The Rockville Football League’s President, Eric Heckman, has a lot to learn about dealing with players, parents and the public. The RFL is supposed to “teach the fundamentals of football and sportsmanship.” Unfortunately under Mr. Heckman’s leadership what they’re teaching is rudeness, lying, and quitting.
This year the RFL is implementing a two tier playing system within each team; an “Army” group for less experienced players and a “Navy” group that’s more competitive. The RFL freely admits that it doesn’t have established criteria for determining which child is placed in which group. The determination is made by each team Head Coach and, supposedly, final approval comes from the child’s parents. When the RFL president doesn’t like the determination, he changes it up to suit his own needs. "Yes, I'm ramming it down your throat," Heckman said at a recent meeting to parents and coaches.
Some larger children that are new to tackle football but have speed ability are being forced to play on Navy teams where the competition includes experienced children who’ve been playing together for three to five years. Parents expressed their concern that children with no playing experience could possibly get hurt. Mr. Heckman’s exact response was, “I guess that’s why we have insurance.” He continued his cavalier attitude by saying, “if you don’t like it, you can quit.”
Wow.
Mr. Heckman mocks parents, literally laughs at them when a concern is voiced, misrepresents the truth, and says he’s not responsible for what his league commissioners are telling the players’ parents.
Our kids just want to play football. They need coaches that will teach them the game while stressing the importance of good sportsmanship both on the field and off. If the top leadership can’t even grasp the idea of sportsmanship how can it be communicated down the ranks?
On paper, the Rockville Football League is supposed to be a recreation league. In reality, it’s an organization whose leader is a bully with a “win at all costs” attitude. The attitude exhibited by the RFL President shows that he does not have the children’s best interests in mind. The RFL is a good product but a change of leadership is sorely needed.
