We came to Kansas City for a big soccer tournament. Then the kids got locked out | Opinion
Games off
Your leaders in Johnson County need to know that hundreds of visitors left your nice, vibrant community Sunday with a sour taste in their mouths.
Why? Because visiting boys and girls were not allowed to play soccer games as scheduled. They had traveled from Minnesota, Nebraska, Illinois and elsewhere, and they had provided you with hundreds of hotel nights and thousands of dollars in meals and retail expenditures. I’m a retired grandpa who is selective about when to make these trips.
True, a bad storm went through the area Saturday afternoon. But by 4 p.m., with the storm gone and partial sunshine appearing, teams were not allowed to play on the synthetic turf fields at the Garmin Olathe Soccer Complex. Dozens of games were canceled with boys and girls literally standing outside of locked gates, ready to play.
No doubt the people running the tournament will have flimsy excuses and other blah, blah, blah about why some afternoon games were canceled. The visiting teams understand safety. They also understood that adjustments in game times might be necessary.
But to call off the games? That was ridiculous — perhaps the easy decision, but certainly not the correct one.
What a disappointment.
- Ed Wojcicki, Springfield, Illinois
Other victims
Even though there were multiple shootings in east Kansas City this past weekend, Mayor Quinton Lucas and Police Chief Stacey Graves showed up to have a press conference only concerning the shooting of Ralph Yarl north of the river.
I guess this means young lives in east Kansas City don’t matter, even if they are younger than 5 years old. (April 14, KansasCity.com, “One man dead, child among four injured in Kansas City shooting Friday night: Police”)
What kind of message does this send to residents of that part of the city and to our whole country about Kansas City priorities?
- Becky Henderson, Kansas City
Personal choices
Regarding the recent commentary/discussions/controversy about abortion in one manner or another: First, I don’t believe anyone has the right to tell me what to do with my body, within my own skin. Second, everyone is pro-life. Not everyone is pro-choice.
But there alternatives to abortion (besides having an unwanted child) that we don’t often hear discussed. Birth control. Tubal ligation, vasectomies, diaphragms, IUDs, condoms, the pill and probably the most effective: “No.”
And it seems to me that most of the loudest opposition to the right to abortion comes from men — who, by the way, cannot get pregnant.
- T.J. Snyder, Mission Hills
Library funding
Born and raised in St. Louis, I raised my son in Kansas City. A proud Missouri expat who remains licensed to practice law in the Show-Me State, I have many fond memories of hours spent poring over books in Missouri libraries, starting with the bookmobiles of my Jennings childhood and continuing through the serenity of the well-equipped and beautiful Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library.
Thus did I experience deep dismay when reading that the Missouri House voted to defund public libraries. (April 17, KansasCity.com, “New rule threatening Missouri library funding over ‘obscene’ kids books is approved”) I send fervent hopes that this insidious legislation dies on the vine or receives a resounding veto by the governor.
Through books we learn, explore, travel and expand our understanding of the world and each other. Please, Missourians, do not let this happen to people of your great state.
- Corinne Corley, Isleton, California
Our priorities?
Poor and homeless children sleep on the streets of America, where the No. 1 cause of child deaths is guns, and conservatives are worried about the color of a beer can. What is really important?
- Thomas Krause, Kansas City
Editor’s note: Prominent conservatives have called for a boycott of Bud Light after the company sent a small number of customized cans of its product to transgender online celebrity Dylan Mulvaney.
