Baseball Season Worries

Baseball season began this month for Ryan and Lucas! I really enjoy springtime and baseball season. Watching my boys play, seeing friends out on the field, packing up the two littles with all their snacks, toys, diapers, etc etc for games and practices......it kind of takes over our life for a couple months. But it truly is a lot of fun! This year I have mixed feelings, though.

Lucas lost interest halfway through the season last year and told us he was "signing out!". So this year when he didn't seem interested, we didn't sign him up. Until 2 days before the deadline when he was begging us to play. I had to really think about it, because little league costs a lot of money! But I signed him up and so far so good. He is playing in Minor AA, which is the level Ryan played in the last two years.

This was Ryan's first year where he had to try out. Basically, all the coaches watched him catch fly balls and grounders, throw the ball to the appropriate bases, and then bat for 5 pitches. We had been in contact with his coach from last year and he expressed interest in having Ryan on his team again. Ryan has some great friends on that team, and they would all be playing together in Minor AAA.

But then a couple days after his tryout, we received a phone call from Ryan's new coach. A Major A coach. For a Major A team. Ryan got drafted to the majors and skipped right over Minor AAA. On the one hand, it was an honor to be chosen. They obviously saw some talent/skill in him, and felt he was ready for the majors. On the other hand....I was NOT happy. In my mind, baseball at the age of 9 is for fun. It's for exercise and fresh air. It's for playing with your friends, learning teamwork and discipline and hard work. But mostly it's fun!

Adam felt the same way, and so we contacted every single person in little league who would listen to us. Unfortunately, rules state that once you are drafted to a team you're on that team. The only way to be moved to a different division or team is if you are in danger of being hurt. So now Ryan is on a team with 10, 11, and 12 year olds, and none of his friends. And they practice 3 nights a week until 9pm. I'm not happy about it but I'm trying to give it a fair chance. Maybe this year will be hard for Ryan but hopefully he will learn and grow a lot.