Seven year old bowling tournament winner disqualified for wearing wrong trousers
The club's president posts a 2,600 word defence on Facebook before backing down
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Your support makes all the difference.A champion child bowler had his moment of glory dampened after he was disqualified from the tournament he won – for wearing the wrong trousers.
Grayson Powell, 7, scored 171 to help his team win a youth bowling tournament in St John’s, Newfoundland.
But the youngsters were unable to collect their medals because Grayson’s jeans were not dark enough – a faded greyish colour, instead of black.
Gord Davis, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Youth Bowl Canada (NL YBC), defended his decision in a 2,600 word post on Facebook.
He said families of the players had been warned numerous times about wearing the correct clothing.
“What parent would do this? Was it to see if we would notice it or get away with it?” Mr Davis wrote.
He added: “Why is NL YBC in the wrong here when parents knowingly broke the rules and we are the bad guys [?]”
Graysons’s father, Todd Powell, appeared on local media to complain about the decision. “If this is what sport is about when it comes to kids … shame on them,” he said.
Critics on NL YBC social media pages argued that children should not be penalised for such a trivial offence, or that the children should have been warned during the game, rather than after it finished.
The grownups later patched up their differences and Mr Davis issued an apology.
“We both realise that this was blown out of proportion for simple communication problems,” Mr Davis said.
“We apologised for what decision we had to make and the fact that they were not relayed any information during the first or third game.”
Mr Davis said that any future infractions would be brought to the attention of the tournament director before the game began.
“That way all situations are handled immediately and no surprises. In future all rules should be followed no matter what,” he added.
However, Mr Davis also said that Grayson’s team would be awarded with a special medal to recognise their efforts, and that he didn’t want to put any children off bowling.
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