The heat of Texas in July could not prevent 90 kids from the Lake Travis Youth Association (LTYA) from showing up to the baseball fields for an evening of unadulterated, player-governed, sandlot-style baseball. Greg Sones, LTYA baseball board member, saw a New York Times article online about the SUNY Youth Sports Institute and its idea that leagues take one day out of each season for the players to regulate their own games and call it "Sandlot Day". A few months later, LTYA baseball players were self-dividing among three different fields, throwing together their own teams, setting their own line-ups, and keeping their own score, kind of. One 7-year-old participant, when asked about the score, responded, "We didn't really keep score, but we know who won." Clearly, scorekeeping was not as important as the joy of playing for the sake of playing, and while the teams were in constant flux with players coming
and going, why would it matter? The kids who played ranged from 7 to 12 years old and some of them did not even play baseball on a team this past spring, or ever. Sandlot Day coordinator, Sones, stated that "For some of the kids, it was their first time to play baseball." What a great introduction to the game the way it should be played. Photos from the event
At 6:15 the kids starting showing up in larger numbers than expected, causing the leaders to quickly set up three fields; two had a parent, who only served as a human pitching machine, and the other field was set up for pure kid-pitch baseball. At one point on the kid-pitch field, a 12-year-old ace was on the mound as a brave 7-year-old walked up to the plate. While the pitcher was quite capable of putting three fastballs by the kid and getting on with the game, he decided, on his own accord, to take a few steps closer to the plate and pull back on the speed, allowing the youngster a much better chance to hit the ball. This was just one of many modifications the players made to keep the game moving and to keep it fun.
As games go, the evening was not entirely free from argument. The kids, after all, were their own umpires. But each conflict found a timely resolution, the games went on with no hard feelings, and the adults reminiscing under the oak tree, never even looked up. One adult, however, complained the following day that the LTYA had poorly organized the event, to which Sones responded, "Exactly! We'll take that as a complement."
Sandlot Day in Lake Travis was such a success that it has been scheduled for every Tuesday night until school starts. Sometimes it will be kids pitching, sometimes they'll play softball to attract more girls, and sometimes they'll have conflicts. All of the time, however, the kids will call their own shots, establish their own rules, and play the way kids should play.
