OK, this is the year. We're doing it. *breathe in*
The problem is - I have no idea what we're doing. *breathe out*
John wants to play baseball. OK. Sounds simple enough. You may remember we played heck trying to find a fall ball league last year. Turns out, there aren't any. Oh. OK. Well, we'll try again in the spring.
Yeah. Spring's a'comin!
I will call the Parks & Rec offices for our near communities on Tuesday. Haven't been able to find anything about them online.
I did find the Dixie Youth League. Spent three hours looking for information, and so far, not finding what I need, other than that there's a meeting on Feb. 3rd. (Since when is that "spring"? ACK! I thought I had more time! *breatheinbreatheoutbreatheinbreatheout)
How do they pick the teams?
Does everyone who wants to play get to play?
What do you have to have for tryouts?
What about homeschooled kids?
How does this all work?
What's the competition level?
Where do you start when you're, you know, just starting?
What can we do to help?
What am I doing, again?
Why am I doing it? Oh. Yes. That smile. That's right.
OK, I've answered one question. That's enough to keep me going. If you've done the baseball route before, would you mind chiming in with information? I'll be making phone calls this week, but would love a friendly voice to walk me through this.
Zorak and I are way out of our comfort zone at the moment. It's a twitchy, awkward place to be, and we're trying to maintain our cool-and-on-the-job personas. Not working so well.
And me, with the sports, not so much. I was on the track team in high school only because my ride didn't come until after track practice and they wouldn't let me sit and read. And even then, I went for field events just so I didn't have to run. This drive to engage in competitive sports is right up there in "things I don't get", with choosing a career in nostril hair tweezing, or making clothing from lint. It's foreign to me.
But have you seen that smile? Ah. I've got to figure this out.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
16 comments:
You'll do just fine, Dy. We're on the watch for sign-ups here, too. (End of JAN!)
So much depends on the league you choose. Have you looked at PONY leagues? And of course, actual Little League. We aren't sure which John will do this year; we have a lot of the same questions as you. This is the first year he's too old for Park & Rec and apparently the LL vs. PONY vs. Babe Ruth vs. Legion choice is a huge decision that will have serious ramifications on the rest of his life. *snort*
Thankfully, the only girls softball league here is small, private, challenging but not overly competitive, run by a family - because my girls are my serious-about-sports kids.
It'll be ok. Welcome to the world of Sports.
Let me give you some other ideas: See if there is a Family Y or YMCA. They have sports leagues starting at 4 years old. (Yes, it is both scary and hysterical.)
Check local churches to see if they have the Upward Sports program. It's a great Chrisitan based sports league that stresses fundamentals. (www.upward.org has a search engine.)
Before you know it, you'll turn into "Sports Mom" and might even be.....gasp...coaching t-ball.
But let me give you one word of advice: Do not put sport uniforms in the normal clothes areas. Not if you want to find them all on Game Day. Espeically multi-piece ones like babseball uniforms. Keeping track of multiple pants, shirts, belts, and socks is just not fun.
I could probably handle the kid's league sports if it weren't for the other parents.
Sitting on lawnchairs listening to suburbanites talk about their jobs, their homes, their kids, and Desperate Housewives would drive me insane.
Can we form a homeschool baseball team where we watch our kids play while we discuss what books we're reading, politics, and the coming oil crisis?
I don't have any experience on baseball. And, I know things are different league to league. With MBs rec soccer league there were no tryouts - anybody who wanted to play could up to the leagues max amount of players. The teams were formed after a couple of open practices to basically spread the ability levels across teams. Homeschooling, I think makes it a little easier - MB doesn't seem as wound up and worn out as some of the others who have had a full day of school and then are expected to go home and do homework after.
I want to know what you did with everyone to post so many entries in one day? :)
Amy in Apex
Thanks, guys!
Andie, I think our "Dixie Ball" is the regional thing. Never found anything on PONY leagues, but I'll look specifically for that. The LL website, while an absolute nightmare to navigate, shows that we do have a regional whatever in Florida, so I'll email her tomorrow for more info. I'd really like to talk to the coaches before we decide which route to go.
The one league in Priceville had a note in its last meetings showing that the President had to point out that the coaches "must not" grab the players by their helmets. Oh. Lord help anyone, particularly any adult, who grabs my child by the head. There isn't a trophy in the world that would make up for the damage I'd do to that person.
There is a league in Hartselle seems to have friendlier coaches and a more teamwork/good sportsmanship feel to it. I'm leaning that way. Now I just hope we're in their district.
Sheila, I hadn't thought about the Y! I'll look into that. Thanks. The Upward sports here offers soccer, basketball and cheerleading. I have no idea why there's no football or baseball, but go figure - those are the two on our immediate horizon. :-S
Ernest, you have NO idea how appealing that is to me! Thus far, however, my efforts to get Jess and Geo down here have failed miserably. And KathyJo seems content there for the time being (unless, of course, you could talk your people into moving you to Alabama!) We have enough children with just two or three families to start a league!
Amy, that last post was at one in the morning. :-) They have to give up and sleep sometime, whereas I just refuse. Thanks for the input on how MB's team worked.
Ah. The learning curve just never seems to level out, does it? Thanks guys! I appreciate you each so very much.
Dy
I'll try to call before we head out on Tuesday! You'll do fine, and we have been really pleased with the way Dixie Youth is run here. Man, they'll spot you as team mom from a long way off!! It really is fun and a great way to get to know a lot of people. ARGH! I wish we were closer!
Melissa
Dy,
Both of my boys have played little league ball and loved it. My husband, Rusty, has been coaching for the last 4 years and we are getting ready to start the 5th. Sign up here started last Saturday. We have a couple homeschooled kids that play on the teams and the other kids treat them just like they see them everyday at school. Here, all the kids get to play on a team, at Blake's age (8) they don't do tryouts and they also have bylaws that say every child plays every game. It really is nice and I know we are quite a ways away but if I can answer any questions, just ask. I think it is a wonderful thing for a child to play.
Bridget
Head out? Where are you going NOW?!? You make me tired just trying to keep up.
Thank you, though. I wish we were closer, too. If John showed up w/ Austin, he'd have immediate cool status, as opposed to the poor kid arriving w/ me and my "perpetually lost" aura. Ugh.
Dy
The trick, Ernie, is to immediately set yourself apart. Showing up with "all those kids" is a good start. Carrying a book without Fabio on the cover, even better. Cheering in Latin REALLY gets people wondering and is the quickest way to make the ones you didn't want to talk to anyway scooch right on down the bleachers. And who knows, there's always the chance you'll run across another Freaky Homeschooler.
It could happen.
You can do it ....
Baseball sign-ups here begin in December. As a matter of fact the fee jumps up after Jan. 15.
My dd has done it for a few years ... she loves it!
We have great coaches, great teams, and it is one thing I will miss this spring since we are moving to a new town and it's just slightly too long to commute back here just for baseball!
To Ernest, I do want to say ... the reason that most conversation at the games is light, isn't because other parents don't want to talk about books or current affairs or whatnot, it's because every sentence you are pausing to say "Good hit Jonny!", "Great catch Suzy", "Nice teamwork Cubs!", etc, etc ... it's hard to have anything aside from light conversation during games IMO. And on my dd's team, all the parents clap and cheer for ALL the kids - it's nice.
As far as being freaky homeschoolers, I found we are usually the cool family that homeschools! It's very accepted here and hardly anyone bats an eye anymore when I say we do it - opinions seem to have drastically changed in just a few short years and so many people are doing here, we are usually not the first homeschooling family people have met!
Hopefully, you'll have the same positive feedback we recieve and I hope you enjoy this journey into children's sports!
ROFL, Andie!! Yeah, let's cheer in Latin, "PUGNO!PUGNO!"
Dy, you'll be fine. I coached last year and it was awesome. Have fun!:-)
Brandie, thank you for your input. I think it'll be fine. He'll probably be fine and have a fantastic experience. (As long as he doesn't run into the helmet grabbing coach.)
OK, I'm getting excited. (Or at least excitement is starting to outweigh anxiety. That's good.)
Dy
I'm late to the response here but my only advice is to be sure you explain to your son what an athletic cup is for BEFORE you take him to the sports store to buy one and he asks you, quite loudly in a long line waiting to check out, what , exactly, is it for. Then as you look on sheepishly he begins to place it on his shoulder, over his face etc. until his brother has to point in the general area it is used in and the ladies behind you laugh hysterically and think you are raising the most shelter child in the world. A long run-on piece of advice. But necessary.
Jennifer, that's it. You win, hands down, the best piece of advice yet! THANK YOU. It would not have dawned on me until he had the things strapped to his head, running around making airplane noises. Thank you for heading that one off at the pass for me.
Dy
I forgot one more important thing... never say, "It's O.K. honey, you don't really need it that bad," when he forgets his athletic cup before a game. GO BACK! GET IT! Make sure he has it on before you leave the house or carry an extra! It is important, especially if that day he happens to sub in as catcher!
I'll be interested to hear how this foray into the world of sports goes! T. has no interest in baseball, but I think it might be "good for him," at least, if we could find a gentle, not-very-competitive league, with non-head-grabbing coaches. I dreaded the mom chit-chat at the fancy gym in Florida where the kids took gynastics & dance, but I think there might be less talk about shopping, spas, and lunch at the club here in the wilds of NC.
Eamus, O John!
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