Hooray for the champs

*7/12 posting

Tonight my son's little league took the title of "Little League Pee Wee World Series Champions." Pretty exciting for a bunch of 7 and 8-year-olds. And plenty exciting for their parents. This season I felt a little out of the loop. I hadn't attended many practices since his 6-year-old brother was playing t-ball this year. And for t-ball, they had a pretty rigorous schedule. Practice two nights a week, sometimes three. They'd start at 5:30. Sometimes they'd go to 6:45, but most often 'til 7 and sometimes it was 7:10 or 7:15 by the time they'd wrap up. But the kids didn't complain. The coaches enjoyed it. So, I was often there with the youngest boy and only made it to a couple of his big brother's practices. I missed several games for the same reason. I was at baseball with the little one while my husband was at baseball with the older one.

Truth be told, my older son wasn't that enthusiastic about playing. At sign-up time, he was all excited about having his good friend as a teammate. A couple weeks into the season and the novelty had worn off. Last year he had played soccer rather than baseball and I think it suited him a little better. He's a very active kid who drifts off when situated in the outfield.

A couple times he claimed to have a headache or a stomachache and then as soon as I gave in and let him stay home from practice, he magically was cured. He didn't put in the effort I know he could have. By the time the season ended, he was getting into it and enjoying it more. He was getting dressed in his uniform an hour before we had to leave.

I thought it was cool when they won their division title. Then when they won the playoff game, it was even cooler. And it was cooler yet when they won the next playoff game and advanced to the championship. The last playoff game was a nail biter. I arrived a little after the game started to learn that they were down 2 -1. Then they came back and had a 4-2 lead. Then the other team scored 3 and we were down 5-4. Then we got two more runs to win it in the bottom of the final inning.

The championship game was also exciting. Our team pitched a shut-out. One of our pitchers also hit a home run -- the only run of the game. The boys were so excited to win. They celebrated with cans of silly string - and covered the coach in it. The coach had his two stepsons as helpers. He is such a patient and easy going guy. I like when a guy like that can lead a team to be successful. It's much more pleasant than a hot-headed screaming and berating coach. Once in a while you come across one of those and they are positive that their approach works. But hey, I'm not a coach. I'm not an athlete, so who am I to judge.

Anyway, it was quite a game and will be quite a memory for the boys on the team. Of my five boys, the four older ones have all played on a championship team at some point. Some contributed more than the others. I'm glad they've all had that experience, though. My youngest will move up to the Pee Wee League next year and hopefully he'll be able to have that experience at some point as well.