Sprit of the Game

[TexBlue]

I was calling in a small tournament, involving all age groups this weekend. By the time I got there, the security ( off duty Fort Worth officers ) had already been called to the field where the coaches and parents were getting into fights. By the time I got there on Saturday, the same thing had happened on another field. This, believe it or not, was in T-Ball and Coach Pitch. Security officers were around the fields for 3 days, making sure that nothing else occurred. Apparently the parents forgot this is a game and not a world threatening crisis.

On the other hand, in the same tournament, I was calling the 18-U girls. The batter hit a screamer at the 3rd baseman. The ball took a bad hop, hitting the girl in the forehead, knocking her out instantly. We called 911, got put on hold and finally found a coach who is a paramedic with Arlington Fire Dept. He came over and took care of her until the ambulance could arrive. The point of this whole post is what happened next. The girls on the opposing team quickly ran down to the gate where the ambulance would have to come on the field. There was a tent there, with a lot of equipment all around it. They quickly moved it and cleared a path for the ambulance. They then took it upon themselves to go to every corner in the park and stand there, to give directions to the ambulance on where to turn. The amazing thing about this is they did it on their own. The coaches and parents were concerned about the kid on the field and didn't know they were doing it. These 2 teams play each other a lot and there is a lot of competitiveness, as you would expect. But when push came to shove, they remembered what was really important and helped out instead of being jerks like the parents on the smaller fields. Maybe, just maybe, the parents of the little kids could learn some very valuable lessons from these big "kids". They apparently understand that you can try hard, play hard and go hard, but it's just a game. The parents on the other hand, need to learn to forget about some imagined injustice being done to their precious darlings and realize, if you can't have fun at the tournaments, just stay home.

This isn't an editorial on parents' ignorance or immaturity. I just wanted to give some much deserved kudos to the kids on the opposing team. They truly reflect what the spirit of the game should be, at all times. And they, and all the other teams just like them are why I put up with parents, coaches, umpires who only want the money and governing body officials who think it's all about them, and not the players.

[Alameda]

wow, great story tex.

WTG Girls!

Kudos to the kids indeeedo! Great story.

[Andy]

I have found that the parents at the younger levels are the worst. I believe it is because their kids are just getting into these competitive situations and some parents are attempting to relive the "glory days" through their kids. As the kids grow up, so to do the parents, for the most part.

I also saw a similar situation a few weeks ago, Tex.

Jr. College tournament, F3 playing in took a line drive right in the face. Knocked her out, paramedics called, player taken to the hospital. This was a team from quite a distance away and they were staying in town for the week after the tournament to get some games in with a few of the local teams. I was assigned one of those later games. I did not know it at the time, but the game I was assigned was between the local team that was playing the visiting team when the player was hurt in the tournament.

When I called for the coaches to hold the pre-game conference for the game I was working, players from the local team brought out a nice balloon bouquet and a small gift for the player that was hurt, she had rejoined her team, but was not playing. She had a serious black eye, but said that there was no other major damage. It was just nice to see that level of sportmanship and concern for others.

[WestMichBlue]

Similar feel good story from my hometown.

First game of H.S. baseball District play, local small town rivals that compete fiercely in every sport. Near the end of the game, local team is winning. Rival batter hits routine ground ball to F6, but high throw pulls 6’3” F3 to the back of the bag. He is fully stretched out, expecting the small (5’7”) B-R to go to the inside. But the B-R doesn’t deviate and a collision is eminent. F3 pulls his arm down to protect his ribs and, in doing so, clobbers the B-R on the head as they collide. The field umpire has the out; the plate umpire comes down the line and ejects F3 for M.C.

To set the story; F3 is a role model H.S. student – all conference athlete, honor roll academics, Mr. Citizenship award winner, and team MVP. Not someone to deliberately injure another player. But the umpire made the call and it will stick, despite the strong protests of the home team. In Michigan an ejected player loses the rest of the day, and the next day of competition. The next game would be the District Championship three days away.

The visiting team’s season is over; it is already past graduation, and time to get on with the summer. But they are so upset with the ejection that they come to the home team and offer to play another game the following day, thus using up F3’s suspension and allowing him to play in the Championship game.

WMB

[kono]

As everyone else has said - kudos to the kids (in all the posts!!)

One thing I'm surprised I didn't see - tournaments for T-ball and coach pitch??? These kids should be learning how to play the game - not worrying about how many runs come across the plate.

[Dukat]

Actually I have called some coach pitch tournaments and they can be quite fun as long as the parents keep it in stride and don't let their emotions take over. I love calling them as the girls are really having fun out there and it usually shows. But on the darker side the only ejection I had last year was in a coach pitch game. Some adults just do not know how to act in front of children!

[TexBlue]

Originally posted by kono
...... One thing I'm surprised I didn't see - tournaments for T-ball and coach pitch??? These kids should be learning how to play the game - not worrying about how many runs come across the plate.

Yeah, it's just a local tournament where the kids love to play. Usually the top 2 or 3 teams know who won, the rest of them just want to know who bought the tickets for the free cokes. It is really pretty amazing though, to watch the coach pitch kids. Several of them are plenty good enough to play on 10-U teams. A few years ago, I was at a PONY National Tournament, watching these kids. I actually saw a 6-4-3 double play turned, with no dropped balls or throwing errors. Needless to say, that was the talk of the tournamanet for awhile. There are some really awesome CP teams that come out of the Highlands and Deer Park in the Houston area, where Glen calls.