Little League and ESPN

[KillerMuffin]

I'm utterly against the Little League World Series. I think that city wide or county wide little league is enough for kids 12 and under. They get into state, regionals, and nationals soon enough in high school. Baseball is supposed to be fun and teach things like sportsmanship and how to appear like you've lost gracefully when the ump is blind as a bat and that kid on second base cheated to get you out. When you're 12 and under, you shouldn't be worrying about perfect games and millions of geeks watching you on TV. You should just worry about playing for the sake of playing.

Thoughts?

Some food for thought:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/news/2001/08/31/almonte_14_ap/#null
http://www.msnbc.com/news/621989.asp

 

[lavender]

 

[WriterDom]

I see the little league playoffs as a positive thing despite the recent cheating scandal. If you are worried about overzealous parents then you might as well do away with all of little league rather than focusing on the world series. I watched several games and the kids seemed to be having a blast.

I'd be more concerned about the child beauty contests where mothers spend 1000s of dollars and travel all over the country with very young daughters made up as little adults. That's a lot more disturbing to me than a team of 12 year old boys getting to represent their communities and states.

 

[Gilly Bean]

Overall, now days, kids are being pushed in to competition at a much earlier age. This being whether it is a kiddie beauty paegent, a sport, a spelling bee, or trying out for the school play.

I think it is great to push a kid a bit farther then they themselves would go, but there are definite limits as to where it should all end.

For instance, I have two kids, one loves to dance. She tells me all the time that all she wants to do is dance when she gets older.

My other one, has basketball on the brain, and he is only 2.

My husband and I have already decided that any extra curricular activites they want to do, they can, but we will not make them continue if they don't like them, or are not happy doing them.


For kids, it should be fun, not about winning. About playing, and being a kid.



Gilly Bean

 

[lobito]

I watched the championship game, and all I can say is that it's not playing for the love of the game, when a bunch of kids are crying like they were. Baseball, (my favorite sport in the world), is supposed to be ALL about having fun playing it. It's one of the few sports left that isn't naturally a "contact" sport, though it certainly gets that way sometimes.

I don't like watching kids playing baseball on TV, because that means that some big HUGE corporations are making millions off of the kids. While the teams have to have fund raisers to even make the trip to the L.L.W.S. Then of course there's that whole cheating incident, where the people who run th teams would either rather cheat by having an older kid on the team, and falsefy birth certificates, or not do a check at all.

R

 

[PacificBlue]

Both beauty pagents and little league playoffs are disturbing in their own rights. Getting off the original subject a bit... I've heard way to many parents say my child will play sports or my child will do... *fill in the blank*. Why not ask the child? Follow their direction for what seems to hold their interest. I see no reason to force a child to play soccer or football if they hate it just because it's the thing to do or because Mom or Dad is trying to live another youth vicariously through their child. Nor do I feel it's necessary to force a child to take ballet, gymnastics, or piano lessons for the very same reasons. I understand the arguments for wanting to give our children the very best in life, give them every advantage over their counterparts. I think that's still possible without scheduling every moment of their free time. Part of the joy of growing up is having the time to daydream and run around barefoot in the backyard. I think encouraging an afterschool activity is healthy, I don't think children are getting enough exercise these days...look at how many overweight children there are on the playground.

 

[Gilly Bean]

...Getting off the original subject a bit... I've heard way to many parents say my child will play sports or my child will do... *fill in the blank*. Why not ask the child?

Exactly. Why push a child into something? They know when they are happy. My parents let me do what ever
i wanted to. I took gymnastics till I got to tall, I took ballet, jazz, tap, modern, lyrical dancing, did track, cheerleading, school plays, and worked two different after school jobs while in high school. They never once told me I had to do any of it, job included. I did it, because I wanted to. Kids shouldn't have to do something, just because the parent wants them to. That is more or less the definition of abuse.


Gilly Bean

 

[PacificBlue]

If and when I ever have children and they don't want to play sports...they don't have to BUT I'm not letting them sit in front of the t.v. or the computer for hours on end...we'll go bike riding, for walks, swimming at the pool...whatever. I used to be in the minority of being overweight when I was in grade school now it seems its becoming the majority that are. That is a frightening prospect health wise.

 

[lobito]

why push the child? I'll tell you why.

Because Mom or Dad weren't any good at it, so they are detremined to live a youthful life all over again through their kids, that's why. The parents are fucking morons!

My Parents NEVER pushed me into sports, and look how fucked up I turned out to be... uh, I mean and I'm all the better for it!

R

 

[WriterDom]

It's one thing to force a kid into doing something he doesn't want to do. But these kids aren't pushed on a team by a parent, but picked as an all-star out of the local league. I can't see denying them something they love. Let the boys boogie woogie. What's next? Outlawing apple pie?

 

[lobito]

It's one thing to force a kid into doing something he doesn't want to do. But these kids aren't pushed on a team by a parent, but picked as an all-star out of the local league. I can't see denying them something they love. Let the boys boogie woogie. What's next? Outlawing apple pie?

WD, have you been a part of a little league team? a coach? A part where the parents and especially the coaches aren't about what's good for the team, but what's good for individuals? I've seen it firsthand. I was an assitant coach for not even a year, that's how disgusted I was with the fact that the parents were so rough on their kids, pushing them to be better so they WILL make an allstar team. This shit disgusts me to no end.

The boys would cry if they were yelled at, or taken out of the game by the coach, because they knew they'd be yelled at by their father, and sometimes even their mother, because they werent' good enough to be kept in the game.

Little league is supposed to be FUN let me say that again, F.U.N. fun. It's a game, nothing more. I've said it here before, some kids today are raised solely for the purpose to make tons of money by becoming a pro athelete. If you can't have fun doing ANYTHING, then it's just a job!

BTW, kids can't sign themselves up for a team, they MUST have permission of at least one parent, to play on ANY sports team.

 

[miles]

I played baseball until I was 18, and coached T-ball. Little League, and girl's softball. I can't remember more than a couple of instances of parents pushing their kids to play a sport they disliked. If you don't want to play, you won't play well, and you can't fake it! Those of us who have kids know all too well what it's like trying to get them to do something when they don't want to do it. There were always a few kids with problems, some of which were heartbreaking. I did have a pushy parent on the softball team, but it was very obvious there were other issues in the family. I had a 12 year old girl play great in practice but fall apart in games. She told me her Dad said the whole team was depending on her because she was the best player we had (she wasn't). What an asshole puting that much pressure on a kid!

For every pushy parent there are thousands who aren't, and their kids are having fun.

The beauty pageant thing is different. It's perverse making a 4 year old look like she's 18, then convincing her that her worth is measured by her looks. Is it just me, or weren't the mothers kind of....unattractive?

 

[WriterDom]

I played for 7 or 8 years. First on a pre-little league team, then little league, and 3 years in what was then senior little league and I honestly can't remember anyone crying.

Maybe times have changed.

 

[lobito]

yes guys, unfortunately times have changed. I do agree that there are MANY more parents that are good about this than bad, it's just that the bad ones stick out more than the good one do.

There is not much worse in the sports world, than a parent who DOES push their kid though.

 

[Harbinger]

I DO have a problem with parents that take playing too seriously, but this is about competition, too. Those kids were really up for this. It's sad to see the losing team when they tried so hard to get there, but you have to see the winners, too. It's a memory you know they will never forget. There is also a place for kids to be able to dream of achievement, most importantly when they see that success comes from the effort they put into it.

As far as megacorps making a buck off everything they touch, what else is new?

 

[teresafannin]

The rule we used for my son was that if he wanted to play a sport, he could sign up & we would help in any way possible. If he decided he didn't like it, he had to finish the season, but he didn't have to sign up again. We tried a lot of different sports, but the majority of parents & coaches had a winning is everything attitude & I didn't see too many kids having fun. My son was not real competitive, as long as he did better than the last time, he was happy. It was a relief when he got interested in Scouts. We did lots of camping, hiking, archery & things like that. I had never done a lot of camp activities & had a great time.