A Picturesque Life

Well, now that school and baseball season are over, I actually have time to put up a baseball picture of Landon! Poor kid, his games were so intense, that I often forgot to take any pictures!!

Here’s my little slugger, who had a great season. I feel we’ve been very blessed as far as baseball goes for the last two years. My son has played for the team that received first place (tied with another team this year), which has certainly been fun. But what I’ve liked best is that both last year and this year we’ve managed to play on a team where the coaches and parents (pretty much) displayed good sportsmanship and seemed to concentrate more on what the kids were learning instead of winning all the time.

Which is what I think Little League baseball should really be about.

There are many, though, who are so competitive and obsessed with this sport that I’m amazed at how they can behave. This year, as well as last, there was always The Team.

The Team always seems to have a lot of talent, both with players and coaches. These guys know the game of baseball. The Team always expects to win. And somehow The Team seems to attract the kind of parents that yell at other kids or insult the umpire or threaten to fight people from the other team. I don’t know it The Team’s parents are suffering from the trickle down effect, where their bad sportsmanship comes from watching the coaches behavior and the behaviors the children are allowed to display.

I dunno. I know my husband and I have watched The Team, and prayed that our kid doesn’t get put on The Team. The Team seems to change every year but it always seems to be there.

That’s why I suppose we feel we’ve been very blessed these last two year. Landon has played on very talented teams with fairly laid back coaches. I felt like he learned a lot both years and wasn’t pressured to be perfect, but pressured to work hard and do his best.

Landon, although he’s a decent ball player, is not going to be a super star player anytime soon. Our family really doesn’t want to eat, sleep, breath baseball and that’s pretty much what it takes to be that. I want my son to enjoy baseball. If he ends up being good enough for a college scholarship, I’ll be thrilled. If not, no biggie. I want him to learn sportsmanship, teamwork, and discipline…all things that can be taught in sports.

But is it worth playing if children aren’t learning these things? What if they are being taught the opposite? Is it worth having a kid that will get to play high school baseball in 8th grade, if he still stomps off the field in a fit when he strikes out?

I’m very competitive. I love sports, and love that my son shares that love. I love, love, love to win!

I love, love, love my son more though…and I hope we can stick with baseball and continue to have it be a benefit to him.

I hope he stays off The Team. I’d rather lose.