Baseball · Issue No. 24
The Takeaway: Require Two Signatures for Any Withdrawal Above a Modest Threshold
Week of September 14, 2026
THE TAKEAWAY: A single volunteer with sole access to a league's bank card is the easiest, least accountable path to theft — and it's a simple fix to close.
A Georgia Little League program discovered in early 2026 that its bank card had been used for thousands of dollars in unauthorized purchases — the start of an investigation that led police to arrest the organization's own former treasurer.
Columbia, South Carolina police charged 35-year-old Craig Norris in connection with the theft after Pioneer Little League reported the unauthorized card activity to the Property Crimes Unit. Investigators say Norris used the league's own bank card for personal purchases over an extended period, eventually totaling close to $79,000 — money that had been raised through registration fees, fundraisers, and donations from families whose kids play in the league.
Cases like this one follow a pattern that shows up again and again in youth sports fraud: a single volunteer given full access to an organization's bank accounts and debit cards, with no second signature required and no regular outside review of where the money is actually going. It's not that leagues are careless on purpose — most are run entirely by parent volunteers with full-time jobs elsewhere, and financial oversight is rarely anyone's specific expertise or responsibility.
The fix isn't complicated, even if it takes a little more coordination than most volunteer boards are used to: require two signatures or approvals for any withdrawal above a modest threshold, rotate who holds treasurer duties every year or two, and have someone outside the immediate finance team glance at bank statements on a regular schedule. None of that guarantees a league is safe from someone determined to steal — but it closes the easiest, least accountable path to doing it undetected for years, which is exactly the path that keeps showing up in these cases.
This piece ran in PPA Pro Issue No. 24, alongside a camp spotlight and trainer pick for every sport. Subscribe free.