girls – Laugh.Cry.Giggle.Smile.

We are at the midway point of baseball season for both kids. I’ve been driving around with a bucket of balls, a bag of batting helmets and catchers gear, my son’s baseball bag, my daughter’s glove and bat, and lawn chairs for almost two months! It’s a good feeling!

I wrote this earlier this week. To watch the amount of care and enthusiasm from the volunteer coaches and zeal for the game from the kids is overwhelming. It makes my throat choke up and my eyes start to water. So so good.

Observations from our 2 hours of back to back 100 degree practices last night for girls Rotary and boys Lions Club baseball:

1) Teammates encouraging each other in times of celebration and when the pitch, hit, or catch was missed.
2) Enjoyment on the faces of the kids for every ball stopped and each connection of the bat.
3) Kids who might not sit together at the lunch table or hang together at recess playing together as a team.
4) Constructive guidance and correction being given by coaches to help the kids grow in sportsmanship and skill.
5) Amazing family & friend volunteers and fans in the stand. They show up because they care.
6) A little girl doing a backbend bridge over first base between drills. Yes, there are a lot of cartwheels, hand stands, and twirls in little girl baseball.

These are fantastic programs available for the kids. The girl’s program is completely free and the boy’s program is $10 or you have the option of selling tickets to the pancake day event to cover the fee.

This what I see every week when we come to practice. Thank you community for all that you do to support it. Come watch a game! It’s free fun! ⚾

#baseball #volunteers #kids #letthemplay #besupportive

*Photography of the Iron Pigs by my 5yr old. Miss M up at the plate.*

Week 3 of summer break. Three more lessons for mom.

Miss M had her 3rd T-ball game last night. It followed closely on the heels of her brother’s 4th coach pitch game. Monday night is baseball night! 94 degrees F with about a 90% humidity. It was a scorcher.

At the Wolverines’ game, we witnessed an unassisted triple play by one of our little guys on 3rd base. He caught the pop-up, tagged his base and then tagged the runner from 2nd. He was tagging everybody wearing green within an arm’s length! T hit all three times and had some solid plays fielding as well.

If you can’t tell, I’m incredibly proud of all the kids on both my son and daughter’s teams. The kids mix from multiple schools, numerous classrooms, and a variety of family situations. Each group has united as a team that supports each other, chants and cheers, and appear to be having a good time!

Lesson #1) It is impossible to make everyone happy all the time.

This is my spreadsheet. I keep track of who is playing infield and outfield for each game for the coach pitch kids. My husband is the head coach, so I assign the positions. All 13 boys play at the same time. We stack the outfield with extras. Everybody bats each inning.

Regardless of the fact that the ball is actually making it to the outfield and those kids are seeing action, there are kids who don’t want to play out there. This isn’t the major league. We don’t even keep score. Everybody sees equal infield and outfield playing time on a rotating basis. Why rotating? Because there aren’t 13 infield positions…

If somebody absolutely does NOT want to play a position -which has happened- or we feel that a child isn’t physically safe in a position due to physical limitations, I’m trying to honor that.

Lesson #2) Always make a trip to the bathroom before the game mandatory for 4-7yr old girls.

We learned this one the hard way the first two games. We lost a third of our team in the 3rd inning, twice. Last night, Coach Julia asked the girls to make a run to the bathroom before we headed into the dugout. Half the team went. We when, I was the escort, arrived at the bathroom, half of the other team was already there in line. The entire game started 5 minutes late due to the line in the ladies room!

Lesson #3) Sometimes Mom has to stay in the dugout.

Mady Slugger

Last night in the 1st inning of my daughter’s game, she and I were standing in center field. (Coaches are spread throughout the outfield for t-ball games.) She looked up at me and asked me to hold her.

“Well honey, I can tonight when we get home, but right now we are on the baseball field. You need to watch the ball and get ready for it.” But MOMMY!

“You need to stand out here to help your team or I will have to stay in the dugout.”

At that, she did focus in and start paying attention. She ran after almost every ball that came off the tee. However, the next inning, I traded with another mom/coach and stayed in the dugout.

She is able to do this. This is where I needed to step back. It was a bittersweet moment. She’s mature enough to be on the field, but still wants me when she’s feeling a bit unsure. This was a teachable moment for both of us. Trust.

Tag: girls

Baseball- Iron Pigs and Royals

Shockers and Wolverines- Lessons in Baseball