Stats for 10 yr olds????

Scrapbooks are a main reason all us parent do these things! Trust me, one day every few years or so, he'll take a peek at it and the smiles will be worth the trouble!

I think most of us have similar stories and that one reason we take this stuff so serious. It sounds like you guys are keeping things in perspective and planning is a good part of that. it lets you kid know you're thinking about him and gives him a chance to get the "Willies" out of his system.

I'm sure you've see the hundreds of things available for kids. Many of those are great, but some not so great. Take you time in picking and choosing and don't be afraid to turn something down you have any doubts about.

Probably the best advice I've ever heard though came from a friend who spent over 50 years in professional baseball working with players from raw kids to Hall of Famers, "Above all else, make sure he's having fun!"

This fellow has told me over and over that if ball players aren't having fun, everything they do will be for the wrong reasons and that will show up sooner or later in all kinds of different ways. Winning is great, but if he wins and doesn't have real fun doing it, it won't mean anything. Its a bad life's lesson.

I've found that out several times during my son's 9 years or so. Winning isn't necessarily fun and losing isn't necessarily not fun. Keep in mind that you're dealing with a kid, and the way they perceive things is not the same way you do. kids aren't goal oriented by nature which means winning or losing doesn't always justify he journey to that end.

If he's playing with a bunch of kids he enjoys being around and has coaches that really care about his feelings, winning and losing won't matter. Remember, the time spent practicing and work leading up to a game are usually more than the actual playing of the game. Those experiences make up a big part of the game experience.

Then, all of the practices, games and other things make up a season. At the end of that season, kids don't separate out the "fun" things from the others. They judge the whole thing as an experience. Once the season is over and its the middle of the winter, they won't remember most of the individual things about the season, they'll remember the total experience. You need to do what you can to make those memories pleasant.

Keep in mind that he's just at the very beginning of what can be a very satisfying experience he will remember all of his life, so there's no reason to rush into anything. Don't make the mistake of sacrificing his having fun for personal accomplishments. Those are things adults do, not kids.

That doesn't mean that if he happens to get someone for a coach that doesn't go along with your philosophies that you jerk him off the team and find another one. As in everything else in life, not every situation is a good one, so sometimes you have to make the best of what you have to work with. But. that doesn't mean you have to force him to be subjected to things you find unacceptable either.

You just have to keep in mind that at this point, there's nothing at all in it for him other than a chance to gain some knowledge, learn some skills and socialize with kids his own age. If he can't have fun doing that, don't force him, That kind of thing will happen soon enough if he continues to advance through the levels. Don't force him to go up two rungs at a time because the chances are, he'll slip and get hurt.

Baseball is a "GAME" that's "PLAYED"!