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Be a volunteer, role model in youth sports
It's refreshing and enjoyable to see our children engaged in healthy activities, while learning the grand game of baseball.
Youth Baseball is etched in tradition and provides one of the purest forms of play in the athletic arena.
These games are so far removed from prima donna professionals who seem always mired in contract negotiations and steroid scandals. That's the beauty of the youth game.
Play on the diamonds also provides a form of entertainment for spectators. There's nothing like taking in a game under the stars with hot dog and soft drink in hand.
Good, clean competition and team sports are an essential tool in the growing process, where boys and girls learn the importance of teamwork and working as one toward a common goal. And it's fun, too, or at least it's supposed to be.
While winning is the main objective, it's not the sole reason for playing youth sports.
It's about learning, it's about forming friendships and it's about being enlightened with values that transcend from the athletic field to life.
Unfortunately, though, it's not always that idyllic; far from it. With each season, or any youth sport or competition, there come the squabbles and disagreements, poor sportsmanship, selfishness and just plain rudeness.
Sadly, that seems to happen with more frequency and so it will happen here as well.
Good, spirited competition can bring out the best - and worst - in people. Trouble is, it's usually not the competitors who have trouble staying on an even keel. It's the parents.
Yes, those who are supposed to be setting the examples are often at the very center of this disturbing behavior. It's just a small percentage who are guilty, but they ruin the experience for others.
What these parents fail to realize is that they're only embarrassing themselves - and their children - while setting a not-too-pretty example for the other boys and girls.
We must all remember that these leagues can only flourish through the help of the many volunteers who unselfishly devote their time coaching, umpiring or working the behind the scenes.
It's crucial that we keep that in mind before we criticize the coach for the last-inning substitutions or any other game strategy, or wait for the umpire after game's end to question a close call.
Unfortunately, that's what youth sports is coming to. Violent incidents are occurring nationally with growing frequency - over a game and in front of the children.
It's all really rather simple: Enjoy the games, cheer for the kids and be a role model for your children. And if you're not donating your time and effort, just keep your mouth shut when you have the urge to criticize.
That said, play ball!
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