08/28/2021
Our league for ALL kids from Northern Palm Beach County had a great 1st season in 2021. Then Stephen Poh, newly appointed Recreation Director for the Village of North Palm Beach, tried to take over our privately funded, all-volunteer nonprofit organization and league. Marketing, funds, equipment, management, everything... so it would only benefit families from his village. We have his emails bluntly demanding just that. We were only using Village fields (and maintaining them ourselves) and we are run by volunteers with decades of experience building youth programs and managing large organizations, while Mr. Poh had no real sports experience and his only management experience was running the Village library. Astonishingly, he told us he could run our league and nonprofit better and would "allow" us to continue coaching. We offered to rent the fields but Stephen Poh wanted full control. We refused and told him it was illegal government overreach. We emailed the entire Village Council, but no one ever responded (and this was just months after they had commended us at a Council meeting). So, we had no choice but to shut down the league. Poh said he would start and run a new league, but of course he did not. The kids from the Village of North Palm Beach, and all over the North County area, lost an opportunity. Disgraceful. Now we are focused on providing opportunities to older deserving student-athletes where petty bureaucrats can't interfere to expand their own tiny little spheres of influence.
