The rally cap. A sure sign of hope. I'm getting ready to hit the festival circuit tonight so I'm going to be busy for the next few days. Updates probably won't come until after the 8th. I had to post the above photo. There's something about this kid and his hat that reminds me of my younger days of little league and t-ball.
When I showed up for this game on Saturday I pulled into my parking spot west of the ball field. When I shot off my car I couldn't help over hear a conversation between two older gentlemen and this boy. At first I didn't think anything of it, but I noticed the boy was wearing a uniform for the team I was supposed to be covering. The conversation looked as if it was pretty serious and my natural curiosity got the best of me so I pretended to be fiddling with my iPod.
During the conversation I realized they were explaining to the kid why they couldn't allow him to start the day's game as the pitcher. At first I thought it might be a situation where he was a fill-in pitcher who led them to the tournament, but now the real starter was back and he felt wronged. After a minute or so I realized this wasn't the case at all. In fact, he was the normal starter for the team. The kid was the ace arm of the little league team and they were telling him he couldn't start. I thought how strange this was since this was a do-or-die situation, not just an exhibition game. The boy had apparently acted inappropriately towards his coaches and had an overall bad attitude. If I understood the conversation correctly, the coaches had asked him to do something and he had a temper tantrum.
This astounded me. I realized the two coaches were actually doing something I don't think 90% of coaches would have done. They were giving the boy a lesson on the importance of sportsmanship.
Over the years I've noticed an ever increasing drive to push kids to win at all costs necessary. This probably isn't new to anyone, but I see it as a major problem among our coaches. This isn't a problem with out children, it's primarily the fault of our coaches. Sure kids want to win, but there's more important things in life than winning.
Either way, these two guys were sacrificing a win and further advancement in the playoffs to teach their team a lesson. I think the whole team learned from the experience, not just the boy.
Call it cheesy, call it reading too much into a situation, or call it whatever you want, but I was profoundly affected by the situation. It made me realize there are good coaches out there who are teaching today's youth the way they should all be taught. I think the other reason it affected me so much was because they actually took the time to explain to him like an adult, why he wasn't starting. They didn't just punish him and say so long. They made him understand why this was important and how he could do better in the future. So many people just punish a kid and never take the time to tell him/her why it was wrong and what can be done better.
By the end of the game the kid was cheering for his team, telling each of his teammates what they did right and never once focused on the negative aspects even though they lost the game. He congratulated the entire team on a job well done and a great season. When other kids hung their heads he was there trying to cheer them up. I just couldn't believe how much the conversation had affected him. It just goes to show how important explanations are. I have no doubt in my mind he would have been one of the kids moping had they not talked to him before hand.
I'd like to thank them for doing this, but at the same time I think this should be something everyone who coaches or is a parent should do.
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