kids and sports
Lessons learned on the ballfield By Tom Kuyper Gannett
From the mailbag: Comment: Jake’s Little League team went 3-9 during the season but the kids kept working and we kept working with them. The result is now they’re a much better team and they’ve won two straight playoff games. Last game they scored four runs on five hits for a walk-off win after having two outs and no one on base in the last inning. The team they beat lost only one game all year and averaged 25 runs a game and we held them to eight! Jake is having a great time and doing very well both at the plate and in the field. He even accepted a move to left field for the playoffs because the team needs him there, so he learned that the team comes first and he embraced that. This is one of the many ways in which youth sports are so good for kids. They learned that if they keep practicing, keep working hard and keep fighting then things always have a chance of going their way. They’ve also learned to trust and depend on one another for success. Response: The redemptive story here is not the fact that they won some games after some hard work and affirmation from the coaches, but in the life skills that they have learned and discovered. Learning that it takes hard work, practice and perseverance to get to where they want to be is more valuable than words can say. I love that these guys have learned the value of relationships through working together and trusting in their teammates to change things around for the good. Here’s for hoping that every kid in youth sports gets to be on a team that finds itself in last place, so players can know the feeling of redeeming a lost season by staying in there and watching things turn around! E-mail Kuyper at tomkuyper@kidsandsports.com.
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