One mother’s mission to have a word commonly used in sports permanently benched has the community in Bradford gearing up for change.
“Just because a word has been around for centuries doesn’t mean it’s right,” says Sophia Tabone.
Tabone and her husband decided to go to bat for their seven-year-old son, Christian, who was born with Dwarfism. The duo decided to convince the Bradford Minor Baseball Association to remove the term ‘midget’ from the league’s ranks.
“It’s just a word, but it’s a word that just shouldn’t be,” Tabone says.
The Tabone's took the time to educate the board members on the meaning of the derogatory term, and by the time the vote came around in December, the league's vice president Shawna Miller says it was a no-brainer.
“The game stays the same. The kids playing it stay the same. They’re in the same division, we’re just calling it something new,” says Miller.
For the first time, players will hit the diamond this spring without the ‘midget’ age category. Instead, the division titles will switch to the U-age system.
Sophia says having the community behind them is something she will never forget. “I can’t even put into words, as a mom, the feeling you get when the community is behind you and your family,” she says. “To us, every time he goes up to bat, I’m going to think about that. I’m going to think about the time this change happened.”
There are other leagues now mulling over the possibility of making the change as well. The Innisfil Minor Baseball Association president says he’s all for eliminating the word ‘midget’ from his league and says it will be up for discussion at the league’s meeting later this month.
“I don’t’ want to use it. I don’t want to hear it,” says Tabone. “It’s easy to criticize, but when it’s your own flesh and blood, and child, you want to make a change if you can. So why not?”
Tabone also says she wishes people could start to see beyond her son’s differences.
“I want people to look past that and see Christian. I want people to see a child. He’s just a child. He’s smart and funny, and just as annoying as any seven-year-old child,” she laughs.
