Thurston County Youth Football League player, 13, protested by taking a knee. Here’s why

The Thurston County Youth Football League is a major organizer of youth sports.

At a recent game for the league at Tumwater High School, multiple teams were decked out in professional-looking uniforms and helmets. Cheerleading squads performed. Hundreds of people crowded into the stands, including some with signs, rooting on their sons and daughters on the field.

The league has been part of the county since 1971. It provides football and cheerleading opportunities for more than 3,500 youth, ages 5-14, according to league information.

On the night of Oct. 12, when the Rams took their place on the sidelines prior to the start of the game, Titus Whipple, 13, separated himself from the group and took a knee.

He didn’t take a knee because he was tired, he took a knee as a form of protest, said Whipple, who was later interviewed with both parents, James and Bassie Whipple, by his side.

Titus said he took a knee in protest of things that happened over several weeks of the season.

“Sometimes it can be really hard (to protest), because, like, my friends want me to play, and then I’m watching the game and I want to get in and play, have some fun. But I know that if I do that, then people won’t really acknowledge what is going on with the (Rams) franchise, and people would just look past it and not even know what’s going on,” he told The Olympian. “So I feel called to just stay and do what I know is right and what I feel is right.”

Six parents

The Olympian first learned of the protest in September, then met with six parents who had concerns about the Rams and the league. The parents who spoke are white, Black and Pacific Islander. They say a series of events prompted an attempt at a team-wide protest, which finally resulted in Titus taking a knee.

Not every parent agreed to speak on the record, but they did meet in person as a group with The Olympian.

The parents say it boils down to unequal treatment of certain players over other players. Two players of color were removed from the team over alleged problems outside of the league.

One of those players was eventually reinstated, while another was not, they say.

Parents want to know why those allegations, which they say amounted to little more than rumors, should matter.

“This information should not have any bearing on whether or not a kid can play because it had nothing to do with what he did on the field,” said James Whipple.

One of the white parents, who asked not to be named, said her son plays on the team. They have never experienced systemic racism, she said.

“We don’t experience those things, but we’re watching it happen, and I’m blessed to have a child that is very passionate that these (teammates) are his friends,” she said. “This is his family, and this is wrong.”

Parent Meleana Neemia told of being asked to sit in a designated area near the cheerleaders for games because of previous comments she’d made. When she refused to sit near the cheerleaders, she was “suspended.”

“I get an email saying that I’m suspended for a week,” she said. “I can’t go to the game or practice for those derogatory comments.”

That finally resulted in the players wanting to organize a protest by writing “family, team and respect” on their socks and helmets. But after warnings from adults associated with the team, they got cold feet, the parents say. Titus, though, decided he would take a knee.

“Titus had already made up his mind that he had this form of protesting, too, which would be that he was just going to take a knee. And so he did, which we had a conversation about,” said his mother, Bassie Whipple.

His father, James, said he was proud of his son.

“We didn’t have anything to do with his decision, but I stood by it because I understood that he felt that he had a calling,” he said.

The league accommodated his protest, according to emails shared with The Olympian.

“Titus has been instructed that should he wish to continue to take a knee and not participate in games, he needs to do so behind the player box for safety reasons,” league president Tim Claridge wrote. “Players at times are run off and/or tackled at the sidelines and taking a knee too close poses a potential of him becoming injured.”

No longer volunteers

However, what the league would not accommodate, according to the Whipples, was them. Both were removed as volunteers for the Rams. Bassie was previously a longtime volunteer, she said, while James was a volunteer coach for the team this season. Now, neither is involved with the team.

“The franchise decided to email me that I’m no longer allowed to coach/volunteer anymore, and when I reached out to ask why, or what it is that I did, they won’t even give me any kind of information to say what it is that I did,” said James Whipple.

According to the league’s handbook, the league reserves the right to refuse service at any time.

“Any actions by a coach, player, parent, spectator, referee, or any other individual participating in a TCYFL event or season may be removed if their actions are perceived to be in conflict with the Mission Statement of TCYFL,” the handbook reads.

James Whipple said that’s not good enough.

“Personally, I would like to see those that are in power and in a position to make these decisions have some level of visibility or oversight to where you can’t just say, ‘Oh, because I said so.’”

Bassie Whipple, who feels that their removal as volunteers was an indirect form of discipline against Titus, said she wants the league to know that they’re not just serving kids who look like them.

“They serve a whole community, and this is a diverse community,” she said.

The league

The Olympian reached out to league President Claridge by phone, then sent an email to him, asking questions about the concerns raised by parents. He didn’t specifically answer those questions, but he did explain the history of the league, the size of it, how it operates, how it handles disciplinary problems and the kind of in-season guidance it might provide.

“TCYFL is structured with 15 ‘franchises,’” he wrote. “Each franchise is established within a community of youth athletes that will eventually attend one of the 15 high schools in our footprint. We strongly believe this fosters community bonds and friendships among our children, preparing them to be student-athletes when they enter high school.”

He said the league is 100% run by volunteers, representing participants from a diverse mix of racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds.

Claridge, though, acknowledged this much: “We will continue to seek constructive feedback from our volunteers and participants and strive to implement improvements that further enhance the experience of our young athletes and their families.”

After The Olympian emailed questions to Claridge, he forwarded that email to others within the organization, asking that anyone seeking a statement about the league be referred to him. That email was forwarded to The Olympian by a person who also raised a series of additional concerns about the youth football league.

“Many, many volunteers have remained silent out of fear of retaliation, but these issues cannot continue to go unaddressed if the league is to function fairly and equitably,” the person writes. “We urge you to take a closer look into the leadership of TCYFL and its impact on the community it serves.”

What’s next for Titus?

Titus, who turns 14 later this month, said he’s not sure he wants to continue to play football.

“I don’t know if I’m 100% comfortable with it, so I’ve been thinking about it and trying to figure things out, but I do know that I do have other sports that I like to play,” he said. “I’m training for basketball this year, and I’m also going to be doing wrestling this year.”