Wednesday, June 8, 2011

We Take Our Youth Sports Seriously

That should be the motto for Owensboro, Kentucky.


Riley is playing on a coach-pitch softball team and it has been so much fun.  But it sure is a step up from Iona T-Ball.  Long gone are the days of moms coaching and throwing out some rubber bases in the shady spot of the park.
These girls are serious. 
Cleats? Yes.
Your own helmet and face mask? Yes.
Taunting the batter through rhythmic song and chatter? Yes.
Umpires in professional blues, complete with exaggerated strike calls and deep fist pumps for outs?  YES.
It's awesome.
It has been quite the leap, but Riley has caught on really well.  She learns quickly and is eager to listen to her coaches. (Which made us realize we should probably not coach her in basketball anymore, seeing as how she had no respect for us as coaches.)
Unfortunately she has to miss three games and the entire tournament.  When we told the coach he asked if Riley wanted to live with him instead of go to Idaho :)
We initially signed her up for fast pitch because that season has already started and ended, but the team held all their practices on Sunday.  Sad.
It was such an ordeal.  I specifically asked at sign-ups if any games would be held on Sunday and they said no.  I didn't even think about practice.  After about twenty calls to coaches and league directors we switched her to slow pitch.  Fortunately, this coach doesn't hold any practices on Sunday. That man will be blessed.

6 comments:

Pat said...

wow! I am so impressed. Riley you are looking good!
side note it snowed at the Teton pass this morning

Mr. and Mrs. Smith said...

I love it! It is so fun going to their games when they can actually play ball! It is funny with kade i loved t-ball..but as he gets older and playing real ball with stealing bases and kids actually throwing the ball pretty good speed, to go to the younger kids t-ball games are a little less exciting! ;) I have noticed how much more INTO football and baseball people are here in boise..its no wonder the boise schools always clobbered us! ;)

Buffy said...

LOVE it! Way to go Riley. I love when they are out of tball - that is almost painful for me to sit through. Thankfully Ty moves up to machine pitch next year and Kade up to kid pitch. Sorry she has to miss so many games - but we are so excited to see you. Our stake lagoon day is July 14th so we will probably go that day if that works out with your schedule we'd love to go with you guys.

Ali said...

I think a high-level of organization in sports is great for kids. Maybe it can become too much at some point and inhibit fun, but having good coaches, good umps, supportive parents, and team-mates who are trying to improve is all good in my book.

You couldn't find any team that didn't practice on Sundays? Do any other Mormon kids play in any league?

Ali said...

Previous comment was Brad.

Todd Johnson said...

"Any other Mormon kids"? I need to remind you that our primany last week consisted of Riley, Macie, Charlotte, Josalyn (a self-proclaimed dancer) and Chris, who is moving next month...
So, no.
The other Mormon kids don't all play on a different team. We are the Mormon kids.

They organize the teams by school. So unless she wanted to play on the other elementary school's team, she was only left with the one fast-pitch option.

There is another family in our branch with kids (they just happened to be gone last week) and they have played softball in years past. They said even though regular season games aren't on Sunday, there will most likely be Sunday games in the tournament.

All the soccer leagues play on Sunday as well.
I have discoverd that to most people here, keeping the Sabbath Day holy consists of attending church. After that you are good-to-go. -Val