Follow-up: Is this the end of the controversy between the Idaho Falls Bandits and Portland Barbers?

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IDAHO FALLS – If there’s one thing everyone can agree on regarding the Idaho Falls Bandits’ protest against the Portland Barbers at the American Legion Northwest Baseball Regional, it’s time to move on.

In a story written two weeks ago, the Bandits’ appeal regarding the validity of Portland’s roster was drawn out in detail.

The national office of the American Legion did not respond to a request for comment from East Idaho Sports, and has yet to do so.

But, Portland Barbers’ coach Joe Duran did reach out.

“Rest assured, we were under enrollment and knew our roster was valid and any other information that said different was not true and done in spite,” he said.

More on the ‘spite’ part coming later.

RECAP

The Idaho Falls Bandits and the Portland Barbers met in the finals of the American Legion Northwest Regional Tournament on Aug. 10, and a berth to the World Series was on the line.

The Bandits questioned the Barbers’ roster because the enrollment numbers appeared to be over the allotted maximum of 7,500.

Quick math check: The roster limit is 18 players, with the enrollment of each player’s school documented. The total number for the overall team enrollment can not exceed 7,500.

Based on its postseason roster, Portland failed to account for one of its schools, which would have put the Barbers over 7,500 and was the basis for two appeals by the Idaho Falls Bandits.

The national office of the American Legion denied the appeals and did not provide a clear explanation of why or what process was used to verify Portland’s roster.

The national office also noted it was permissible for Portland to use the site High-schools.com for its enrollment numbers. However, most programs go through their state’s educational system or official registrar to get accurate enrollment numbers.

UPDATE

The Bandits’ appeal was based on enrollment numbers for each school listed on High-schools.com. They contacted the registrar for LaSalle, the private school not listed on the site, which was key to the protest because it would put the Barbers over the max limit.

Duran said last week that the Barbers do not use the site for enrollment numbers and that he contacts each school for their official count. He wasn’t sure why the national office would even mention the third-party site.

“I never even heard of high-schools.com,” Duran said. “The most accurate way is the registrar. They have the official count right from their school. I ask them to give it to me in writing … That’s the first thing I do is check numbers.”

Duran forwarded emails to East Idaho Sports from all seven schools that were asked for enrollment numbers. All seven were below what was listed on High-schools.com. LaSalle, the private school, was the only match with an enrollment of 489, which makes sense since both the Barbers and Bandits got the number from the registrar.

Based on the numbers sent by the schools and forwarded from Duran, Portland’s enrollment total was 7,369, within the maximum allowed.

RESPONSE

“If these (numbers) are legitimate, then honestly it’s a good thing,” Bandits VP Cliff Brady said. “My frustration was it appeared that national was just ignoring this … it would have been such an easy thing to do … had they sent this (roster information) to us, it never would have been an issue.”

Both sides agree that the appeal process from the national office was flawed.

Duran said the national office contacted Mike Sowles, Oregon’s state chair, to verify that the numbers signed off by the state were correct.

The roster was verified and the national office denied the Bandits’ appeal.

According to emails obtained by East Idaho Sports, Steve Cloud from the national office did not fully explain why the Bandits’ appeal was denied and stated a deadline rule that was not completely accurate or relevant as part of the reason for the denial.

“We were simply doing what we believed was right and this thing, it could have been handled so much easier and it wouldn’t have become a thing,” Brady said.

Bandits coach Ryan Alexander said he was more focused on the games on the field, and Portland beat them twice for the regional title, so the rest of the story is moot.

Duran said he didn’t hear about the protest until after the games.

He said the state sent the enrollment numbers to the national office, so everyone should have known the numbers were legit.

Duran said he felt that there was misinformation likely spread from an opponent in Oregon that helped fuel the controversy.

Even so, the national office failed to clearly explain its decision, leaving both teams wondering what happened.

WHAT’S NEXT

“What’s done is done,” Bandits coach Alexander said. “What is important at this point, for me as a coach and program director and leader of our program, is I want to make sure we have language that is very specific so we don’t run into this again. And that we have a way of dealing with this prior to the week of competition. We need to have confidence that everybody is on the same page.”

The American Legion office requires each American Legion team to have a recruitment plan. The plan includes the schools and areas where each team compiles its roster, along with information on transfers and other verifiable information.

Alexander said the plan needs to be more transparent and available for checking and validating prior to the postseason.

“Make it simpler and not harder,” he said.

“I feel bad that they felt they were slighted,” Duran, the Barbers’ coach said. “I was left in the dark too … If I had known I could have just squelched it.”

Duran noted that all the pertinent information on players and enrollment is contained in a binder that is checked prior to the postseason. Both the Bandits’ and Barbers’ binders were checked before the regional tournament.

“I hope this puts them at ease,” Duran said.