Unorganized Baseball Part 2
March 8, 2010In Part I of the Unorganized Baseball series we looked at our (parental) goals for kids as they play organized sports, whether these goals are being met, and the inclusion of pick up baseball as a possible solution. In Part II let’s look at the current state of youth sports (as if we all didn’t know) and explore the ramifications. I’ll also share some of my personal baseball observations.
Let me lead off with with this quote from Don Weiskopf, author of BaseballPlayAmerica.com. “I have always believed that youngsters learn the game best in an unstructured setting. The fundamentals must be practiced continually, even at the big league level. Many kids have missed out on the simple pleasure of playing catch with a parent or sibling. Since they are not playing enough catch, the throwing skills of young children have diminished. They need to make playing catch fun and challenging. Young players need more skill-based, fun-resulting experiences, as opposed to high-pressurized organized league play.”
Here’s what Johnny Damon has to say about the subject. “I think nowadays kids are getting so worn out playing baseball year-round that by the time they get to the high school level, they’re kind of tired of it and tired of the politics of it, instead of just going out there and playing baseball.”
THE KIDS ARE ORGANIZED
I couldn’t agree more with both of these quotes. The simple fact is that today, if a kid’s playing sports in the States, he’s most probably participating in a game structured and organized by adults. David Brooks writes in his excellent article titled The Organization Kid “Kids of all stripes lead lives that are structured, supervised, and stuffed with enrichment. Time-analysis studies done at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research provide the best picture of the trend: From 1981 to 1997 the amount of time that children aged three to twelve spent playing indoors declined by 16 percent. The amount of time spent watching TV declined by 23 percent. Meanwhile, the amount of time spent studying increased by 20 percent and the amount of time spent doing organized sports increased by 27 percent. Drive around your neighborhood. Remember all those parks that used to have open fields? They have been carved up into neatly trimmed soccer and baseball fields crowded with parents in folding chairs who are watching their kids perform. In 1981 the association U.S. Youth Soccer had 811,000 registered players. By 1998 it had nearly three million.
Today’s elite kids are likely to spend their afternoons and weekends shuttling from one skill-enhancing activity to the next. By the time they reach college, they take this sort of pace for granted, sometimes at a cost. In 1985 only 18 percent of college freshmen told the annual University of California at Los Angeles freshman norms survey that they felt “overwhelmed.” Now 28 percent of college freshmen say they feel that way.”
TODAY’S SPORTING PRODUCTS
For the social development of kids, I find these stats alarming and so does Peter Gray in his article about Kids and Social Play “How sad it is that children today have less opportunity for true social play, unsupervised by adults, than we did when we were children. Not only does this loss contribute to the epidemics of childhood obesity and depression, but it also, I fear, is making it harder for children to grow up with a full appreciation of democratic values. In play we learn how to negotiate our needs, as equals, and to treat others as equals. In play, no matter what our age, we learn that we are the adults; there is no higher authority to turn to who will solve our problems.”
“Bullies persist, and so do patsies. But social play, more than any other force we know of, helps people overcome their bullying and helps the patsies become more assertive.”
Viewed from a baseball perspective, I have a sneaking suspicion that the current state of youth sports isn’t effective either. Aside from the “burn out” problem that Johnny Damon highlighted, my whole reason for diving into this subject came from watching amateur ball in the Southern California area. The stiffness and lack of improvisation when compared to their Dominican or Puerto Rican counterparts got me thinking. I don’t have any hard stats, but could it be attributed to the fact that kids in Latin American countries are playing less organized and more pick up games?
It’s just my opinion, but I think the best players in the world right now come from Latin countries. Again, this is an unscientific opinion, but I think much of their greatness comes from their improvisational, playful approach to the game. And I think much of this comes from growing up playing improvisational, playful, unorganized games. Maybe I’m wrong, but what if I’m right?
NEXT BLOG POST
In my last installation of this series, I’ll look into why we’ve drifted away from pick up games and explore some possible options. I’ll also include a bunch of rules that kids can use if they’re interested in starting some neighborhood games. Until then, keep your eye on the ball.
Mr. Mayne,
This is a true testiment to the way the sport is played today. I grew up playing ball under the watchful eye of my father. My father’s love for the game started back in Dayton, Ohio. He would go down to Cincinnati with his father to watch the Reds play, he listened to games on the radio, and collected and traded cards (back when they actually meant something to the youth of yester-years). He talks very little about his little league experience (having played with Mike Schmidt) and isn’t much for story telling unless it entails: a trip to a ballpark, watching his son and daughter pitch in little league games (yes my sister was a ball player also and used to scare some of the boys on her visits to the mound), or the perfect game he caught in his Senior League. He used to play pick-up games with kids in the neighborhood after school until his mother would yell for him to come home for dinner. The idea of pick-up games was oh so common back then (long before the creation of hi-tech gaming systems). The interest back then was for the love of the sport, not so much nowadays.
Organized games were the first thing I ever encountered and I don’t think once in my life time did I ever play in an unorganized/pick-up game. Not only did I not have a lot of kids my age that played in my neighborhood, but it just wasn’t feasible to try to conger up kids near by to play in a pick-up game since there was no field within walking distance of our houses. Both of my parents worked and organized baseball was all I had. Very similar to the youth of today, however the youth of today probably have it harder.
Now at 28 years old I miss the sport immensely! I still attend Braves games on a consistent basis, and am constantly watching games on TV (I don’t know why I have yet to sign up for the MLB Ticket). My fascination and love for the sport will never dissipate. Once the weather gets better and the little league season is back in full swing, I intend to go back to the old fields I grew up on to watch the kids play (as I have been doing for the last 4 or 5 years). It’s great to see what I used to look like and to see how coaching styles and strategies have an effect on the way these kids play.
I am with you on the notion that the youth of today in the U.S. aren’t nearly as talented or share the joy of the game as the youth players of Latin America. The competitiveness of game play is prevelent here, but the natural ability of greatness seems to be unattainable.
I am glad I stumbled upon your material this morning. It was nice to read something refreshing that wasn’t worded, coded, or dressed up like an ex-player who’s succumb to the ESPN fashion story telling. As much as I like their coverage, their analysts drive me crazy some times.
Please do me the favor of checking out my father’s website, which I have attached in the “reply-website” section box. He published a book (which all of the proceeds go to the organization BAT – Baseball Assistance Trust) with interviews from former President Jimmy Carter, Ty Cobb’s personal batboy, an old beer vendor at Fulton County stadium; the list goes on and the interviews are on going. They are typically comprised in a quarterly newsletter. The newsletter is free to sign up for and I think it is something you would truly enjoy. It something he does for fun, to trace the roots and history of baseball through the eyes of the interviewee. Please either email me back to be added to the list with your mailing address or email my father at: abe.schear@agg.com.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. My sole intension was to share my view of baseball in my eyes and not to push my father’s work onto you, but I guess that’s what happens when your father’s love for the game radiates in my mind. Keep up the good work and I look forward to reading your book.
Adam
Sorry the website didn’t show, but here’s the link: http://www.irememberwhen.org.