South Fulton Little League was one of 6 Major League teams selected from across the U.S. to participate in the 6th Annual Urban Initiative Jamboree!    The Jamboree was held Memorial Day Weekend, May 22-25. The players actually played at Lamade Stadium, home to the Little League World Series. 

Many of the players wrote about their experience to share with others.

Ajae's story: 

• The time that I had in Williamsport, PA was awesome and it was a once in a lifetime moment for me. I woke up at 4:35 in the morning to get dressed and to get ready to go. We arrived in the airport early and then we met up with the coach and the rest of the team. We went straight through security and to the gate. We took the plane to Newark, NJ that took two hours. It was a nice and smooth ride.  When we got to Newark we took a coach bus to Williamsport that took three hours.  When we got there it was beautiful, the field was and the background was too. When we walked into the dorm it was beautiful. We had to change into our uniform and go the field. Once we were at the field we had an opening ceremony, all they did was told us the rules. To wrap this thing up our season was 3-1 we lost one game out of four and like I said in the first sentence it was a once in a lifetime moment for me.

 Eric - My Trip to Williamsport, PA:

• My trip to Williamsport, PA was a great experience.  We visited many historical sites like the birthplace of Little League Baseball and the baseball museum.   The birthplace was the site of the first Little League game in 1939.   At the museum we were told President Bush was a Little League graduate.  We had an opportunity to get some training from employees of the Baseball Factory (and they don't make baseballs).  They showed us ways to perfect our skills.   It was awesome.  We played on 3 fields that were well manicured.  The fields were nothing I've ever seen before.   We won 3 out of 4 games.  It was a great experience to share with my teammates, coaches and our chaperones, Uncle Ed and his wife.   Just wish we could've stayed longer.

 Lamont's story:

• During our weekend trip to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, I learned a lot and played a lot.  I learned that Mr. Stoltz started Little League Baseball.   We played near the field of the first Little League games in 1939.   There were two big stadiums where we played.  We played four games.  We won three and lost one.  We had fun.  I really enjoyed myself.

Adrielle's story:

• My weekend at the 2009 Jamboree was great.  When I first arrived in Pennsylvania I was very excited.  We got there on Friday.  In the beginning I was scared to ride the plane because it was the first time I'd ever riden a plane.   The flight was long but the bus ride seemed longer.   We stopped at McDonald's for a quick lunch and then we acted like little kids playing in the play house.   We had a lot of fun on the bus.  Everybody tried to stay up all night but some of us couldn't.  The bus driver told us to look at the field we were going to be playing on out the window.  It was so cool staying in a dorm.   I was the only girl so I had to share a room with a coach and the boys shared a room.  We won 3 games out of 4 and I was very glad.  I hope we can go back next year.

Brenden's story:

• My trip to Williamsport, PA was exciting, when we flew there.  The staff had a lot of things planned.  They showed us all the fields, and told us about them, Carl Stolz, and how he started Little League Baseball.  All of the teams at the dorms went on a tour of the Little League Museum on campus and we saw old baseball gloves and a video showing Carl Stolz explaining to kids how to play baseball.  On Saturday, we had a game at 1:30 against the Stealers.  We won that game.  After the game, we went swimming.  We had a slamming lunch.  After lunch, we had another game we lost but we didn't give up.  Then we had a great dinner.   On Sunday, we did some baseball drills with Major League Baseball players and trainers from the Baseball Factory.   We had a double header against the Monarchs and the Phillies.  We won both games ending the series with a 3 to 1 record.  The way back to Atlanta seemed shorter than going to Williamsport.  That was my trip to the Little League World Seris Urban Initiative Jamboree. 

District 4 Big League Baseball announces the start of their new Mentoring Program which will benefit the younger Little League players in all District 4 leagues.   Big League Baseball is the 16 – 18 year old division of Little League Baseball.   

Manager Tracey Goodman from Brooks Area Little League was the first to sign up and get a Big League Player/Instructor to come help with their 9 and 10 year old catchers.   Aaron Patten, a member of the 2008 Big League State Championship team, spent Thursday afternoon working with 3 of the team’s young catchers.   Coach Goodman said, “Aaron was awesome with my players.  He was very patient while instructing them on their stances behind the plate which resulted in many opportunities for blocking the ball.” 

The players were all very excited after the practice.   Connor Simmons wants Aaron to work with him every practice.    Dalton Goodman talked the rest of the night about the techniques that Aaron taught the boys, especially how to get down and block the ball.   Grayson Samples, new to catching, learned enough to catch the entire next game the team played. 

Gary Snider, Assistant Administrator of District 4’s Big League Baseball program said, “Our mentoring program gives our Big League players a chance to see themselves at the age of these Little Leaguers again.  They remember how they felt having an older player in uniform not only talk to them but help them.  The Big League players love it and do a good job of relating to such young players, probably better than most adults can relate.  It is almost "hero like" for the young players.” 

Coach Snider added, “The corner stone of the program was getting skilled help for Little League players in positions such as Infield, Outfield, Pitching, Catching and Hitting.  Little League coaches request the Big League players to instruct their teams at the various positions.  The program seems to be well received by all involved.   We see this program expanding to all the leagues and players in District 4 Little League.” 

Asked about the future of the Big League Mentoring Program, Coach Snider said, “We hope to build the Mentoring Program to a point where instruction leads to invitations to Big League games and the Little Leaguers can hang with their new older buddies during the games.  I can also see our Big League players attending the games of the youngsters they instruct.  The bottom line is we have some quality young men that are pretty talented.  Our Big League players play the game because they absolutely love it.  They also love giving back and it warms your heart to see it.” 

District 4 leagues that would like to request Big League mentors should contact Gary Snider at 678-488-6808 to schedule an instructor.   

Little League Baseball and Softball is the world's largest and most respected youth sports organization. With players in every U.S. state and more than 70 other countries, the program is led by more than 1 million adult volunteers. It serves children ages 5 through 18, including children with physical and mental disabilities (Challenger Division) and children in urban areas (Little League Urban Initiative).

There are 10 Little League programs in our district.  To visit the various league sites, click on the league name.  

Brooks	Peachtree City
Senoia	South Coweta
South Fulton	Spalding County
West Coweta	West Point
District 4 Big League Baseball	District 4 Big League Softball

The district also has an active Challenger League. The Challenger program is designed especially for children with mental and physical disabilities. Players in this program may be paired with a "buddy" or may play on their own. We are extremely excited about the Field of Hope which opened October 2, 2004. This new field is designed with our Challenger players in mind. It has a field surface that will allow wheelchairs and walkers to manuever easily, sunken bases for the wheelchairs to roll over, extra large dugouts, and a specially designed concession stand that is "wheelchair friendly." Check out our "News" page to see the other exciting things happening with the Challenger program! If you would like become a part of the Challenger program, please contact Colleen Romano at romanos4@comcast.net .

2009, 2008, 2005, 2004, 2003 Georgia State Big League Champions!

District 4 has a successful and growing Big League Baseball program which plays spring, summer and fall. The Big League program is for 16-18 year olds.

All Big League information and online registration can be found on its own web site:  www.D4bigleague.com. 

Spring Big League registration can now be done online through March1, 2010.   The spring season will begin in April.   Games are scheduled as double-headers on either Saturday or Sunday.

Big League Baseball will host a Wood Bat Tournament March 26 - 28.   Visit the Big League Baseball website to register your team.

District 4 offers Big League Softball for Boys and for Girls - not co-ed.   Big League Softball is for players 14 - 18 years old.

If you are interested in playing or coaching at the Big League level, contact Linda North at linda@northptc.com  

Dick's Sporting Goods became a Little League corporate sponsor just a year ago, but they are already making HUGE impacts on local leagues!

Georgia District 4 would like to thank Dick's Sporting Goods for their generous support of and donations to our local leagues.   Several leagues took advantage of Dick's offer to supply equipment bags to teams.    Coaches and players eyes lit up when they received their bags filled with baseballs, helmets, water bottles, coaches' clipboards and more!   

We welcome Dick's Sporting Goods to the Little League Community and encourage all our families to support your local Dick's store!

Printed  in Fayette Daily News, August 25, 2008

As children venture back to school, they get many opportunities to participate in sports.  No matter what the activity, you can help your child understand how to make the most of the experience.  

Dr. Kevin Sverduk, chair of the graduate program Sport-Exercise Psychology at Argosy University, Orange County, shares his insights for parents.  “We place emphasis on applied sports psychology in our programs.  In other words, the psychology of human potential and performance,” he says.   “We look for ways of helping individuals do what they do to the best of their ability.  Not just in the performance, but in the whole experience.  It’s important for athletes of all ages to raise enjoyment of the activity to the fullest level.”  

For many children, participation in sports has become more about winning and losing rather than playing.  “They harbor expectations about the outcome of the game – from themselves, or from their parents or peers.  People tend to worry about things they can’t control.  They worry about whether they’ll win or make the shot instead of focusing on effort, attitude, and motivation,” Sverduk says.  “This is the paradox of control and paradox of success.  The way to give yourself the best chance of achieving success is to stop thinking about it.  If you focus instead on things you have control over, you can increase the likelihood of success.”

Sverduk recommends talking with your child to shift the focus of the sport away from the results of the game.  “Parents can help kids re-focus to things like, energy, effort and concentration,” states Sverduk.  “If someone is  upset over a loss, you can ask, ‘Are you upset because you did all you could and you lost, or because you didn’t do all that you could and you lost?  Why be upset about losing if you didn’t work your hardest?’”  This can help a child understand that the responsibility as a team member is to control only the things he or she can control to the best of their ability.

Parental involvement in sports helps to shape the child’s value system.   “A parent’s primary question after a game teaches the child what is important,” says Sverduk.  “It’s far better to ask, ‘Did you have fun?’ or ‘What did you learn?’ than ‘Did you win?’  When parents value improvement and fun over the score of the game, the child begins to place more emphasis on learning and enjoyment.  The shift emphasizes the process of the sport rather than the results of the game.   It comes back to placing value on things that the child can control,” he continues.

Little League District 4 was invited to participate in a promotional scrimmage for the movie THE PERFECT GAME.  The movie was to be released by Liongate in August 2008, but ran into production delays. The movie is based on the story of the team from Mexico that won the 1957 Little League World Series, the first non-American team to do so.  All participants are expected tp receive a tee shirt, movie passes and key rings from the agency representing Liongate once the movie is released.   Release date is scheduled for sometime in 2009.

The Perfect Scrimmage was held Saturday, August 2, at 6 PM at the Baseball and Soccer Complex in Peachtree City.  Peachtree City Little League was represented by; Tommy Metzger, Van Neeley, Drew Van de Motter, Chris Consolino, Ben and Travis Kuebler, Vincent Tripi, Trey Williams, and Anthony Pruner. Senoia Little League was represented by Andrew Brown, Dylan Faison, Jesse Lowe, Graden Treadwell and Moreland McLeod. Representing Brooks was Cody Simmons, Tyler and Chandler Perdue, Alex Freeman, Dakota Goodman and Jordan Holmes. Coaches were also a representation of District 4 with Chris Neeley managing the winning team along with Joe Kuebler and Phil Consolino. The opposing team was managed by Donnie Simmons with Kirt Perdue and Micah Goodman. Randy Summerlin volunteered to umpire.