My grandson had his Spring season opener today.  It was such a great game.  The point however was not the score but the sportsmanship.  These kids are amazing.  The leagues coaches, whom I know well, are amazing. The family support is amazing. The sponsorship support is incredible!  These kids are 11/12 and at a point in their lives that life lessons are so important to their futures.  What I saw today was a reinforcement that investing in our kids is so incredibly critical.  I have coached for many years.  My philosophy was my first goal was to make you a great team mate and then help you be the best player you can be. That value was alive and well today at John Knoll Park.  

My son had his first game today too, 12U Little League. All his hard work over the winter is paying off, it's great to see. Lots of life lessons to be had in Little League.

My son starts his 14u season Tuesday.

This brings back a lot of memories. I played years of little league when I was a kid. We had a couple of really good teams too, even though we never won a title.

 

After playing it, I became an umpire for about 15 years each season. It paid well and I was really good at it. I was the head umpire for many playoff and championship games.

 

Good to see that it’s still going strong here.

I played little league, and loved it. It was by far my favorite sport, followed by football, and to a lesser degree, basketball. I had such a good experience in it that I played high School ball, and College. Then 16-17 years of softball after that.

It isn’t as common as it was, for some reason. Soccer has become very popular, which I couldn’t stand…

Played in the Deep South -- South Carolina, Dixie Youth Baseball League, the Little League of the South. Played shortstop and usually was the lead-off batter for the team.

I have played, coached or umpired for the better part of 45 years now. I’ve called 44 games so far this year. I started calling in Jan. 
 

I love the game. Can’t not be around it. My philosophy for umpiring is that I want to do the best job possible. It’s my profession (actually is - only job I do for money). I want a kid to come back to play next year because he loves the game, not because he hates the umpires. I make it a point to try and learn each players (be it t ball all the way to men’s hardball league up to 70+ yr olds) name and use it as often as possible. I’m fair and firm, and I am known in the area because of it. I also like to have fun, and am known around the are because of it too.