Softball Ends and Field Debates Continue

As the rain wreaks more havoc on the softball schedule I take a breath and reflect.  Tonight begins the 1st round of 3rd/4th grade playoffs.  Without getting into too much detail, I have my trepidations.

As I wrote before, I am all about keeping score.  I think it is great that there will be a champion and runner up at the end of the week.   My main concern is are we, as a league, developing talent and instilling a love of the game in these young ladies?   After all, this is a town only league.  My point is, in a few years these girls will more than likely be teammates playing  against other towns. 

So, when an opponent makes an error or strikes out, I think it is essential that we a) show restraint from the coaching box (read: do not cheer) b) encourage that kid to shake it off and try hard next time.  I understand the kids will cheer any success (even at the expense of their opponent.)  That is acceptable (to a point.)  Never, I mean never, should we be promoting/rubbing it in.

I think it is essential we put kids in a position to succeed.  The goal, as always, should be to get these kids back on the field next spring.  There is a chance coaches and players can win with dignity.

Teamwork, comraderie and the ability to behave with respect are our most important functions.  I hope we can all get through it with our dignity intact.  Big 'if' for sure (and I am including myself and wife.) 

If I may speak to the turf field project once again, please.  I am told that there is a grassroots effort to have a petition signed overturning what is seemingly a done deal.  Hmm, why waste the time?

I saw a final vote.  I saw a picture of contracts being signed.  And I see, twice, sometimes three times a week, maybe the most embarrasing fields in all of Morris County for youth sports.  Save for Whitey Vitale field of course...  That place is a gem and it boggles my mind the young ladies in town have NOTHING comparable.

Is it a lot of money?  Sure.  Are there more significant items in town that need addressing?  Probably.  But when you think of the priceless experience youth sports provide in a child's life I believe the benefits far outweigh the negatives.  Keeping kids off the streets and active is a parents greatest challenge.  As we have seen with the Madison Junior School sports program dying and now coming back to life, other parents CARE about this issue. 

We are becoming a lazy, overweight country of underachievement.  If $3 million can keep kids in Madison from becoming part of that demographic, I give an emphatic YES!!!

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