Stefanonis Lay Into Little League Over Son's Alleged Demotion

Depending on who you ask, it was either a deliberate affront or a routine placement that landed the 9-year-old son of Chris and Margaret Stefanoni in the intermediate—rather than the highest—division of Darien Little League's Fall Ball program.

At least one thing is clear: the Stefanonis, best known for their recurring battles with the Town of Darien over affordable housing, aren't backing away from their dispute with league officials over the alleged snub, even as the season draws to a close and their son has taken his game to Stamford.

"A Heartbreaker"

The conflict dates back to late August, as members of DLL's board were sorting through registrations for Fall Ball, a seven-week, comparatively informal version of the league's spring and summer operations. 

According to a DLL official who spoke on condition of anonymity, organizers typically get a sense of how big the program will be each year using numbers from the preceding few falls. 

Based on a formula that has changed several times since Fall Ball came to Darien seven years ago, registrants are split up into age-appropriate divisions. Currently that system includes three levels of play: Derek Jeter for the youngest players, Goose Gossage for the next age group up, and Yogi Berra for the oldest.

But the enrollment breakdown can sometimes be difficult to predict, the official explained, as the league sees "a huge influx" of registration right before school starts.

"Until you close registration and get every kid registered, you really don't know," he said.

That, according to the official, was what led to the decision that the Stefanonis regard as an intentional slight. 

In late August, a roster was sent out indicating that their son would be placed on the Sea Dogs team in the Yogi Berra Division—something that seemed like a natural fit to his parents. Despite being just 9 years old this past spring, he had been allowed to "play up" with older teammates in the Minor League Division owing to his demonstrated skill.

But soon after, the Stefanonis were told that their son's final placement would be the Gossage division, a change which Margaret Stefanoni described as "a heartbreaker" in an email to one board member. The new arrangement would unfairly separate him from many of the teammates he'd played with in the spring and summer, the couple reasoned, instead putting him together with other fourth graders and younger players.

"He tried out for the higher leagues the last two years, was selected for the higher leagues, and stays in those leagues. My kid was demoted for no valid reason," Margaret Stefanoni said in a statement.

"An Unfortunate Circumstance"

The league contends that the Stefanonis are misrepresenting the situation and falsely imputing malicious intent to current and former board members.

Conceding that it had been a "faux pas" to forward the roster out before it was finalized, the league official said that the two lead organizers—board members Dave Williams and Santo Golino—realized late in the process that league enrollment had jumped significantly to 352, up from 309 last year.

The increase meant that the Berra division might end up with squads of 15 players, an unusually high total that could prevent team members from having regular at-bats. To relieve that pressure—and because Fall Ball does not include its own tryouts—the decision was made to place all fourth graders from the league in the Gossage division, the official said.

"We didn't need to have any fourth graders in the Berra division, so it just made no sense to pick out a couple of fourth graders," he added. "It made no sense to overwhelm the rosters."

The Stefanonis argue that this move was directly targeted at their son, who they note was the only player at his age and level of experience asked to play in the Gossage division. Pointing to a clause in the DLL's Rules which states that leagues should correspond to "ages and levels of skill," they say that the grade-based system in use is arbitrary and unfair.

"My son's demotion this Fall and the insistence that he be the only boy to be forced to play down a league is too unprecedented and unique to be anything but personal," Margaret Stefanoni wrote.

"It's an unfortunate circumstance of him being a fourth grader," the official said, but "it's no different than the Little League's arbitrary [birthday] cutoff date of May 1."

"A player doesn't have a right to play with a specific group of kids," he added. "We don't have a minors division in Fall Ball. We don't use the spring divisions to make up the optional programs."

The official referred to two other players in the Jeter Division who "could make the same case to play in the Gossage division if one only used the spring placement as the sole determinant."

But Margaret Stefanoni argued that this was not a comparable case, stating that the children's parents had specifically asked that they be placed with their peers in the lower division.

"Repercussions" or "Nonsense"?

In arguing that the league was acting with their son specifically in mind, the Stefanonis point to several factors, all of which the league calls false or irrelevant.

Citing an email from former board member Todd Boe, the Stefanonis allege that opposition to their proposed Hoyt Street Senior Residences from Mark Gregory—a neighbor of the property and another former board member—may have driven the league's decision.

In the message, Boe voiced his displeasure with accusations against the DLL made by Chris Stefanoni in an ABC Channel 7 interview. He also referenced the potential adverse impact of the couple's affordable housing proposals on friends and residents of Gregorian Lane, which passes close to the proposed Hoyt Street complex.

Gregory, who lives on Gregorian Lane, sent a letter to the town in July criticizing the Stefanonis' use of open space at the Hoyt Street site.

But the league official called the claim "nonsense" and "just not true."

"Mark Gregory was a former board member," he said. "[But] nobody has spoken to Mark Gregory regarding the Stefanonis, period."

The Stefanonis also point to the DLL board of directors, which—until recently—had as many as 20 of its 22 members serving as coaches or managers. According to the couple, that violated a clause in the official Little League regulations requiring that "manager/coach representation on the Board shall not exceed a minority."

The Stefanonis cited a phone conversation with Jamie Joy, a member of the national Little League's Charter Committee, who reportedly told them that "any deviation from this regulation is a problem and has to be addressed soon."

According to Margaret Stefanoni, DLL board members "keep track of favors they owe each other, and repercussions they owe others."

"I think it's irrelevant ... [but] we've never gotten a complaint from Little League national regarding board composition," the league official said. He questioned whether the representation rule applied only to coaches and managers from the program's major league level, noting that the board was awaiting word from headquarters on the issue.

"Presently, today, we're in compliance, because there are only four guys who are coaches," he said.

A newly-elected board recently came into office for the 2011 season and "continues to work with Little League representatives to ensure that its composition meets with Little League approval," the official added.

Ball Game

Though the Stefanonis received a waiver from the DLL to enroll their son in Stamford Fall Ball—where he now plays—they have kept up their criticisms of the system they say unduly punished their son.

"I never asked for preferential treatment," Margaret Stefanoni wrote. "All I asked for was consistency and that my son continue to play in the same league he had played in during the spring and summer just like every other boy would."

The league official added that there was "no animus whatsoever" from DLL toward the Stefanonis, noting that only a couple of weekends of play were left in the program's seven-week season.