BRANDON, Fla. (WFLA) —A family spent money on a Brandon youth softball league that folded before the season even began. Now they want answers.
Melaine Rivera Rodriguez said she’s out $250 dollars, money she spent to give her girls a chance to play softball. But after the league shut down without ever taking the field, she turned to 8 On Your Side.
Jayanna, 8, and Jazlynne, 10, are running the bases, but only for fun! They had hopes of playing softball this season for the very first time!
“I thought it was really fun,” said Jazlynne Hill Rivera, future softball player. “I thought it was a sport for me.”
Their mom, Rodriguez found Brandon Velocity Softball on Facebook, so she reached out to get her daughters on the team.
“I reached out to him,” Rodriguez recalled. “Yeah, we’re about to start.”
Rodriguez said she paid $250 to the league for both of her girls. That was back in September.
“I never heard anything back from them besides oh we’re still working it out we’re looking for some coaches we don’t have enough players and the excuses started coming from there every time I messaged him,” said Rodriguez.
As the months passed, Rodriguez went to Sadie Park in Brandon, where the team was scheduled to play.
“They told me they hadn’t practiced with Brandon Velocity in over a year,” she said.
So, Rodriguez reached out to league president Bill Nofsinger, hoping to get her money back.
“He offered East Bay Little League, he’s like if ‘I can get you in with East Bay and transfer over your payment, I would love to do that so your daughters don’t miss out on a league’ and I said ‘Yes that would be awesome — who do I need to speak to transfer that over?’” Rodriguez recalled.
But Rodriguez said that never happened, and when Nofsinger stopped returning her calls, she called 8 On Your Side.
Investigator Brittany Muller caught up with Nofsinger on the phone. He told Brittany he was too busy for an on-camera interview. He also said he first took over as president of Brandon Velocity in 2019. Nofsinger told Brittany that a shortage of sponsors and volunteers, including coaches, made it impossible for the league to take the field last year.
Nofsinger said the Rodriguez family is one of a handful that still need refunds and he said he’s working on taking care of that.
As for Jayanna and Jazlynne, the only thing they know is playing softball is a dream out of reach for this season.
“We are playing bowling, but I like bowling but it’s not the sport for me,” said Jazlynne.
“You try to hard to give them the life that you never did in playing sports And then stuff like this happens,” said Rodriguez.
If you’re a parent interested in enrolling your child in a youth league, do your homework, take in a league game, ask parents what they think of the league, and most importantly, make sure the kids are having fun.
As for the Rodriguez family, we’ll stay on top of this story and let you know what happens.
Hillsborough County’s Parks and Rec confirmed Nofsinger was the main contact for Brandon Velocity and that this league has an agreement to use county fields. 8 On Your Side has requested information to find out if Parks and Rec has had any formal complaints against this league or the league’s president. We are also working to get a copy of the team’s agreement with the county.