Why do childrens sports need an ORIGINAL raised seal birth certificate?

[It's A Happy Day]

My son has signed up for Little League Baseball & is requesting an original birth certificate with raised seal. Why will they not accept a copy of the original birth certificate. I have no problem bringing in his original and showing it to them and leaving a copy but don't want to give them an original document. I know when I played team sports (way back in the stone ages ) a copy was sufficient. But now you have to provide a original (at a fee at the town hall of course), a utility or mortgage statement proving residency, and signing more papers that a mortgage agreement to sign up a 7 year old for baseball I guess I am a little leery of the Baseball league, Soccer league, Football league and God knows what other sports he may want to play having an ORIGINAL document that can be used at any point as proof of identity. I am not saying it will happen but with all the identity fraud, children getting CC stuff in the mail, etc., I guess I'm being a little over protective

Any thoughts?

 

[allison443]

I guess people have lied about their kids' ages and/or used altered/fake birth certificates in the past?

 

[Beth76]

Not to worry, what you are talking about is indeed a COPY. A certified copy. This is the same thing you use to get a passport, get a drivers license etc. You should have one anyway.

 

[Thats_for_Shore]

I dunno, IAHD. When I signed DS up for pop warner on Saturday, they said they needed a copy of BC.

But there was also something on the letter we got that cheerleaders needed the REAL BC.

I wonder why that is? It's the same organization doing both football and cheerleading. Why would one need a copy and the other need an original?

 

[aprilgail2]

way back in the "old days " when I played ball we had to submit a copy of the birth certificate with the raised seal . I remember my dad went and got about 20 of them made at one time from the town hall (thats where we get ours) and this way we had them for years.

 

[It's A Happy Day]

Not to worry, what you are talking about is indeed a COPY. A certified copy. This is the same thing you use to get a passport, get a drivers license etc. You should have one anyway.

I do have one but my point is why do they need to keep that one on file? It is the same thing you would use to get a passport, drivers lisc. etc and that is my point. What prevents someone else from using THAT original they will now have on file to fraudelently claim so & so is my son and obtain a passport or other legal document? We have all read at one point or another coaches who are pedophiles, administraters that have stolen funds, etc. This is just another piece of paper that does not NEED to be floating around. A copy yes - they can check my raised seal one and copy it if they want - but to retain it for their records

 

[Sandy V.]

I guess people have lied about their kids' ages and/or used altered/fake birth certificates in the past?

Yep. Some parents take their kids' sports "careers" way too seriously and the organizations have had to require official identification.

 

[mamacatnv]

I went rounds with DD's softball league over this issue last year.
There is no true reason they need to KEEP a copy. You should have to prove your childs age ONCE and then the leagues Player Agent should track it from there. There is no reason they should require a certified copy for their records ( most counties charge up to $20 for a Cert. Copy and can take weeks to provide)

I was involved with Cal Ripken Baseball Leagues for years, once proof was provided our league tracked it until the kids became tournament age levels at which time the Cal Ripken organization would provide player cards for about $1 ea.

My issue with the softball league last year was that they could not guarantee any level of security for my DD's certificate and I was told that I could not get it back at the end of the season (horse hockey!) I contacted the President of the League and he agreed to give it back to me at the end of the season. Well, guess what, they misplaced it for over a month. It was supposedly in a binder in a secure location but since most of these organizations are made up of volunteers it was actually in someones home office by the time it was tracked down. Of course that was after it was on the snack bar counter, under a bleacher and in someones trunk for transport to said home office.

Just because leagues have always asked does not make it right, despite what they try to tell you. These are volunteer organizations and sometimes they have a hard time thinking independently. The leagues need to evaluate their policies for establishing age and implementing procedures that will not jeopardize the possibility of a young childs vital statistics being accessible to the general public or worse, someone with unethical intentions.

You show them your certified copy, they note that it has been verified and you take your certified copy back to your home safe. End of story IMO

 

[jgmklmhem]

What I find funny is that even my original birth certificate doesn't have a raised seal. It has a multicolored stamp. These leagues are really getting a little out of hand. Even the school system here only needed a photocopy to keep on file, but did want to see the original when that copy was brought in just to cross check them. The sports leagues (city rec) have never asked for my daughters birth certificate.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

well if it is Little League as in THE Little League, unfortunately that program is packed with parents who will beg, steal, and cheat in any manner they can think of in order to get their Super Stars on ESPN at the end of season All Star Tournaments.

There have been numerous cases of faked birth certificates, kids lying about their addresses, kids actually using their little brothers birth certificates - so they keep trying and trying to find new ways to get adults to quit defrauding 12yo baseball.

What? You thought the program was actually about the town league?

The one season my son was in a "Little League" they had to keep it on file in case a complaint was made so a Regional Official could come in and inspect the records. No, I'm not kidding.

 

[Luv'sTink]

Our Little League does NOT keep a copy of my sons BC. This must be a local/regional rule. He has played for 5 years and I dont think we even had to provide a BC this year because we have in the past. I know DH took it and proof of residency but I dont think he had to show the BC. OH, BTW we play in the western region.

Some people dont understand it IS about the kids and will do anything they can to make it about the adults (parents), coaches and managers.

 

[frndofpooh]

Here you just have to show the BC, not hand it over. It does have to be original, though. I'd be leary of giving that document to them to keep too.