“I’m here because I want to make you aware of some major concerns I, amongst others, have with the way the Circleville Youth Baseball (CYBB) is being operated,” said Misty Brooks as she opened the discussion at the Circleville Park Board meeting on Wednesday. Brooks gave Park Commissioners Megan Travis and Beth Mason a book with copies of letters from other concerned parents to substantiate her claims.
One encounter Brooks described was about the aftermath of a game between a team that was coached by her son, Max Brooks, and the team sponsored by Circleville Community Counseling. Ms. Brooks described how, as the teams were in line to shake hands after the game, a player from the opposing team body-slammed one of Max’s players to the ground.
The situation escalated into the two teams’ coaches being in each other’s face. It appears that there was no league commissioner or other person in-charge from the CYBB Board to step in quickly and calm the conflict.
Ms. Brooks stated that the CYBB Board President Randy Brown claims that there have been many complaints about Max Brooks’ coaching, but that Mr. Brown “can’t produce one formal complaint.”
Nate Brooks, Misty’s husband, spoke about the hostile environment and the resulting drama that can easily escalate.
“The other night, as one of my kids hit the ball over the fence for a home run and celebrated, one of the other team’s parents called me up to the fence and told me that it would have been cool if he didn’t celebrate so overboard and it was poor sportsmanship. This came from a board member,” said Mr. Brooks. He also claimed to have witnessed “blatant misuse of authority to get what one wants instead of what’s best for the league.”
During the course of the meeting, other issues were brought up:
• Accusations of “stacking” resulting in one team having an abundance of experienced and talented players
• Loss of board members from 13 to 10, and with the recent resignation of two more, Savannah Thompson and Kelsey Jennings, the board is now down to just eight.
• The Pony League being canceled
• The lack of monthly board meetings as called for by the league’s bylaws.
Circleville City Council member Zach Brooks, read from the bylaws which say “regular meetings will be held on the first Thursday of the month during the offseason which is August to February And then on the first Thursday and third Tuesday of the month during the season which is March to July.
It appears that there has not been a board meeting during the season this year. The next one is scheduled for June 30th, after the season is over. It was noted that these board meetings are an excellent opportunity to air complaints and keep any conflicts from escalating.
Other allegations included:
• Failure to perform background checks on the coaches
• Failure to have coaches trained for CPR
• Failure to have the coaches trained in concussion protocol
• A board member alleged to have placed a phone call to a business that sponsored a team to complain about that team’s coach
• Concerns about safety when arguments escalate. An example was given about when an argument between two men escalated into one of the men getting on his motorcycle and “burning rubber” in such an aggressive manner that smoke filled the back half of the park and the police needed to be called.
A board member of the Tiger Youth Softball League explained how her organization used to be a part of the CYBB, but they “went through all this” and then decided to start their own separate league for girls.
The idea of creating a Parks & Recreation Director for the City of Circleville was suggested. Mayor Michelle Blanton said she was investigating this and is already scheduled to meet with the mayor of another city that has a Parks & Rec Department.
Former City Council member Tom Spring suggested looking into membership in the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association for assistance and training.
Toward the end of the meeting, Mike Wade, the Treasurer of CYBB and the only board member to attend Wednesday’s meeting, stated, “I’ve only been on the board a couple of years, and in those couple of years, it’s been a very divided board.”
Wade also stated that when he took over as Treasurer, that no one had made any tax filings since 2019. Two years ago, noticing that there was a shortage of players for the Pony League, he made calls to all of the school coaches and rounded up 43 to play. This year, he noted that there were only 12 signups. He organized them into one team to play in a Pony League in Chillicothe. He also noted that he received criticism for that, but explained that as a man with a job and a farm and six children, there is only so much he could do.
Commissioner Mason did express appreciation to Mr. Wade for being the only CYBB board member to attend the meeting.
At the end of the meeting, Mason recounted a conversation she had had with the previous law director, who explained that “the board does not oversee the league; the board oversees the playground.” She noted that there was a contract in place between the Park Board and the CYBB, and that she would discuss what to do next with the new Law Director, Kendra Kinney.
Mason expressed sincere concern over the safety problems that had been brought to light that evening.
When asked for comments, Brown stated that he had not yet heard any feedback from Wednesday’s meeting. He said, “I’m fine and the league is fine.”
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