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Many months ago, I received an e-mail from Sandra, the mother of a 9-year-old baseball player. During a game, her son suffered a facial injury while at bat. That minor injury has evolved into a nearly two-year journey of frustration.
After the injury, Sandra was concerned about not only the safety of her child but also that of the other players in the local program, so she did some research. She found that the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Consumer Product Safety Commission endorsed the use of batting helmets with faceguards--equipment that wasn’t available in her child’s program and that would have protected him.
So she e-mailed the president of the local league and asked if he had ever considered obtaining helmets with faceguards. His response was for her to “refer to the safety handbook.” Of course, the handbook contained no answer, and her subsequent e-mails in pursuit of a real answer with some substance were ignored.