The Times

Saturday, May 1, 1976, page 25 (of 30)

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All-stars not purpose of youth sports

First in a series By JOHN WALTERS Sports Writer "Any team or organization that we find guilty of promoting an all-star team will lose their charter and will no longer play in our league," said Jim Taft, vice president of the Pop Warner Football League. "A lot of coaches and managers are just interested in win, win, win, and lose the entire meaning of youth league sports," Taft said. "All star teams were banned in our association because the concept throws off a well balanced program at a club and sends individual coaches seeking revenge when their players are taken to play on all-star teams." All-star teams as a whole seem to come around when there are no other club sports. It is these types of teams or associations that the Pop Warner Conference wants to see excluded from youth sports. An example of this was exhibited two years ago at a Pop Warner Bowl held in Mississippi. "We had our annual bowl and that champion was playing the champion of the west district," explained Taft. "I was sitting in the stands and heard the visiting team's name called the so and so team "all-stars" by the announcer. On top of that, the coaches could not tell me who half of his kids were on the field. It turns out that this supposed club team is an all-star team from within the league. When the Pop Warner League met, we threw that organization and coach out for violating our rule on all-star teams." That rule is stated in Pop Warner rules, section 12, article 4, as saying that any team found guilty of having or playing an all-star team, will have their charter revoked. "Personally, I never have liked the all-star or select team concept," explained Taft. "It throws a well balanced club team to pieces and seems to produce only a winning feeling in the coaches." "If a program advertises as a clinic," Taft said, I think that is all they should do, perform that clinic." "The Joe Namath camp not only has their clinic, but plays their teams in pads against other clinics and that is wrong." Taft was asked if any organization offered their services at a clinic, but actually planned to play the best of their clinic or intramural league in a bowl or tournament game, what would the Pop Warner League do? "Its simple," explained Taft. "We would tell them goodby."

He hopes invention will help baseball

By CARY TENNIS Correspondent He calls it "Piccini's answer to Taiwan," having watched U.S. ball players annual humiliated by Taiwan teams. Hung from a tree or top of a bat-cage, Silvio Piccini's "power Batter" works like a sandbag for a boxer, only it's for batters. Hitting the heavy rubber and nylon mesh cylinder which hangs in the strike zone is like trying to knock a Mack truck over the center field fence. That's the idea. Silvio came to America from Florence, Italy in 1934 at the age of six. He grew up in Chicago and graduated from Notre Dame in 1955 after taking nearly double the normal course load for two years, and while working full time at the post office. About 14 years ago he joined his brother in Miami in the construction business. He planted some trees back then in his front yard at 13620 SW 74th Ct., and now they are tall and shade the well-kept green lawn. As his three boys, Silvio Jr., 13, Joseph, 11, and Tommy, eight, began playing baseball, he tried to find a way to help them bat with more power. He hung an old tire from a tree and had them swat it. That wasn't so good. It filled with water when it rained, and it swung and twisted when it was hit. The bat would slice up or down on the tire's edge. So, in the Florentine tradition which gave us Leonardo's battering ram and catapult, Silvio went back to the drawing board. He came up with the cylinder. You can hit it any way you want, and it's still like hitting a Mack truck. Silvio let the U.M. baseball team try one out. Red Berry, who runs a baseball camp at the Perrine Khoury League complex off Old Cutler, is also using one now. Silvio doesn't make outrageous claims for the Power Batter. There is a patent pending on it. He is surprised that no one thought of it before him. Berry says, "I was going to knock the thing off the tree, and, WOW!" He didn't know he was hitting a truck when he went after it. A former assistant baseball coach at U.M., Berry says it is still too early to know exactly how good the Power Batter is. He will say, however, "it is definitely a positive thing. Anything that helps the batter develop his muscles like this is a good thing. Hitting is the single most difficult skill of any sport in the world." Silvio has also placed Power Batters with the Texas Rangers and the Baltimore Orioles for trial. He has produced about 10 or 12 of them so far. He doesn't have to speak for the device himself, because he gets letters from such people as Ron Fraser, U.M. baseball coach, Tom Sheehy, Atom I vice president, Joel Pollack, Howard-Palmetto Khoury League Commissioner, and numerous See HE next page

He had hand in K-land soccer

Soccer official Rene Imar ... not in it for the money What is it like to be a professional referee is in a sport where there is continous action and you must keep running for 45 minutes at a time? Rene Imar knows. He is a senior linesman and sometimes referee in the North American Soccer League. "I really enjoy it," Imar said. "But if it was just for the money, I guess there wouldn't be many officials." The slim, good looking Frenchman has been doing pro games for a couple of years in the United States and sees a great difference between soccer here and soccer in Europe. "I think the type of play in America is about the same you see in South America," Imar said. "You just have different styles of coaching and playing that makes the game that much more American." Imar played pro soccer in France and moved to the United States in 1959. In 1968, Imar was one of the founding fathers of the power house K-land soccer program. Now, he is the state referee in youth soccer and is responsible for the training and guidance of all referees that work state games. But as a pro official, Imar is put in a different classification. "I have to get prepared way in advance before I get into a game," said Imar. "There is a lot of pressure put on the players, but just as much if not more is put on the officials as they control the game." True dedication and sportsmanship is shown by each official in the sport and Rene Imar is prime example of that fine quality. JOHN WALTERS

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