via stubencourier.comBath, NY -- On Friday June 17th Bath Little League in Bath, NY participated in the SUNY Youth Sports Institute "Sandlot Day" program. Each year at the end of the regular little league season Bath offers an opportunity for those youth who are leaving the program due to age requirements the chance to play one last game. This has been a game that the kids have come to enjoy, however this year the league chose to mix it up a little bit and to follow the SUNY Youth Sports Institutes Sandlot Day format, which offered the kids the ability to play baseball the way it use to be played.
Sandlot Day was developed by the State University of New York's Youth Sports Institute as a means to get away from Parents and Coaches having control of the game and giving it back to the kids.
The ultimate goal of Sandlot Day is to allow kids the opportunity to
play a pickup game the way their parents or grandparents may have played
the game. "Sandlot Day tries to give control back to the kids," said
Tim Marshall, President of Bath Little League. "Kids today generally
know sports as a community organized competition, whether it be a youth
soccer, basketball or baseball program, they come to practice and games
and are told what to do by the adults. Sandlot Day was designed to let
them call the shots."
Twelve players from Bath, ages 11-12, played an afternoon pickup game in front of parents, coaches and friends. "The kids picked their own captains, picked their own teams and played their own game." Marshall said. "There were no umpires, no coaches the kids were pretty much in control." Of course the kids had to have some basic instruction to get them started because many of them had never played in such a game before and had no concept of what to do. Once they got started they seemed to get the hang of it and have lots of fun. "Of course there were some arguments over calls and some yelling and screaming back and forth, but that's normal when you let the kids take control, they need to learn to work it out" Marshall said.
"We thank SUNY Youth Sports Institute for their support in helping us kick off our first ever Sandlot Day and we hope that this will only be the beginning of an enjoyable game for our kids."
Twelve players from Bath, ages 11-12, played an afternoon pickup game in front of parents, coaches and friends. "The kids picked their own captains, picked their own teams and played their own game." Marshall said. "There were no umpires, no coaches the kids were pretty much in control." Of course the kids had to have some basic instruction to get them started because many of them had never played in such a game before and had no concept of what to do. Once they got started they seemed to get the hang of it and have lots of fun. "Of course there were some arguments over calls and some yelling and screaming back and forth, but that's normal when you let the kids take control, they need to learn to work it out" Marshall said.
"We thank SUNY Youth Sports Institute for their support in helping us kick off our first ever Sandlot Day and we hope that this will only be the beginning of an enjoyable game for our kids."
