Summer Rec

I know we are in the throes of the school year already, but I feel like there's SO much of the summer I had wanted to capture here for posterity and yet I haven't.

So, please excuse me while I go back in time a couple months to share with you this snapshot in time.  :)

As I've shared before, Nate started Tee Ball when he was 5 (summer before he started Kindergarten).  He played again last summer (before 1st grade) and finally this year moved up to what is called (in these parts) "Coach Pitch" baseball.  It was quite the adjustment for him.  First of all, the people on his team take baseball very seriously.  And some of these kids have been living and breathing baseball since they were born.  So to say that Nate was a little behind the curve is a bit of an understatement.  But what he lacked in skill he definitely made up for in heart and passion.  What really hurt his game was that any practice he was getting at home was limited and, well, let's just say that Mommy pitching (at 4'10" tall) or Daddy pitching underhand is NOT the same as the 6' coach pitching overhand.  So there was some learning to do there.

Good news is, he got a LOT of individual practice with one of his two coaches or other parent helpers. The other thing I really liked was the variety of positions he got to experience.  They had him on 1st, outfield, and he even got to be catcher a few times.  It really was good for him to get a feel for the different positions and the tasks each position is responsible for.  I really think he'll continue to grow.

This year Alex got to join the Summer Rec ranks and play Tee Ball like his big brother.  I also signed him up for soccer because I knew he'd be good at it and I'm glad I did.  I really think he preferred soccer (it moved more than tee ball does).  But we'll give him another year in both to figure it out.  It was an adjustment for Nate who's never had to go and sit and watch at a game for his brother (we had a few words about that the first few practices because Alex did it for Nate's tee ball for two years, it was Nate's turn to learn the spectator role).  It all worked out in the end thanks to a nearby playground and friends of his at practices who he could go off and play with on empty fields.

We had a rough go of it for tee ball and soccer this year.  For the first 3 weeks or so, we kept getting rained out or cancelled for soggy fields.  But once the season finally kicked off (i.e. the weather cooperated), we had fun.

I really liked the way they coordinated the tee ball teams this year.  Instead of playing a long boring game that 4 & 5 year olds couldn't focus more than 5 minutes on, they rotated smaller groups of the kids through "stations" that worked on them with batting, fielding, and catching.  Then for the last part of practice they'd play a "game".  I really think it worked great and taught Alex a LOT more in one year than Nate learned on his teams for two years.  I hope we have these coaches again next year!!

 So, until next year....

Another First - Tee Ball!

Nate started tee ball a couple weeks ago (starting with two weeks of "practice" - a.k.a. teaching a bunch of 4 & 5-year-olds what a baseball is and what they're supposed to do with it).

Yesterday, however, was their first official "game".  I say that in quotes only because they don't actually keep score, they play the same team for every game (alternating "home" teams) and there was very little organization or competition to be seen here.

Regardless, they had their first game and it was nothing if not entertaining.

Imagine 26 four and five-year-olds out on the field, or in a batting line-up.  The little one whose turn it is gets up to bat.  He/she swings, misses, swings, misses, swings, finally makes contact enough to knock the ball off the tee and then stands there.  Everyone starts yelling "go! go!  Run to first base!"  The little boy/girl starts running but forgets to drop the bat so they run back, drop the bat and start running again.  Only this time they have forgotten where they're going so they run down the middle of the field towards 2nd.  All the while parents, coaches, and spectators are simultaneously yelling directions, explanations, encouragements.  If not to the batter, then to the little boy or girl who won the ball in the outfield (since invariably no less than 5 children ran for it and all tried to jump on the ball at once) and is now standing there holding it, not knowing quite what to do with it until the chants to "throw it!" get through and they launch it anywhere they can (usually from the mitted hand).

It's great to watch these little ones with ants in their pants as they dance, wiggle, twirl, sway, and goof off in the outfield.  My boy is usually the one out there with the running motor...the mouth that will not stop.  He's hooting, hollering, making siren noises, making horrible screeching sounds.  All while telling silly knock knock jokes, pretending his baseball glove is eating his face, and/or touching his "pee-nus" because his underwear is itching him.

I am so thankful for this experience for Nathaniel, though...he's not always what I'd consider athletic, or even all that coordinated.  (He could be if he spent more time focusing on that instead of being a clown but he'd rather get the attention by being silly right now).  But the people are great and the exercise is good.  He's learning something, making friends, and learning good sportsmanship and teamwork.  Go, Mini Yankees!