Sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful sport.....

[Disney1fan2002]

it started with a baseball, and a scared little boy, a scared little boy.

(sung to the theme of Gilligan's island)

Is anyone involved in their town Little League program? I am confused and maybe you can tell me what's up.

My son was 8 last year, playing baseball for the 1st time in this town. (we lived in Plymouth before that) This towns age levels were different. my son was 8, playing with 9 and 10 year olds. (he turned 9 after the season was over, but he still had to play as a 9 year old). He had played in Plymouth, and even though we knew baseball was not going to be his sport, he had a terrific coach and he had fun.

When you get up to the 10 year old age, the game becomes more serious, the kids want to win, and they are at an age where they don't put up with a kid who can't play. In a nutshell, as a mother, last year was HELL for me. My son was deathly afraid of the ball. The only thing he contributed to the team was, he was so afraid of the ball, he would not swing the bat. He got on base 9 times out of 10 because he was walked by the pitcher.

So, my DH and I talked to DS, and even though he loved the sport, we needed to get him out, before it got dangerous. He was happy to give up playing once he realized that just because he was a boy he didn't HAVE to play baseball. So, we retired him at the end of the season. He has known since last June, that he will not be playing baseball this year.

In September, I get a call from a basball coach in town. He was putting together a fall league, and wanted to know if DS was inteseted in playing. I was confused then, because I had been told the fall league was by invite only, and here my son was, getting an invite. My Dh and I laughed for weeks. All the moms going around town boasting how HER son was invited to play on the fall league, and MY son got an invite. Sorry, but finding out the secret to the "invite only league" was laughable. BTW, we thanked him for the invite, but explained that baseball was not for him.

Fast forward to the past few weeks. It is sign up time for baseball. We did not sign him up. 3 weeks ago, my DH gets a call from a coach, telling him when the try-out were for the 10 years olds. We brush it off, thinking they must have DS's name from last year and are not aware we did not sign him up. No application, no CHECK. They will get the hint.

Last night, a message on my answering system. A coach, sounded very aggrivated? Frustrated? was letting us know that time was of an essence and Patrick needs to try out before the draft.

Do they have my son confused with Johnny Damon? geesh. He did not sign up this year, so they should not have any contact info on him at all for the '06 season.

Scratching my head here, any little league people that can explain what might be up?

 

[ADisneygirl]

I think once you get on their rosters they might be afraid you overlooked the deadline or had something going on that interfered with your getting his papers filled out/paid for, etc. They are just being thorough. Better to hound you beforehand then have an irate parent calling because it is now too late to get their kid on a team and why didn't anyone call them??

I've been involoved with little league for 7 years. Not a board member, but as a parent with a son who played. They do call you if you suddenly skip sign ups. This year my son, 15, decided that playing High School ball was involved enough and didn't want to play LL. He knew that last year was tough to play both -- HS practices everyday for 2 1/2 hours and has 2 games a week, many of them away games. This year he said he was skipping LL. Well, we were called incessantly. We skipped try outs, we skipped payment deadlines, -- didn't matter. We had the three coaches calling asking him to please be on their team. He was allowed to pick! Well, he caved in and joined. Now he ends up missing many of the LL games due to schedule conflicts with HS games. I guess the coaches didn't care about that though.

I think your LL just wants to be sure you really don't want him to play.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

I think once you get on their rosters they might be afraid you overlooked the deadline or had something going on that interfered with your getting his papers filled out/paid for, etc. They are just being thorough. Better to hound you beforehand then have an irate parent calling because it is now too late to get their kid on a team and why didn't anyone call them??

I've been involoved with little league for 7 years. Not a board member, but as a parent with a son who played. They do call you if you suddenly skip sign ups. This year my son, 15, decided that playing High School ball was involved enough and didn't want to play LL. He knew that last year was tough to play both -- HS practices everyday for 2 1/2 hours and has 2 games a week, many of them away games. This year he said he was skipping LL. Well, we were called incessantly. We skipped try outs, we skipped payment deadlines, -- didn't matter. We had the three coaches calling asking him to please be on their team. He was allowed to pick! Well, he caved in and joined. Now he ends up missing many of the LL games due to schedule conflicts with HS games. I guess the coaches didn't care about that though.

I think your LL just wants to be sure you really don't want him to play.

See, I can understand it if he was a good player. They don't want to lose the good players. But, I just assumed my son would be all but forgotten once the season ended last year.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Between my 3 kids, they've played quite a few sports over the years, and we always got calls if we didn't register and had played the previous season. Baseball was not my son's sport either, nor was softball for my girls, but still the calls (and softball called for a few YEARS afterwards, and also asked my girls to play in the All-Stars, which made me too...basically, there just wasn't the interest). I agree with ADisneyGirl...they just want to be sure you didn't just miss the deadline, and then come back to insist your son wants to play.

I swear, in our town, there's a competition to have the most players in their particular sport. I've heard softball complain that they lose girls to soccer, and this sport to that sport, etc. It's like all these guys (and it's usually men) want to be able to boast that kids like their sport the best. Hey, wherever they get their thrills, I guess.

 

[debster812]

It may also have something to do with his age. Unfortunately, in this day and age, the kids are forced to 'choose' what sport they want to 'specialize' in. Currently my DS is 8 (almost 9) and this Spring he'll be playing soccer AND baseball. But I think this is probably the last year he'll be able to do both. So, as some kids choose one over the other, the rosters get a little slim. I know we have 2 coaches both looking to get my DS on their baseball teams this year, and he is NOT a star, by any stretch of the imagination. But, he works hard, has fun, listens to the coach, and isn't a problem.