It's a pretty commonly held view in society that youth sports is good for young girls. It gives them physical activity. It builds their self-esteem. It improves social skills.
I think, honestly, if a person mentioned removing girls from sports against their will, they'd be branded as some sort of misogynist, bent on denying young ladies the developmental benefits that participation in sports can provide.
Yet, there are plenty of people who think that sports for young boys is just one of many interests they can pursue.
Not buying it? Let's try this one on for size.
If you asked most folks whether it was more beneficial for young boys to play football, or to learn how to play piano, I think a lot of folks would say that both activities are probably equally valuable.
In fact, if a person said, "I took my son out of Lacrosse and made him enroll in piano lessons", a lot of folks would find wisdom in that course of action.
However, if you suggested that young girls shouldn't play sports, and should play piano, instead, you'd be accused of gender stereotyping and, again, of denying girls the benefits that are unique to participation in sports.
The main point here is that I think folks have it just about right when it comes to girls and sports. It's not just enough to provide ACCESS to sports for girls, but that it's probably right to encourage them to participate, to a degree. I'm not talking about forcing a girl to play a sport she doesn't want to play, but just making sure the girls are encouraged to do it if it seems fun.
We live in a nation where obesity is at epidemic proportions. That's somewhat good news because it means a lot of heart attacks and early mortality which should save us some social security money. It's bad news from and individual standpoint because it compromises quality of life.
Obesity isn't just an acceptance issue. It has actual health consequences. So, physical activity is something we should be encouraging of all our young people.
When it comes to boys, I'll even offer that sports is probably MORE important than it is for girls. Why? Because the academic environment is heavily weighted towards girls. They can get a lot of self esteem during the very long school day.
Boys, who are naturally more energetic and less likely to enjoy sitting still for extended periods of time, are already being browbeaten into acknowledging that our academic institutions regard them as little more than defective girls.
In sports, that's where boys behavior can be channelled. Their naturally more agressive and competitive natures are perfectly at home. Their desire to constantly be in motion can be channelled into something more productive.
Almost for this very reason, I think many folks see sports as a throw-away activity for boys. Because, basically, they sort of display all those traits, anyway. Time and time again, I've heard parents express the idea that sports just isn't that important... but always when referring to their sons... never their daughters.
Without sports, there really aren't that many convenient activities where young men can build their self-esteem. There aren't that many places where they can work hard towards manageable goals and feel proud of themselves.
Which is why I say that it's not enough to merely make sports available to boys. Just like with girls, I think it's right to actually ENCOURAGE them to participate.
The alternative, I fear, is another generation of kids who spend their adolescence on a couch, playing video games.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
"Jedi Mind Tricks" or "Quest for Excalibur"
I'm a firm believer that a mental edge helps in life and in sports. This fact was made abundantly clear in a golf game I was playing two years ago.
I'm not a very good golfer but had spent a lot of time improving my game. I registered for a tee time and got a doctor and his son in my group and we headed off as a threesome. I had golfed a lot that season, but always by myself during low-usage times on the course because I was self-conscious about my game. This was the first time I could compare myself to other actual living golfers who were golfing next to me.
The work was paying off and I was slaying these guys. It wasn't exactly the Masters, but I was getting pars and bogeys on pretty much every hole and either tying or beating these guys on every hole.
We weren't competing, per se. I just wanted to know if I was good enough to go out on a course with decent golfers without embarassing myself.
After 11 holes, we all teed up. I out-drove both of them by 15 yards. On his second shot, the son swings, hits the ball, it bounces once and goes right in the cup.
Something about that freaked me out and I didn't win another hole the entire day. I think they both actually beat me on my final score, too!
What a turnaround!!! I'm a grown man and I let something like that get in my head and my golf game went entirely out the window.
Baseball is largely mental, too. So, I have to be careful what I say to my son. For instance, right now, he's obsessed with playing catcher. Why? Because I said that pitching and catching is your best shot at the major leagues.
I am not trying to pump him up that he'll play in the major leagues. Personally, I think that's right there wth thinking you'll be elected president or knock George Clooney out as Hollywood's leading pretty boy. I also would actually rather he didn't play catcher, for a lot of reasons too diffuse and involved to go into here.
However, one off-the-cuff comment and he was hooked.
Later, when he was playing a lot of outfield, I debated whether to tell him that most of the great hitters throughout time were outfielders. Why? Because he also plays a lot of infield and I didn't want him to be disappointed when the coach put him in the infield for a few innings.
Little comments here and there have a tremendous impact on him.
I bought him a new bat the other day. It wasn't exactly the bat I wanted. It was two ounces heavier than I would have liked. However, it was balanced differently, which meant that there was some small chance that he could have handled it well. It was a big barrel composite bat and those are different enough that they should make a noticeable difference.
However, it still has to be the right bat. It's more about the swing than the bat and the world's greatest bat is no good if it hurts your swing because it's too heavy.
I don't want to monkey all that much with his hitting because he's hitting .625 and is up there with the team leaders in both average and slugging percentage. I just felt that it was time to upgrade him to a big barrel bat. The one he's been using so far is quite possibly the lowest-end bat on the market. I have nicer bats for him and I thought he'd outgrow this bat by now. Instead, he's hitting very well with it, is comfortable with it.
The comfort is probably the biggest thing. Hitting a baseball is very mental, especially against some of the better pitchers.
He hit the new bat pretty well in the basement off the pitching machine, but that's not exactly game conditions. I took him to a local park and he seemed to be hitting pretty well, but I pitch a lot slower than the pitchers in his league.
No, I'm not kidding. 9 year old pitchers throw harder than I do.
I wanted to see how he hit with the bat in practice and he hit his coaches batting practice pretty well with it, but I could have sworn he was slowing down his swing.
At the end of practice, he faced one of his team-mates with it and struck out. The strikeout doesn't bother me. But he looked like he was swinging in slow motion.
The bat is just too heavy for this year. It goes into the pile for next year or later.
Now, how do I handle this?
I'm a firm believer in hypnosis and suggestion. You can put an idea in a kid's head that will stay there for years, accidentally "hypnotizing" them. Sometimes you can do it positively.
For instance, I have always tried to catch Logan being good and comment on it. "That was very nice for you to share with Bobby", etc. The idea being that if I plant enough good ideas in his head, he'll grow up believing he's a good person who does good things.
If the only time he ever heard from me is when he's being bad, he'd form the opposite opinion: that he's a screw up who can't get things right.
You have to be careful here because as an adult you have so much power over a child, you can shade into manipulation. Some manipulation is good when, for instance, you're manipulating your child to brush their teeth and do their homework.
On the other hand, these are still human beings and although he's my son, I want him to live a life that's his, not one that's just a reflection of my wants and desires. So, for me to try and influence him, I have to know in my heart of hearts that it is truly, 100% for his benefit.
The other thing is, I will never try to influence my son with anything that isn't 100% the truth. Deception may get results, but it's ultimately dishonest.
So, what to say about the bat. The wrong comment could crush his confidence. Kids equate strength and size with ability. So, saying he was too weak to swing the bat could have been disastrous.
What I told him was this: the bat is too heavy for right now, but that's good. The team he's facing today is a tough team that the Mavs can beat. But, they're going to have fast pitchers. This means that a quick bat is very important today.
Because Logan has been swinging this heavy bat the past two days, I told him that when he goes back to his old bat (the one he hits .625 with so far) that it'll be extra quick against this team.
I told him that getting used to a heavy bat makes lighter bats faster. Sort of like warming up with a "donut" on your bat.
The goal?
1. To keep him from feeling bad about using the old bat. Didn't want to make him feel like he failed to swing the new bat.
2. To make him believe that using the old bat wasn't just a test he didn't pass (that he wasn't capable enough with the old bat), but was, instead, a training process that would give him an extra advantage today. This, by the way, is all probably 100% true. Just that it wasn't quite that premeditated.
3. To get him to where he feels good about returning to his old bat.
I think it worked. Logan was so impressed by the logic that he asked if he could do all his pre-game warmup with the new bat to keep up the "heavy bat" effect. I told him he needed to use his old bat today to re-establish his timing. He'll have an imperceptibly quicker swing, but he needs to return to some familiarity.
So, what's the point of the whole Jedi mind trick if the swing is only imperceptibly quicker? Twofold.
The first is that he needs to return to a lighter bat today. The heavier one won't work and I can't find an appropriate one in the right weight in time for the game. That's reality. It's a limitation and we'll have to work with it, but I want him to feel good about it.
The second is that he will actually face some faster pitchers today, I believe. If he THINKS he's a little quicker with the bat, he's that much less likely to feel intimidated.
One of the biggest advantages a pitcher can have over a batter is if he can make the batter feel intimidated.
The bottom line: they don't have any of the specific bat I want for Logan anywhere locally and the major outlets are on 6 week backorder. I found one the other day and ordered it, but it won't be here in time for the game tonight and probably not in time for the tournament this weekend.
Let's hope the suggestion works and he believes he's got the quickest bat on the planet, and it shows in his at-bats tonight. We face a tough team and need all the hits we can get.
I'm not a very good golfer but had spent a lot of time improving my game. I registered for a tee time and got a doctor and his son in my group and we headed off as a threesome. I had golfed a lot that season, but always by myself during low-usage times on the course because I was self-conscious about my game. This was the first time I could compare myself to other actual living golfers who were golfing next to me.
The work was paying off and I was slaying these guys. It wasn't exactly the Masters, but I was getting pars and bogeys on pretty much every hole and either tying or beating these guys on every hole.
We weren't competing, per se. I just wanted to know if I was good enough to go out on a course with decent golfers without embarassing myself.
After 11 holes, we all teed up. I out-drove both of them by 15 yards. On his second shot, the son swings, hits the ball, it bounces once and goes right in the cup.
Something about that freaked me out and I didn't win another hole the entire day. I think they both actually beat me on my final score, too!
What a turnaround!!! I'm a grown man and I let something like that get in my head and my golf game went entirely out the window.
Baseball is largely mental, too. So, I have to be careful what I say to my son. For instance, right now, he's obsessed with playing catcher. Why? Because I said that pitching and catching is your best shot at the major leagues.
I am not trying to pump him up that he'll play in the major leagues. Personally, I think that's right there wth thinking you'll be elected president or knock George Clooney out as Hollywood's leading pretty boy. I also would actually rather he didn't play catcher, for a lot of reasons too diffuse and involved to go into here.
However, one off-the-cuff comment and he was hooked.
Later, when he was playing a lot of outfield, I debated whether to tell him that most of the great hitters throughout time were outfielders. Why? Because he also plays a lot of infield and I didn't want him to be disappointed when the coach put him in the infield for a few innings.
Little comments here and there have a tremendous impact on him.
I bought him a new bat the other day. It wasn't exactly the bat I wanted. It was two ounces heavier than I would have liked. However, it was balanced differently, which meant that there was some small chance that he could have handled it well. It was a big barrel composite bat and those are different enough that they should make a noticeable difference.
However, it still has to be the right bat. It's more about the swing than the bat and the world's greatest bat is no good if it hurts your swing because it's too heavy.
I don't want to monkey all that much with his hitting because he's hitting .625 and is up there with the team leaders in both average and slugging percentage. I just felt that it was time to upgrade him to a big barrel bat. The one he's been using so far is quite possibly the lowest-end bat on the market. I have nicer bats for him and I thought he'd outgrow this bat by now. Instead, he's hitting very well with it, is comfortable with it.
The comfort is probably the biggest thing. Hitting a baseball is very mental, especially against some of the better pitchers.
He hit the new bat pretty well in the basement off the pitching machine, but that's not exactly game conditions. I took him to a local park and he seemed to be hitting pretty well, but I pitch a lot slower than the pitchers in his league.
No, I'm not kidding. 9 year old pitchers throw harder than I do.
I wanted to see how he hit with the bat in practice and he hit his coaches batting practice pretty well with it, but I could have sworn he was slowing down his swing.
At the end of practice, he faced one of his team-mates with it and struck out. The strikeout doesn't bother me. But he looked like he was swinging in slow motion.
The bat is just too heavy for this year. It goes into the pile for next year or later.
Now, how do I handle this?
I'm a firm believer in hypnosis and suggestion. You can put an idea in a kid's head that will stay there for years, accidentally "hypnotizing" them. Sometimes you can do it positively.
For instance, I have always tried to catch Logan being good and comment on it. "That was very nice for you to share with Bobby", etc. The idea being that if I plant enough good ideas in his head, he'll grow up believing he's a good person who does good things.
If the only time he ever heard from me is when he's being bad, he'd form the opposite opinion: that he's a screw up who can't get things right.
You have to be careful here because as an adult you have so much power over a child, you can shade into manipulation. Some manipulation is good when, for instance, you're manipulating your child to brush their teeth and do their homework.
On the other hand, these are still human beings and although he's my son, I want him to live a life that's his, not one that's just a reflection of my wants and desires. So, for me to try and influence him, I have to know in my heart of hearts that it is truly, 100% for his benefit.
The other thing is, I will never try to influence my son with anything that isn't 100% the truth. Deception may get results, but it's ultimately dishonest.
So, what to say about the bat. The wrong comment could crush his confidence. Kids equate strength and size with ability. So, saying he was too weak to swing the bat could have been disastrous.
What I told him was this: the bat is too heavy for right now, but that's good. The team he's facing today is a tough team that the Mavs can beat. But, they're going to have fast pitchers. This means that a quick bat is very important today.
Because Logan has been swinging this heavy bat the past two days, I told him that when he goes back to his old bat (the one he hits .625 with so far) that it'll be extra quick against this team.
I told him that getting used to a heavy bat makes lighter bats faster. Sort of like warming up with a "donut" on your bat.
The goal?
1. To keep him from feeling bad about using the old bat. Didn't want to make him feel like he failed to swing the new bat.
2. To make him believe that using the old bat wasn't just a test he didn't pass (that he wasn't capable enough with the old bat), but was, instead, a training process that would give him an extra advantage today. This, by the way, is all probably 100% true. Just that it wasn't quite that premeditated.
3. To get him to where he feels good about returning to his old bat.
I think it worked. Logan was so impressed by the logic that he asked if he could do all his pre-game warmup with the new bat to keep up the "heavy bat" effect. I told him he needed to use his old bat today to re-establish his timing. He'll have an imperceptibly quicker swing, but he needs to return to some familiarity.
So, what's the point of the whole Jedi mind trick if the swing is only imperceptibly quicker? Twofold.
The first is that he needs to return to a lighter bat today. The heavier one won't work and I can't find an appropriate one in the right weight in time for the game. That's reality. It's a limitation and we'll have to work with it, but I want him to feel good about it.
The second is that he will actually face some faster pitchers today, I believe. If he THINKS he's a little quicker with the bat, he's that much less likely to feel intimidated.
One of the biggest advantages a pitcher can have over a batter is if he can make the batter feel intimidated.
The bottom line: they don't have any of the specific bat I want for Logan anywhere locally and the major outlets are on 6 week backorder. I found one the other day and ordered it, but it won't be here in time for the game tonight and probably not in time for the tournament this weekend.
Let's hope the suggestion works and he believes he's got the quickest bat on the planet, and it shows in his at-bats tonight. We face a tough team and need all the hits we can get.
The Case Against Travel Teams
This is going to be a strange post given that my son plays on a travel team, where I also assist the coach. (I'm the team's commissioner, which means I take care of stuff like stats, bench-coaching, arranging hotels, etc.)
There was no such thing as travel teams for kids when I was a kid. Okay, I'm sure in some parts of the world, they existed, but in an industrial midwestern town like Akron, deep in recurring recessions, you just didn't hear of it.
Everybody played Little League. If you were really good, you made the city's All-Star team. When you got to Junior High and High School, you played for the school. Yes, there were some other oddities like Senior League, but for the most part, that was the trajectory.
In the last 30 years, something has changed a bit. More talented kids no longer played in recreational leagues or Little League. They were selected to play for travel teams.
The reasons they played is the same reason my son plays for a travel team. The coaching is typically (though not always) a notch above. The schedule is a bit more intense. Our travel team is scheduled to play over 50 games this season if you include all our likely tournament games. Everything is a notch above what you might expect in the rec league.
In the case of my son's team, the equipment is better, the fields are better, the competition is better, the coaching is better, the parents are more involved, the team-mates are better. An extra note on the coaching: our coach is astounding. I wish Logan could play for him all through High School.
So, if you have a son like mine who has been obsessed with baseball, football and basketball since he was young, you want him to have this opportunity if he wants it.
The tryout and selection process was pretty rigorous, too. 2 days of tryouts on 4 fields where the kids moved from one assessment to another. They were measured on everything from fielding ability to hitting to their running speed.
I honestly couldn't tell if Logan made the team or not based on what I saw. I found out later, that they were also holding tryouts for the 10 year olds, too.
So, I was ready to give a pep talk if he wasn't selected. The only thing I thought might be hard for him is if some of his closer friends were selected and he wasn't. In the end, the worry was unfounded. He was chosen for the Heavy travel team, which is basically the best kids at the tryout, who will play a heavier schedule.
Our city sponsors this program and it is run by the coaches for the two local High Schools. We are fortunate enough to live in a city that has the resources to sponsor a second travel team, the Light team, which plays in the same league, but has a lighter travel schedule and plays fewer games, overall.
This is awesome for the kids who make the two teams. They get better everything. They will clearly develop their skills faster, and probably better overall.
So, what's not to like? Our rec leagues just lost 22 of their better players. I won't say they lost their 22 best players. The reality is that some kids who could have made the travel teams just didn't try out for whatever reason.
Reasons you might not have your kid try out are many, but one of the main ones I can think of is finances. The cost is $500 out of pocket. This, by the way, is a pittance compared to the money our rec district puts out in terms of paying for equipment, tournament fees, two indoor practice facilities for the off-season, uniforms, etc. However, it's a heck of an expense for most folks, and when combined with the cost of hotels, equipment, additional uniform items, etc., it's a lot of money for anybody.
Another reason? Travel. It's great and easy if you have the time. If you work shifts and you're a single parent, you might simply not be able to take off to Columbus for 3 days for a tournament.
Still, clearly, the 22 players on the travel teams represent most of the better players in the league.
So, travel ball just decimated the rec leagues. Just as the travel kids will develop faster and more completely, the rec league kids are probably going to develop a bit slower and less completely. They won't be playing against the best.
There are some great coaches in the rec league, but the better players tend to have dads who were better players, or at least some of the more involved fathers. (In my case, athleticism was certainly not a factor. But involvement was.)
Which means that some of the rec league players are not going to have exposure to a handful of role models who might have made an impact in their playing days, but more importantly in their lives.
What to do? Personally, if Logan decides he'd rather play rec, I don't have a problem with that. I'll make it clear to him that the decision has consequences, but that it's all the same to me. I'm not quite so worried about his development. I'm just thinking that this has been a lot of fun for him, and if he doesn't travel, he won't have as much fun.
There may even come a time when I am deployed overseas and Logan won't be able to travel if his mom is working shifts at the hospital.
The other side? If he plays rec, frankly, he'll be the big bad stud of his team, which is fun, too. On the travel team, he's pretty normal for a player. In rec, he'd be back to the situation he was in last year where he was basically the best infielder on the team and the best hitter. I will probably never forget the day he went 4 for 4 with two home runs, including a walk-off grand-slam. I know he hasn't. That's not going to happen in travel ball. The level of competition is simply too good.
So, again, back to travel teams in general. In our city, there are two travel teams sponsored by the rec. There's also a third team that was simply organized by some Dads. That's the thing with travel teams. You can organize one yourself if you want.
I don't know why the kids on that 3rd team didn't want to play for the rec's travel teams, and I can't really theorize. Having seen them play, at least a few could have made the Mavericks program. Bottom line: for whatever reason, they don't want to play for the Mavericks.
(By the way, Logan tried out for that team and was not selected... no big deal, we beat them in the season opener. Haha!)
In this part of the country, we're a little behind other parts of the country in travel mania, though the presence of that 3rd team shows that it's coming.
So, what's the mania? I am certain that sometime in the future, there will be kids who didn't make the Mavericks and didn't make the other travel team, and who then start up a 4th travel team in our city. Then a 5th, then a 6th.
Once there's enough travel teams, the petty sports Dads make the situation worse. I wish I could say I was above all that stuff, but we get emotionally involved in our kids.
Dads will leave a travel team mid-season because another travel team told the kid he could play first-base. Or they'll leave a travel team because of a disagreement with a coach.
So, some of the benefit of playing travel ball is mitigated by the fact that kids are now hopping around, teams are getting jumbled around, there's lack of continuity, kids are learning a little pettiness in there with all the baseball and teamwork.
Then, what just happened to the rec league? Eventually, it gets to the point where instead of paying $50 to play rec league for an entire season, if you want your kid to play baseball, your only choice is to budget $3,000 for a travel season.
Basically, the travel leagues replace the rec leagues. Instead of travel ball being something only for a few select players, it becomes something that everybody does.
This is already happening in a lot of parts of the country, by the way.
Worse yet, travel sports are starting to replace High School sports in a lot of parts of the country, too! It's only just starting and is more common in some sports than others, but let me give an example.
Let's say your son is the best hockey player in town and you want him to get a scholarship. He plays with a lot of other talented kids who get a lot of assists. Your son gets a lot of goals.
Now, let's say that instead of playing for the High School team, some of those team-mates are tired of not-being the leading scorer on the team. They leave the High School team and go play for a travel team where they are the leading scorer.
Now, as far as I'm concerned, everybody loses. The talent pool is diluted and the leading scorer has a weaker supporting cast. Those guys who left the High School team to play for a travel team are not facing the same level of competition. So, even if they do get that college scholarship, they won't be as competitive as they would have been.
Right now, in schools that have competitive teams, the kids still play for the High School. But what if your star player attends a high school with few or no other good players? Fewer assists, fewer scores. Now, the best player on the team leaves the team to play travel and work with a better supporting cast.
Eventually, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Kids leave school teams to play travel because they think travel is their best chance. Travel becomes their best chance because kids have left the school teams to staff the travel teams.
I think our town got the formula just about right. They sponsor one Heavy travel team for the best kids at the tryout. Then, they sponsor a light travel team to develop the next best kids. The presence of a 3rd team in our city is not positive, in my opinion. Nothing against that team or their kids. The team is very good and has a lot of talented players on it.
The negative aspect is that some of the kids from these 3 travel teams could be enriching the rec league. Kids develop at different ages and some of the kids who weren't ready for travel this year will be superstars in years to come. Unfortunately, the quality of rec league play will probably diminish considerably this year because of the absence of some of the better players.
Which may lead their parents to try and establish even MORE travel teams. What if your kid BARELY didn't make the cutoff for the light team? Heck, that's a good ballplayer. Why not get together with some Dads of kids who also didn't make the cutoff and start yet another travel team?
What if you can afford a little money, but not the thousands involved in a heavy travel team? Why not start yet another travel team that doesn't travel to tournaments? Maybe instead of doing five tournaments, like my son's team, schedule one tournament at the end of the season. So, you could start yet another travel team.
Then, there's conflicts of personality. What if your kid is on a team with other parents you can't stand? What if you don't like the coach? You think he's a good coach, but you think he's shorting your son because your son always played shortstop but this coach has him at 3rd base? You could start yet another travel team.
What if you just want your kid to be a star? To play on a team that's good, but not too good, so they can lead the team in batting average and start at shortstop and pitcher every game? You could start yet another travel team. (In this case, what usually happens is that the player bounces around from travel team to travel team, and virtually never finds what they're looking for.)
The other category? I don't mean to be crass, but some kids just aren't that good. I worried all through the off-season that maybe some kids who weren't selected for the heavy team got gypped. What if the kids on the heavy team weren't that much better? What if they were just lucky on the day of the tryouts.
Now that the season has started, it's obvious that the kids on the more select teams really were better than the ones who were on the slightly less selective teams. A lot of the cities around here are set up like ours, with two travel teams. It's blatantly obvious which ones were the more selective and which ones weren't.
The difference between the best and worst players on the really selective teams is huge. The talent starts dropping off dramatically after that. So, yeah, there's a lot of kids out there who are really good ballplayers, but who simply are not as good as their parents think they are. I say this with much self-consciousness because I'm a parent like all the others and the one thing I absolutely cannot be objective about is my feelings for my son.
However, a lot of those parents will seek out or try to form travel teams for their kids. They will try to lure a handful of stars from other teams.
Things turn into a big mess in a hurry.
The net result? The rec leagues become even less fun, with fewer and fewer kids in them. The sport of baseball continues to transform from America's pastime, played in sandlots by anybody with a beat-up glove and his grandpa's old baseball bat to one played by kids with $200 gloves, $400 bats, with indoor practice facilities and road and home uniforms.
Some good players will simply be priced out of the game. The best players will come less and less from the United States, where sports is increasingly reserved for the wealthy, and will increasingly come from places like Central America where talent and a love for the game are the primary factors in who plays.
Like I said, I think our city has it just about right, with travel opportunties for a handful of kids, but keeping the rec league vibrant and available for the rest of the kids. Once the kids reach High School or Middle School, where they can play for their school, the city doesn't sponsor travel teams anymore.
The other viable alternative is to have an all-star team that plays an extended season at the end of the rec season.
Some of these additional travel teams have none of the things that Logan gets with his travel team. A lot of them have poor coaching, poor facilities, and the parents are, frankly, a big bunch of idiotic jerks.
A proliferation of travel teams is just bad all the way around, in my opinion.
If it came down to that, or nothing, I'd pick nothing. I'd hit Logan line drives in the back yard until he could get with a team with a decent coach.
In the mean time, although my son plays travel, I hope travel teams don't continue to displace rec league ball. Travel is a whole other universe, and I constantly try to evaluate if the committment in terms of time and energy are appropriate for my son. Because of his desire, love for the game, and natural abilities, I believe in his case that they are.
Travel isn't for everybody, though. We shouldn't have a system where we act like it is.
(On a personal note, I have never and will never push my son to play baseball. Of all the major sports, baseball and soccer were the two that I was least interested in, and showed the least talent in as a child. I displayed precious little talent at football and basketball, anyway. If I had my druthers and were of an inclination to force my son to do something, I'd be sitting him at a piano and smacking his hand with a ruler periodically. Trouble is, from the moment this kid could hold a ball, he would throw it agains things and catch it. From the moment he knew what baseball was, he played it nearly every day. Usually by swinging a toy bat and running around "bases" he set up in the living room. Nobody showed him how to do any of this. It was a love he was simply born with. I don't believe in forcing kids to do things they don't like. With sports, they're supposed to be fun, and if kids aren't enjoying them, I would never force them to play. If Logan ever got to where he wanted to quit a sport, he would be allowed. He'd be expected to finish out the season. Like anything a little kid says, I'd want to know why and make sure it's what they really want, but nobody in our house is forced towards any extracurricular activity.)
There was no such thing as travel teams for kids when I was a kid. Okay, I'm sure in some parts of the world, they existed, but in an industrial midwestern town like Akron, deep in recurring recessions, you just didn't hear of it.
Everybody played Little League. If you were really good, you made the city's All-Star team. When you got to Junior High and High School, you played for the school. Yes, there were some other oddities like Senior League, but for the most part, that was the trajectory.
In the last 30 years, something has changed a bit. More talented kids no longer played in recreational leagues or Little League. They were selected to play for travel teams.
The reasons they played is the same reason my son plays for a travel team. The coaching is typically (though not always) a notch above. The schedule is a bit more intense. Our travel team is scheduled to play over 50 games this season if you include all our likely tournament games. Everything is a notch above what you might expect in the rec league.
In the case of my son's team, the equipment is better, the fields are better, the competition is better, the coaching is better, the parents are more involved, the team-mates are better. An extra note on the coaching: our coach is astounding. I wish Logan could play for him all through High School.
So, if you have a son like mine who has been obsessed with baseball, football and basketball since he was young, you want him to have this opportunity if he wants it.
The tryout and selection process was pretty rigorous, too. 2 days of tryouts on 4 fields where the kids moved from one assessment to another. They were measured on everything from fielding ability to hitting to their running speed.
I honestly couldn't tell if Logan made the team or not based on what I saw. I found out later, that they were also holding tryouts for the 10 year olds, too.
So, I was ready to give a pep talk if he wasn't selected. The only thing I thought might be hard for him is if some of his closer friends were selected and he wasn't. In the end, the worry was unfounded. He was chosen for the Heavy travel team, which is basically the best kids at the tryout, who will play a heavier schedule.
Our city sponsors this program and it is run by the coaches for the two local High Schools. We are fortunate enough to live in a city that has the resources to sponsor a second travel team, the Light team, which plays in the same league, but has a lighter travel schedule and plays fewer games, overall.
This is awesome for the kids who make the two teams. They get better everything. They will clearly develop their skills faster, and probably better overall.
So, what's not to like? Our rec leagues just lost 22 of their better players. I won't say they lost their 22 best players. The reality is that some kids who could have made the travel teams just didn't try out for whatever reason.
Reasons you might not have your kid try out are many, but one of the main ones I can think of is finances. The cost is $500 out of pocket. This, by the way, is a pittance compared to the money our rec district puts out in terms of paying for equipment, tournament fees, two indoor practice facilities for the off-season, uniforms, etc. However, it's a heck of an expense for most folks, and when combined with the cost of hotels, equipment, additional uniform items, etc., it's a lot of money for anybody.
Another reason? Travel. It's great and easy if you have the time. If you work shifts and you're a single parent, you might simply not be able to take off to Columbus for 3 days for a tournament.
Still, clearly, the 22 players on the travel teams represent most of the better players in the league.
So, travel ball just decimated the rec leagues. Just as the travel kids will develop faster and more completely, the rec league kids are probably going to develop a bit slower and less completely. They won't be playing against the best.
There are some great coaches in the rec league, but the better players tend to have dads who were better players, or at least some of the more involved fathers. (In my case, athleticism was certainly not a factor. But involvement was.)
Which means that some of the rec league players are not going to have exposure to a handful of role models who might have made an impact in their playing days, but more importantly in their lives.
What to do? Personally, if Logan decides he'd rather play rec, I don't have a problem with that. I'll make it clear to him that the decision has consequences, but that it's all the same to me. I'm not quite so worried about his development. I'm just thinking that this has been a lot of fun for him, and if he doesn't travel, he won't have as much fun.
There may even come a time when I am deployed overseas and Logan won't be able to travel if his mom is working shifts at the hospital.
The other side? If he plays rec, frankly, he'll be the big bad stud of his team, which is fun, too. On the travel team, he's pretty normal for a player. In rec, he'd be back to the situation he was in last year where he was basically the best infielder on the team and the best hitter. I will probably never forget the day he went 4 for 4 with two home runs, including a walk-off grand-slam. I know he hasn't. That's not going to happen in travel ball. The level of competition is simply too good.
So, again, back to travel teams in general. In our city, there are two travel teams sponsored by the rec. There's also a third team that was simply organized by some Dads. That's the thing with travel teams. You can organize one yourself if you want.
I don't know why the kids on that 3rd team didn't want to play for the rec's travel teams, and I can't really theorize. Having seen them play, at least a few could have made the Mavericks program. Bottom line: for whatever reason, they don't want to play for the Mavericks.
(By the way, Logan tried out for that team and was not selected... no big deal, we beat them in the season opener. Haha!)
In this part of the country, we're a little behind other parts of the country in travel mania, though the presence of that 3rd team shows that it's coming.
So, what's the mania? I am certain that sometime in the future, there will be kids who didn't make the Mavericks and didn't make the other travel team, and who then start up a 4th travel team in our city. Then a 5th, then a 6th.
Once there's enough travel teams, the petty sports Dads make the situation worse. I wish I could say I was above all that stuff, but we get emotionally involved in our kids.
Dads will leave a travel team mid-season because another travel team told the kid he could play first-base. Or they'll leave a travel team because of a disagreement with a coach.
So, some of the benefit of playing travel ball is mitigated by the fact that kids are now hopping around, teams are getting jumbled around, there's lack of continuity, kids are learning a little pettiness in there with all the baseball and teamwork.
Then, what just happened to the rec league? Eventually, it gets to the point where instead of paying $50 to play rec league for an entire season, if you want your kid to play baseball, your only choice is to budget $3,000 for a travel season.
Basically, the travel leagues replace the rec leagues. Instead of travel ball being something only for a few select players, it becomes something that everybody does.
This is already happening in a lot of parts of the country, by the way.
Worse yet, travel sports are starting to replace High School sports in a lot of parts of the country, too! It's only just starting and is more common in some sports than others, but let me give an example.
Let's say your son is the best hockey player in town and you want him to get a scholarship. He plays with a lot of other talented kids who get a lot of assists. Your son gets a lot of goals.
Now, let's say that instead of playing for the High School team, some of those team-mates are tired of not-being the leading scorer on the team. They leave the High School team and go play for a travel team where they are the leading scorer.
Now, as far as I'm concerned, everybody loses. The talent pool is diluted and the leading scorer has a weaker supporting cast. Those guys who left the High School team to play for a travel team are not facing the same level of competition. So, even if they do get that college scholarship, they won't be as competitive as they would have been.
Right now, in schools that have competitive teams, the kids still play for the High School. But what if your star player attends a high school with few or no other good players? Fewer assists, fewer scores. Now, the best player on the team leaves the team to play travel and work with a better supporting cast.
Eventually, this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Kids leave school teams to play travel because they think travel is their best chance. Travel becomes their best chance because kids have left the school teams to staff the travel teams.
I think our town got the formula just about right. They sponsor one Heavy travel team for the best kids at the tryout. Then, they sponsor a light travel team to develop the next best kids. The presence of a 3rd team in our city is not positive, in my opinion. Nothing against that team or their kids. The team is very good and has a lot of talented players on it.
The negative aspect is that some of the kids from these 3 travel teams could be enriching the rec league. Kids develop at different ages and some of the kids who weren't ready for travel this year will be superstars in years to come. Unfortunately, the quality of rec league play will probably diminish considerably this year because of the absence of some of the better players.
Which may lead their parents to try and establish even MORE travel teams. What if your kid BARELY didn't make the cutoff for the light team? Heck, that's a good ballplayer. Why not get together with some Dads of kids who also didn't make the cutoff and start yet another travel team?
What if you can afford a little money, but not the thousands involved in a heavy travel team? Why not start yet another travel team that doesn't travel to tournaments? Maybe instead of doing five tournaments, like my son's team, schedule one tournament at the end of the season. So, you could start yet another travel team.
Then, there's conflicts of personality. What if your kid is on a team with other parents you can't stand? What if you don't like the coach? You think he's a good coach, but you think he's shorting your son because your son always played shortstop but this coach has him at 3rd base? You could start yet another travel team.
What if you just want your kid to be a star? To play on a team that's good, but not too good, so they can lead the team in batting average and start at shortstop and pitcher every game? You could start yet another travel team. (In this case, what usually happens is that the player bounces around from travel team to travel team, and virtually never finds what they're looking for.)
The other category? I don't mean to be crass, but some kids just aren't that good. I worried all through the off-season that maybe some kids who weren't selected for the heavy team got gypped. What if the kids on the heavy team weren't that much better? What if they were just lucky on the day of the tryouts.
Now that the season has started, it's obvious that the kids on the more select teams really were better than the ones who were on the slightly less selective teams. A lot of the cities around here are set up like ours, with two travel teams. It's blatantly obvious which ones were the more selective and which ones weren't.
The difference between the best and worst players on the really selective teams is huge. The talent starts dropping off dramatically after that. So, yeah, there's a lot of kids out there who are really good ballplayers, but who simply are not as good as their parents think they are. I say this with much self-consciousness because I'm a parent like all the others and the one thing I absolutely cannot be objective about is my feelings for my son.
However, a lot of those parents will seek out or try to form travel teams for their kids. They will try to lure a handful of stars from other teams.
Things turn into a big mess in a hurry.
The net result? The rec leagues become even less fun, with fewer and fewer kids in them. The sport of baseball continues to transform from America's pastime, played in sandlots by anybody with a beat-up glove and his grandpa's old baseball bat to one played by kids with $200 gloves, $400 bats, with indoor practice facilities and road and home uniforms.
Some good players will simply be priced out of the game. The best players will come less and less from the United States, where sports is increasingly reserved for the wealthy, and will increasingly come from places like Central America where talent and a love for the game are the primary factors in who plays.
Like I said, I think our city has it just about right, with travel opportunties for a handful of kids, but keeping the rec league vibrant and available for the rest of the kids. Once the kids reach High School or Middle School, where they can play for their school, the city doesn't sponsor travel teams anymore.
The other viable alternative is to have an all-star team that plays an extended season at the end of the rec season.
Some of these additional travel teams have none of the things that Logan gets with his travel team. A lot of them have poor coaching, poor facilities, and the parents are, frankly, a big bunch of idiotic jerks.
A proliferation of travel teams is just bad all the way around, in my opinion.
If it came down to that, or nothing, I'd pick nothing. I'd hit Logan line drives in the back yard until he could get with a team with a decent coach.
In the mean time, although my son plays travel, I hope travel teams don't continue to displace rec league ball. Travel is a whole other universe, and I constantly try to evaluate if the committment in terms of time and energy are appropriate for my son. Because of his desire, love for the game, and natural abilities, I believe in his case that they are.
Travel isn't for everybody, though. We shouldn't have a system where we act like it is.
(On a personal note, I have never and will never push my son to play baseball. Of all the major sports, baseball and soccer were the two that I was least interested in, and showed the least talent in as a child. I displayed precious little talent at football and basketball, anyway. If I had my druthers and were of an inclination to force my son to do something, I'd be sitting him at a piano and smacking his hand with a ruler periodically. Trouble is, from the moment this kid could hold a ball, he would throw it agains things and catch it. From the moment he knew what baseball was, he played it nearly every day. Usually by swinging a toy bat and running around "bases" he set up in the living room. Nobody showed him how to do any of this. It was a love he was simply born with. I don't believe in forcing kids to do things they don't like. With sports, they're supposed to be fun, and if kids aren't enjoying them, I would never force them to play. If Logan ever got to where he wanted to quit a sport, he would be allowed. He'd be expected to finish out the season. Like anything a little kid says, I'd want to know why and make sure it's what they really want, but nobody in our house is forced towards any extracurricular activity.)
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
A Little Baseball Story
When Logan was in the first grade they did their first year of coach-pitch baseball. It's a big adjustment from tee-ball because they have to actually hit a ball that's thrown to the plate, versus hitting it off of a tee.
At that age, in a recreational league, there are a lot of rules, both written and unwritten, that are there to try and make the game enjoyable for everybody. For instance, pretty much everybody on the team will get equal playing time, equal number of at-bats, and will get to play a little bit of every position they're capable of playing.
Scores aren't supposed to be kept (but they are, by both overzealous parents and by kids who are developing their competitive streak a bit early.)
Logan's team had a little boy who appeared to have some sort of developmental issues. His coordination was poor and his interactions with the other kids were a bit less than what you might expect of a child his age.
Based on my limited interaction with him, that's all I could tell you. Was he autistic? Was he simply poorly coordinated and so shy he didn't talk to other kids? I'm not a psychologist, but if I had to guess, he had something on the autistic spectrum going on.
Let's call him David. (Not his real name.)
My son, Logan, believes that someday he could be a major leaguer. The way he plays so far, heck, if the next 10 years are exceptionally kind to him, maybe he will. It's not a realistic dream, but as far as I'm concerned, 8 years old is the perfect time to have unrealistic dreams.
So, during his rec league years, he would say, "Maybe someday, I could play in the Major Leagues" Or "Maybe Sam could be in the major leagues". Or, "Maybe Jaxon could be in the major leagues."
For all I know, all three of them could play professional baseball someday. They were, and are, all very talented kids. So, I can say with sincerity, "You never know. It could happen."
David? Bless him, but most of the time, he acted like he didn't want to be there at all. His mother brought him to all the games and practices. I never saw a father. Who knows what their family situation is like.
It could be a test of patience sometimes. It wasn't even so much that he had difficulty doing things. It's that the coach and the volunteer Dads sometimes had difficulty even getting David to perform simple tasks. Clearly, we're not trained in special ed, and the only motivational tool we have with any of the kids is begging.
"Okay, Joey. Throw the ball, buddy. Throw it over to Mikey at second base. Now would be a good time. Just give it a throw... any time now... maybe over to Mikey at second base. No, look over the other way. Second base is that one over there... What say we make a biggo throw right now! Just... give it a throw... show us how strong you are dude..."
And that's an interaction you would have with one of your better players.
With David, it was a bit worse. He had more than the typical spaciness and distractedness of the other 6 and 7 year olds. He had much less of the coordination that very few of them displayed to begin with.
One day, I brought my pitching machine to practice. Kids love gadgets and machines. Any kid can tell you that it's more fun to hit a ball thrown by a machine than it is to hit a ball thrown by a person. We had to chase kids away who wandered over from the local playground because they wanted to hit from the machine. Literally, 10 year olds were walking up, picking up a bat and going up to the plate saying they wanted to hit "just one".
So, the kids on our team were jazzed about getting to use the machine.
I'm a firm believer in the "you can have icing, but you have to eat the cake, too" school of thought. If you've got something a kid really, really wants to do, you can always use it, as a parent or a coach, to get them to do something they really, really should do, but wouldn't, otherwise.
So, before they could hit off the machine, I put them through a drill where the swing is broken down in 6 basic steps.
All the kids did the drill perfectly, then we had them hit 10 balls off the pitching machine.
Well... almost all the kids did the drill perfectly. David really... well... what he did wasn't even a remote approximation of the drill. There's only so much you can do during the course of the practice. I didn't want David to feel singled out, so I just acted as though he did the drill just like everybody else and put him on the pitching machine.
David... well... let's just say he didn't really swing a bat in the conventional sense of swinging a bat. He moved the bat, but not always in the right direction and never in a manner that could have hit anything but himself.
So, he watched 4 of his pitches go by. His mother encouraged him, "Swing the bat, David!". David swung and a ball (the yellow no-sting balls), hit him in the hand. He collapsed like he had been hit by a truck. Didn't cry, made no facial expression, but was clearly distraught.
I asked if he wanted to keep going, and he nodded. He finished the drill by standing 7 feet away from home plate just to make sure that he didn't get hit again. Though, we did make some progress, because as he was standing 7 feet away, he was at least swinging the bat every now and then.
That's an indication of the type of challenges that David faced. This was pretty much what it was like trying to work with him.
So, we go on to the very last game of the season. David was up to bat, and for some reason, he stuck his bat straight out in front of him. Sort of the way you might hold a light saber if you were in ready position. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if that was exactly what he was thinking.
He actually hit the ball! Well... the ball hit his bat, actually. It went nearly 3 feet!!!
In rec league ball for little kids, any contact with the bat is pretty much guaranteed to get you on base because the odds of the opposing team having somebody who can field and throw the ball AND having somebody who can catch it and either apply a tag or put their foot on the base approaches zero.
DAVID HAD A HIT!!! He got to first base. It was the second happiest I ever saw a kid. He jumped up and down. Didn't utter a word, but had a smile on his face for the first time since the season began!
Then, later in the game, realizing that the light saber trick worked the last time, he did it again! ANOTHER BASE HIT!
This time, the rest of the kids hit him around and he got to cross home plate. I've seen World Series on-field celebrations that were subdued in comparison to David's joy at coming home. The entire bench emptied out and the entire team ran onto the field cheering for David.
Little kids really see something special about stepping on home plate. One of the beautiful things about baseball is that it is the only game where home is the most significant place on the field. Home plate is even shaped like a little house. Kids love, love, love to go home.
When they can't, sometimes they get dejected. Logan plays for a local travel team, now, and if he gets stranded during a quick scrimmage at the end of practice, he'll talk about it for 3 days afterwards. "I didn't get to go home."
Young kids know the object is to get home, and it's probably more special to them than to players of any other age or level. Regardless of the score or situation, nothing pumps them up like running home.
So, David capped off his season by doing the coolest thing he could imagine doing on a baseball diamond. He got to do the ultimate achievement. He got to go home.
THAT was the happiest I've ever seen a kid.
I think everybody was happy for David. These days, coaches get at least a little respect and gratitude for the time they put in. Personally, I always have a special place in my heart for the parents of kids who are struggling with sports.
It probably has roots in thinking back to all those times my grandmother used to haul me to baseball practice or games, where my batting average probably only required 2, and not 3 significant digits. The only things more intimate with the bench than my butt were the nails that held the thing together.
A parent of a kid like David probably has a lot of challenges. If folks think the coaches' patience was tested, I can only imagine the patience of a parent of a child with special needs.
At the same time, they pay their money to have their kid play ball just like everybody else. If she was a single parent, she had more challenges than most of the parents on the team just in finding the time to take her boy to and from practices and games.
Why does she do it? Because she wants her boy to get the experience, get a little bit of physical activity, build a little self esteem, interact with other kids his age. Mostly, though, she probably does it because she wants her boy to have fun.
That's the main reason any of us are doing it. Or, if it isn't, we should probably re-evaluate our priorities.
David had more than fun that day. It was genuine elation.
Starting on the drive home that day, and for about the next two months, every few days, Logan would bring up David's two great at bats, and we would talk about how awesome it was that he had two big hits and got to cross home plate.
Every time, at the end of us discussing the story, Logan would add, "And maybe David could play in the Major Leagues."
I would respond the same way I always did. "You never know. Could happen."
At that age, in a recreational league, there are a lot of rules, both written and unwritten, that are there to try and make the game enjoyable for everybody. For instance, pretty much everybody on the team will get equal playing time, equal number of at-bats, and will get to play a little bit of every position they're capable of playing.
Scores aren't supposed to be kept (but they are, by both overzealous parents and by kids who are developing their competitive streak a bit early.)
Logan's team had a little boy who appeared to have some sort of developmental issues. His coordination was poor and his interactions with the other kids were a bit less than what you might expect of a child his age.
Based on my limited interaction with him, that's all I could tell you. Was he autistic? Was he simply poorly coordinated and so shy he didn't talk to other kids? I'm not a psychologist, but if I had to guess, he had something on the autistic spectrum going on.
Let's call him David. (Not his real name.)
My son, Logan, believes that someday he could be a major leaguer. The way he plays so far, heck, if the next 10 years are exceptionally kind to him, maybe he will. It's not a realistic dream, but as far as I'm concerned, 8 years old is the perfect time to have unrealistic dreams.
So, during his rec league years, he would say, "Maybe someday, I could play in the Major Leagues" Or "Maybe Sam could be in the major leagues". Or, "Maybe Jaxon could be in the major leagues."
For all I know, all three of them could play professional baseball someday. They were, and are, all very talented kids. So, I can say with sincerity, "You never know. It could happen."
David? Bless him, but most of the time, he acted like he didn't want to be there at all. His mother brought him to all the games and practices. I never saw a father. Who knows what their family situation is like.
It could be a test of patience sometimes. It wasn't even so much that he had difficulty doing things. It's that the coach and the volunteer Dads sometimes had difficulty even getting David to perform simple tasks. Clearly, we're not trained in special ed, and the only motivational tool we have with any of the kids is begging.
"Okay, Joey. Throw the ball, buddy. Throw it over to Mikey at second base. Now would be a good time. Just give it a throw... any time now... maybe over to Mikey at second base. No, look over the other way. Second base is that one over there... What say we make a biggo throw right now! Just... give it a throw... show us how strong you are dude..."
And that's an interaction you would have with one of your better players.
With David, it was a bit worse. He had more than the typical spaciness and distractedness of the other 6 and 7 year olds. He had much less of the coordination that very few of them displayed to begin with.
One day, I brought my pitching machine to practice. Kids love gadgets and machines. Any kid can tell you that it's more fun to hit a ball thrown by a machine than it is to hit a ball thrown by a person. We had to chase kids away who wandered over from the local playground because they wanted to hit from the machine. Literally, 10 year olds were walking up, picking up a bat and going up to the plate saying they wanted to hit "just one".
So, the kids on our team were jazzed about getting to use the machine.
I'm a firm believer in the "you can have icing, but you have to eat the cake, too" school of thought. If you've got something a kid really, really wants to do, you can always use it, as a parent or a coach, to get them to do something they really, really should do, but wouldn't, otherwise.
So, before they could hit off the machine, I put them through a drill where the swing is broken down in 6 basic steps.
All the kids did the drill perfectly, then we had them hit 10 balls off the pitching machine.
Well... almost all the kids did the drill perfectly. David really... well... what he did wasn't even a remote approximation of the drill. There's only so much you can do during the course of the practice. I didn't want David to feel singled out, so I just acted as though he did the drill just like everybody else and put him on the pitching machine.
David... well... let's just say he didn't really swing a bat in the conventional sense of swinging a bat. He moved the bat, but not always in the right direction and never in a manner that could have hit anything but himself.
So, he watched 4 of his pitches go by. His mother encouraged him, "Swing the bat, David!". David swung and a ball (the yellow no-sting balls), hit him in the hand. He collapsed like he had been hit by a truck. Didn't cry, made no facial expression, but was clearly distraught.
I asked if he wanted to keep going, and he nodded. He finished the drill by standing 7 feet away from home plate just to make sure that he didn't get hit again. Though, we did make some progress, because as he was standing 7 feet away, he was at least swinging the bat every now and then.
That's an indication of the type of challenges that David faced. This was pretty much what it was like trying to work with him.
So, we go on to the very last game of the season. David was up to bat, and for some reason, he stuck his bat straight out in front of him. Sort of the way you might hold a light saber if you were in ready position. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if that was exactly what he was thinking.
He actually hit the ball! Well... the ball hit his bat, actually. It went nearly 3 feet!!!
In rec league ball for little kids, any contact with the bat is pretty much guaranteed to get you on base because the odds of the opposing team having somebody who can field and throw the ball AND having somebody who can catch it and either apply a tag or put their foot on the base approaches zero.
DAVID HAD A HIT!!! He got to first base. It was the second happiest I ever saw a kid. He jumped up and down. Didn't utter a word, but had a smile on his face for the first time since the season began!
Then, later in the game, realizing that the light saber trick worked the last time, he did it again! ANOTHER BASE HIT!
This time, the rest of the kids hit him around and he got to cross home plate. I've seen World Series on-field celebrations that were subdued in comparison to David's joy at coming home. The entire bench emptied out and the entire team ran onto the field cheering for David.
Little kids really see something special about stepping on home plate. One of the beautiful things about baseball is that it is the only game where home is the most significant place on the field. Home plate is even shaped like a little house. Kids love, love, love to go home.
When they can't, sometimes they get dejected. Logan plays for a local travel team, now, and if he gets stranded during a quick scrimmage at the end of practice, he'll talk about it for 3 days afterwards. "I didn't get to go home."
Young kids know the object is to get home, and it's probably more special to them than to players of any other age or level. Regardless of the score or situation, nothing pumps them up like running home.
So, David capped off his season by doing the coolest thing he could imagine doing on a baseball diamond. He got to do the ultimate achievement. He got to go home.
THAT was the happiest I've ever seen a kid.
I think everybody was happy for David. These days, coaches get at least a little respect and gratitude for the time they put in. Personally, I always have a special place in my heart for the parents of kids who are struggling with sports.
It probably has roots in thinking back to all those times my grandmother used to haul me to baseball practice or games, where my batting average probably only required 2, and not 3 significant digits. The only things more intimate with the bench than my butt were the nails that held the thing together.
A parent of a kid like David probably has a lot of challenges. If folks think the coaches' patience was tested, I can only imagine the patience of a parent of a child with special needs.
At the same time, they pay their money to have their kid play ball just like everybody else. If she was a single parent, she had more challenges than most of the parents on the team just in finding the time to take her boy to and from practices and games.
Why does she do it? Because she wants her boy to get the experience, get a little bit of physical activity, build a little self esteem, interact with other kids his age. Mostly, though, she probably does it because she wants her boy to have fun.
That's the main reason any of us are doing it. Or, if it isn't, we should probably re-evaluate our priorities.
David had more than fun that day. It was genuine elation.
Starting on the drive home that day, and for about the next two months, every few days, Logan would bring up David's two great at bats, and we would talk about how awesome it was that he had two big hits and got to cross home plate.
Every time, at the end of us discussing the story, Logan would add, "And maybe David could play in the Major Leagues."
I would respond the same way I always did. "You never know. Could happen."
Friday, April 16, 2010
The Furious Baseball Midgets Meet their Match and Then Some!
Our U9 Mavericks played the Springfield Jr. Blue Devils and wow, what a game. I have to say that the best team on that day won. The Jr. Devils beat us 11-7
The coach called a last minute practice the day before last night's game. This is also one of the more intense weeks this season. The kids are playing games every other day.
So, that means that the kids were on their 3rd straight day of baseball. They're also still in school. They looked a little listless during the game, and I think it's because they were a little worn out. They're only 9 years old, after all.
Based on scanning records and some informal scouting reports (parents who have seen the games), I think we just played two of our toughest opponents in our first two games.
The kids have some easier opponents coming up. Getting a few more Ws should really improve their spirits.
We play Springfield again before the season ends. We can beat them, but last night was their night.
The coach called a last minute practice the day before last night's game. This is also one of the more intense weeks this season. The kids are playing games every other day.
So, that means that the kids were on their 3rd straight day of baseball. They're also still in school. They looked a little listless during the game, and I think it's because they were a little worn out. They're only 9 years old, after all.
Based on scanning records and some informal scouting reports (parents who have seen the games), I think we just played two of our toughest opponents in our first two games.
The kids have some easier opponents coming up. Getting a few more Ws should really improve their spirits.
We play Springfield again before the season ends. We can beat them, but last night was their night.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Ferocious Baseball Midgets!!!
Logan's team finally started their season. It was a great opener against one of the tougher teams in the league. Logan's team, the Mavericks, won 20-11.
They scrimmaged (and beat) a bunch of 10 year olds the other day, and all I could think was, "Look at these kids. Those 10 year olds are all much bigger. They've had a year more to develop, and this bunch of 9 year olds is beating them pretty handily."
To me, our team looked like a bunch of ferocious baseball midgets. Little kids who can't necessarily be trusted to cross the street by themselves (depending on the street), and who can barely haul their bat bags around, but who hit, throw and field like demons.
I'm glad the season started. This team had literally been practicing for the past 8 months. We had a few scrimmages at the end, but 8 months is a long time for 9 year olds to work on drills. Our indoor facilities were awesome, but they were still indoor facilities that weren't the same as having an entire field to play games on.
I think Logan was starting to show some fatigue from the constant diet of baseball. So, I'm hoping he gets re-energized now that the team is playing. He has only had 1 month off from baseball since starting rec league a year ago.
For the first time since Logan was born, I have started thinking that if Logan got to where he didn't want to do this, I don't think it'd be that bad for him to play rec ball for a year or two if he wanted to.
I do think the level of coaching and facilities at this level is amazing. He can't possibly get a better preparation and training.
However, I am also seeing that no amount of coaching and prep makes up for raw talent. If I had to put a number on it, I'd say that 90%+ of what we're seeing on the field is the result of the kid's innate talent.
So, I'll leave it up to him. Prior to seeing all these teams, I would have said I'd rather he play travel ball. Now, I'm not so sure. I guess if your priority is to try and get your kid a scholarship or get him to pro ball, you want the most rigorous prep you can find. For me? I don't care if Logan ever does either of those things. If it's important to him, then he should go for it. If not, then I think his chances of making his High School team aren't that different.
Right now, though, this is just a blast. The kids are amazing and I'm really looking forward to this season.
They scrimmaged (and beat) a bunch of 10 year olds the other day, and all I could think was, "Look at these kids. Those 10 year olds are all much bigger. They've had a year more to develop, and this bunch of 9 year olds is beating them pretty handily."
To me, our team looked like a bunch of ferocious baseball midgets. Little kids who can't necessarily be trusted to cross the street by themselves (depending on the street), and who can barely haul their bat bags around, but who hit, throw and field like demons.
I'm glad the season started. This team had literally been practicing for the past 8 months. We had a few scrimmages at the end, but 8 months is a long time for 9 year olds to work on drills. Our indoor facilities were awesome, but they were still indoor facilities that weren't the same as having an entire field to play games on.
I think Logan was starting to show some fatigue from the constant diet of baseball. So, I'm hoping he gets re-energized now that the team is playing. He has only had 1 month off from baseball since starting rec league a year ago.
For the first time since Logan was born, I have started thinking that if Logan got to where he didn't want to do this, I don't think it'd be that bad for him to play rec ball for a year or two if he wanted to.
I do think the level of coaching and facilities at this level is amazing. He can't possibly get a better preparation and training.
However, I am also seeing that no amount of coaching and prep makes up for raw talent. If I had to put a number on it, I'd say that 90%+ of what we're seeing on the field is the result of the kid's innate talent.
So, I'll leave it up to him. Prior to seeing all these teams, I would have said I'd rather he play travel ball. Now, I'm not so sure. I guess if your priority is to try and get your kid a scholarship or get him to pro ball, you want the most rigorous prep you can find. For me? I don't care if Logan ever does either of those things. If it's important to him, then he should go for it. If not, then I think his chances of making his High School team aren't that different.
Right now, though, this is just a blast. The kids are amazing and I'm really looking forward to this season.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
The Days of My Life... or one day, anyway...
Progress on the house was discernable, but less than I would have thought. That's good, though. It should mean that the guys had a lot of actual revenue-producing work to do, rather than just working in my house because there wasn't anything better to do.
I'll get the lowdown on Monday.
Still no idea when the Sam's Club furniture will arrive. I am hoping it comes according to what they posted on their web-site: 5 weeks after I ordered it. That would put it at my house right around Labor Day weekend.
I still need a new washer and dryer. I'll hold on as long as I can on that one. Worst-case, I'll have to take laundry baskets to work and use the washer and dryers there. It's ridiculous. I own 2 sets of washers and dryers, but don't have a set in my own house. Sort of like how I own 8 different vehicles, but never drive 7 of them.
Not sure if this is a good sign or not, but Sam's Club took the item off their web-site shortly after I ordered it. I hope this won't mean some sort of delay or somesuch. I should just relax. This is a typical thing that I obsess about that I can't do anything about. In the vast majority of cases, things work out just fine.
In a few weeks, the new windows will arrive, which will be nice. The upstairs windows, for some reason, are in poor repair. The house is very, very well situated to take advantage of cross-ventilation and shade. So, I think I may be able to keep my A/C bills minimal this Summer.
All the more important since my A/C unit isn't working right now and probably won't be up and running until I contact an HVAC guy to figure out what I did to screw up my thermostat.
Although I may not be able to afford new flooring for the living room, and that means I'll be living on bare floors for a while, I will probably move in once the windows are in, the HVAC is fixed and the furniture arrives.
I have also figured out what I'm going to do with the flat-roof over the garage. Right now, it's a sort of patio-deck, but flat roofs are a nightmare and should be avoided at all costs. I've decided I'm going to put a sunroom over there when I have the time and money. The idea really appeals to me the more I think about it. It'd be a place where Logan could have sleepovers that were quasi campovers. It'd be a great way to enjoy the outdoors and the view during mildly inclement weather. (Which, during most parts of the year, is the best we can hope for.)
Business appears to be stabilizing. Things are still tough, but we seem to be navigating the rough waters. Not much more to say about that. I feel like I'm rebuilding the company from where it was 3 years ago. Not too tragic, really, but not ideal. We'll get through this.
Really, I'm looking forward to our admin returning to work from her maternity leave. I'm guessing that at this rate, she won't be back until the first part of June. It really sorta sucks for me since it ties me to the office most of the time. Of all the places for me to be working, that's probably the place that makes the least sense.
In baseball news, tomorrow is a scrimmage. The U9 Heavy team (Logan is on it) will scrimmage the U10 Light team. Near as I can figure, this will be a very, very close match. It's pretty much like the very best players at age 9 and letting them play the 2nd best players at age 10.
You'd think the age difference would be insurmountable, but the talent pool makes up for the age gap.
The season starts in earnest on Tuesday. These boys have worked really hard to get to this point, with practices starting last August and continuing to today. I just realized that these kids get only one month a year off from baseball. The season isn't that long: April thru July. Three months, basically. But 8 months of preparation for that season.
Other than that, I will be submitting my transfer request to get into that Fort Worth defense contracting unit, and out of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service unit in Cleveland. I'm really looking forward to getting back in touch with my Texas friends.
The Navy is putting on a huge push to get people through at least their first level of DAWIA certification. I suppose there are ways I could go totally gonzo and try to knock it out in a few months. However, I think I'm going to go slow and steady on this one. There's a one-month in-residence course I need to take to complete the certification and I'd rather take that sometime after Logan's baseball season is over.
That's also a guaranteed trip over these days. Apparently one of the few things more rare than Reserve Navy Supply Officers are ones with defense contracting certifications. Out of my graduating class, everybody with a certification had orders for Centcom (generally Iraq or Afghanistan).
Nobody else in the class had orders that I know of.
In other news, my long overdue and delayed promotion should come through either in April or May. It got held up due to a bureaucratic snafu. Because it'll be back-dated, then I should get a pretty big check to make up for the difference in pay grade for the time the promotion was delayed.
I just enrolled in the 3rd of 5 distance learning courses I need for my certification. After that, I need to take the residence course and that'll complete the training portion of the certification. My business education takes care of the education portion. The only remaining part is a year of contracting experience. Not sure how that one will go, but worst-case, I'll get the year in Centcom.
It is sort of funny to think that my career in the Navy is pretty much right what a person in their mid 20s, not their mid 40s would be doing right about now.
Also, interestingly, this is probably the only career-path in the reserves I can follow that has actual civilian employment potential.
If I were to go all the way to DAWIA Level III certification, that would qualify me for GS-14 positions. The pay is good, and it's a government paycheck.
Of course, unless something happens, I don't intend to move away from Sylvania. The closest jobs would probably be doing contracting for the Air Force in Dayton.
Still, that's one of the reasons I took this "swimlane" in the Supply Corps. It's got direct civilian employment potential should something go wrong with my business.
Among the many, many things I considered as potential career choices, being an officer in the military would pop up now and then. Obviously, my life took a different path, but I still wonder what things would have been like had I gone one way instead of the other.
That's the hardest part of life for me. So many awesome things to do, but you can only live one life.
Ultimately, my job as a father is paramount, and I'm giving that everything I can.
After that, running a business, trying to provide for the financial security of my family is probably my second highest priority.
Third, service to my country is something that is a big part of my life.
All in all, I can't complain. You can't do everything you want, but at least so far, I'm getting to hit the most important things.
I'll get the lowdown on Monday.
Still no idea when the Sam's Club furniture will arrive. I am hoping it comes according to what they posted on their web-site: 5 weeks after I ordered it. That would put it at my house right around Labor Day weekend.
I still need a new washer and dryer. I'll hold on as long as I can on that one. Worst-case, I'll have to take laundry baskets to work and use the washer and dryers there. It's ridiculous. I own 2 sets of washers and dryers, but don't have a set in my own house. Sort of like how I own 8 different vehicles, but never drive 7 of them.
Not sure if this is a good sign or not, but Sam's Club took the item off their web-site shortly after I ordered it. I hope this won't mean some sort of delay or somesuch. I should just relax. This is a typical thing that I obsess about that I can't do anything about. In the vast majority of cases, things work out just fine.
In a few weeks, the new windows will arrive, which will be nice. The upstairs windows, for some reason, are in poor repair. The house is very, very well situated to take advantage of cross-ventilation and shade. So, I think I may be able to keep my A/C bills minimal this Summer.
All the more important since my A/C unit isn't working right now and probably won't be up and running until I contact an HVAC guy to figure out what I did to screw up my thermostat.
Although I may not be able to afford new flooring for the living room, and that means I'll be living on bare floors for a while, I will probably move in once the windows are in, the HVAC is fixed and the furniture arrives.
I have also figured out what I'm going to do with the flat-roof over the garage. Right now, it's a sort of patio-deck, but flat roofs are a nightmare and should be avoided at all costs. I've decided I'm going to put a sunroom over there when I have the time and money. The idea really appeals to me the more I think about it. It'd be a place where Logan could have sleepovers that were quasi campovers. It'd be a great way to enjoy the outdoors and the view during mildly inclement weather. (Which, during most parts of the year, is the best we can hope for.)
Business appears to be stabilizing. Things are still tough, but we seem to be navigating the rough waters. Not much more to say about that. I feel like I'm rebuilding the company from where it was 3 years ago. Not too tragic, really, but not ideal. We'll get through this.
Really, I'm looking forward to our admin returning to work from her maternity leave. I'm guessing that at this rate, she won't be back until the first part of June. It really sorta sucks for me since it ties me to the office most of the time. Of all the places for me to be working, that's probably the place that makes the least sense.
In baseball news, tomorrow is a scrimmage. The U9 Heavy team (Logan is on it) will scrimmage the U10 Light team. Near as I can figure, this will be a very, very close match. It's pretty much like the very best players at age 9 and letting them play the 2nd best players at age 10.
You'd think the age difference would be insurmountable, but the talent pool makes up for the age gap.
The season starts in earnest on Tuesday. These boys have worked really hard to get to this point, with practices starting last August and continuing to today. I just realized that these kids get only one month a year off from baseball. The season isn't that long: April thru July. Three months, basically. But 8 months of preparation for that season.
Other than that, I will be submitting my transfer request to get into that Fort Worth defense contracting unit, and out of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service unit in Cleveland. I'm really looking forward to getting back in touch with my Texas friends.
The Navy is putting on a huge push to get people through at least their first level of DAWIA certification. I suppose there are ways I could go totally gonzo and try to knock it out in a few months. However, I think I'm going to go slow and steady on this one. There's a one-month in-residence course I need to take to complete the certification and I'd rather take that sometime after Logan's baseball season is over.
That's also a guaranteed trip over these days. Apparently one of the few things more rare than Reserve Navy Supply Officers are ones with defense contracting certifications. Out of my graduating class, everybody with a certification had orders for Centcom (generally Iraq or Afghanistan).
Nobody else in the class had orders that I know of.
In other news, my long overdue and delayed promotion should come through either in April or May. It got held up due to a bureaucratic snafu. Because it'll be back-dated, then I should get a pretty big check to make up for the difference in pay grade for the time the promotion was delayed.
I just enrolled in the 3rd of 5 distance learning courses I need for my certification. After that, I need to take the residence course and that'll complete the training portion of the certification. My business education takes care of the education portion. The only remaining part is a year of contracting experience. Not sure how that one will go, but worst-case, I'll get the year in Centcom.
It is sort of funny to think that my career in the Navy is pretty much right what a person in their mid 20s, not their mid 40s would be doing right about now.
Also, interestingly, this is probably the only career-path in the reserves I can follow that has actual civilian employment potential.
If I were to go all the way to DAWIA Level III certification, that would qualify me for GS-14 positions. The pay is good, and it's a government paycheck.
Of course, unless something happens, I don't intend to move away from Sylvania. The closest jobs would probably be doing contracting for the Air Force in Dayton.
Still, that's one of the reasons I took this "swimlane" in the Supply Corps. It's got direct civilian employment potential should something go wrong with my business.
Among the many, many things I considered as potential career choices, being an officer in the military would pop up now and then. Obviously, my life took a different path, but I still wonder what things would have been like had I gone one way instead of the other.
That's the hardest part of life for me. So many awesome things to do, but you can only live one life.
Ultimately, my job as a father is paramount, and I'm giving that everything I can.
After that, running a business, trying to provide for the financial security of my family is probably my second highest priority.
Third, service to my country is something that is a big part of my life.
All in all, I can't complain. You can't do everything you want, but at least so far, I'm getting to hit the most important things.
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