09-25-09
Is Baseball Fun Anymore?
I saw a program the other night on baseball’s greatest legends. The
segment on Willie Mays noted all his gold glove awards, all-star
appearances, home runs and tremendous all around skills. What really
struck me though was when they interviewed other players from his era
and they recalled how Willie played the game like a little kid. His
enthusiasm, joy and love of the game defined him as much as all his
records.
This weekend my 12-year-old son and I visited my hometown where my
dad still lives. We drove around town by all the baseball fields –
the tiny softball field (40-foot bases!) at the city park where the
high school kids taught us to play, the Little League fields where I
played and grandpa coached, my elementary school where we played
softball after school (with teachers and even the girls!) and the
street I grew up on which was the outfield and our front lawn the
infield for after dinner wiffle ball. The gloriously fun days of my
baseball career coincided with Willie’s – the 1960s.
How It Used To Be
I grew up in a small town in the Sacramento Valley. Nearly all the
kids walked or rode bikes to elementary school. In those days maybe
you would go home after school or maybe you would hang around and
play pick-up games of football, basketball or softball. The general
rule was get home by around 5 o’clock when your parents got home from
work and before dinner. We had lots of time to play on our own
without adults around. We picked teams, set the batting order,
aligned the defense, were the umpires and provided the roar of the
crowd.
Little League baseball was about the only “organized” sport for young
kids in our town and was at that time only for 9-12 year olds. So
before you got to junior high most kids played whatever sports for
fun on their own with their schoolmates and neighborhood friends.
How Things Have Changed
Flash forward to realities of today. Little League, soccer, swimming,
just to name a few, all have organized programs for kids starting at
kindergarten age or younger. Pop Warner tackle football for 5 year
olds (but your child must weight at least 35 pounds!)
Mom picks up the kids at school and has to get Susie to her comp team
soccer practice and make Jimmy do his homework right away because he
has an accordion recital tonight at church right after he finishes
baseball practice with his travel ball team. This is just a
weeknight. The whole weekend revolves around the kids’ sports, which
will be played in two different towns. And they are in 2nd and 4th
grade.
To some I’m exaggerating, to some I’m not. A lot of kids have their
schedules completely booked by parents starting at a very early age.
For many there is no time to call your buddies and meet at the park
to play a game just for fun. Youth sports for elementary school kids
today have become more and more industrialized and ALWAYS require
adult supervision and direction. They have become less about fun and
community and more about parents wanting to fulfill a child’s
“athletic destiny” and coaches satisfying their egos.
Youth Baseball Becomes An Industry
I just finished my sixth year coaching Little League baseball. I
never dreamed of going through Little League a second time, but it
happened and was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve ever had.
But times have changed. Kids have their own bats, including $250
price tags. All-star teams starting at 8 years old. Private lessons
and tournament travel ball teams (cha-ching!). Adult politics have
elevated to levels previously unknown to mankind. Expectations and
pressures put on kids to perform by coaches and parents that often
take all the fun out of the game. And let’s remember yet again, the
kids are in elementary school.
Baseball Should, And Can, Be Fun
A few years ago our Little League had a coaches’ clinic put on by a
couple of the managers in our Majors division. Both played Division I
baseball in the SF Bay Area. Both knew the game, how to teach
fundamentals, strategy, etc. But the most compelling thing they said
was, “Practice and games are fine, but you need to give the kids some
time to just have fun. Make time in practice when the adults sit
down, be quiet and just let them play on their own.”
I took their advice and made it a point to do that with my baseball
teams and you know what happened? They all learned to play like
Willie Mays.
ERIC BLOOM BIO
Eric Bloom is a Positive Coaching Alliance certified youth sports
coach. He lives in Aptos, California and served as a parent, coach
and board member in Aptos Little League.
