Interesting story. Should the adults be brought up on charges? Thoughts? http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/571443 June 5, 2000, 9:11PM Ball outing could end up in court -- Little-Leaguers may have been given beer By KEVIN MORAN -- Copyright 2000 Houston Chronicle SANTA FE -- Sheriff's deputies are investigating whether a Little League manager and assistant coach gave beer to 9-year-old players returning from an outing to a Houston Astros baseball game. Some parents also reported that the ride home in a limousine included a stop at a strip club parking lot where a picture of the team, the Angels, was taken. Santa Fe Little League directors removed the titles of the two adults after reports of the May 26 post season trip to Enron Field began coming in from parents of the children involved, league president Kevin Chaffin said Monday. The manager, assistant coach and another adult -- all parents of team members -- took about a dozen boys to see the Astros play the Atlanta Braves, said Chaffin. "We find the actions deplorable," he said. "They are no longer a manager and assistant coach in our Little League." Chaffin declined to reveal the names of the adults involved in the incident while the investigation is going on. The trip was not Little League-sponsored, Chaffin said. "It was just a team party," he said. "The parent had bought tickets and rented a stretch limousine." The Galveston County Sheriff's Department reported that some accounts of the trip indicate the boys were encouraged to drink real beer, but others said the beverage may have been so-called non-alcoholic beer. Players told their parents they had their photograph taken with Heartbreakers, a large strip club just off Interstate 45 in Dickinson, in the background. Chaffin said he and other Little League board members ousted the assistant coach and manager immediately after interviewing the assistant coach about the trip. He refused to say what the coach told them. Chaffin said he has heard accounts that the boys were given beer. "Alcoholic or non-alcoholic, that's not what you want to teach 9-year-old little boys," he said. "It was very bad judgment on the adults' parts. "We will not tolerate it," added Chaffin, a petrochemical plant process operator in his first year as Santa Fe Little League president. Sheriff's Maj. Freddie Poor said Monday that the case will be referred to the Galveston County District Attorney's office for possible charges against the adults involved after the investigation is completed. ------------------ Stay Cool...
