that weeks, months, or years from now, they can help others in the position where they were Friday not make the same mistake. I'm praying this incident makes them stronger.
I'm very, very ready, as a person, to begin helping the process of letting these young ladies put this ordeal behind them, letting them grow from it, and letting them move on to the next adventures of their lives.
I'll support them. Fully.
Did they let us down with a terrible lapse of judgment? Yes.
Will we suffer like they are because a trophy didn't come home to Atlee Little League? Absolutely not.
They need us to move forward as a county, so they can, too.
So let's get started.
Rob Witham
RVA Sports Network (@hanoversports)
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NOTE: Have comments? They can be left here (and are monitored) or you can contact Rob directly at hcsmediallc@gmail.com.
