Tis’ baseball season; the time of year when every night there is either practice or a game and we’re not getting home for tea until about 8pm. It’s a huge commitment, (I’ve gotta admit, one I wasn’t actually prepared for). Above and beyond the games, there’s tag day (when we encourage our children to ask strangers for money to support the Little League Association), field days (when we, as adults, give up more of our work time, aka $$$, to help get the fields, dugouts, etc. in shape for the season to come; this year I “cleaned” the dugouts - two solid hours of sweeping up muck, dust and sunflower seed shells.) and the manning of concession stands, announcing games, keeping track of pitches, etc.

However, there does come a moment when you realize that this commitment has its own rewards. From the very start, the enthusiasm of the young players is infectious. The coaches do an amazing job teaching, training, sharing knowledge and bringing out the best in all their players. The camaraderie builds understanding of what it means to be part of team and to work together as a team. You see the improvment in these young players game-to-game.

And then there are days like today! A day when YOUR son earns the game ball and takes home this coveted prize.

My son has come a far way - his father, coming from London, UK, doesn’t really know that much about baseball, and me, well, I last encouraged the kids to slide into first base only to be told by other parents that you “run through” first base, not slide. And despite this, my son has made great strides in the sport. Today he managed to make some great plays as third baseman, get onto base everytime he was up to bat and he even stole home base for a game that was won by one run! What proud parent wouldn’t blog about that! Viva Little League, despite the long hours and commitment, for us, it’s all worth it!

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This entry was posted on Saturday, May 23rd, 2009 at 5:38 PM and is filed under Random Still Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.