Sandlot Play

Robin Lynn Edgell, thoughts.com

Yesterday at my Toastmasters meeting one of the tabletop topics was this:

Which do you think is better for children: pickup sports games or organized, team and league play?

The gentleman that was chosen to address this topic was about 30 years older than I am, which put him in his 60's.  He grew up in that world that we see on TV and in movies that has been immortalized in movies like "The Sandlot" and "Stand By Me."  You know, those movies that draw us to a more "innocent" time.  He talked about how he and his friends would play football and baseball in a sandlot in the neighborhood.  How it invested them with a sense of commradarie that they wouldn't have otherwise had.  He felt that organized sports had taken all of the fun out of the game.

As a military spouse and mom, I have a very different feeling.  Sports are a way to be accepted.  On a  military base, you don't have sandlots that you can play on.  There aren't a whole lot of open areas (at least not here in N.J., although other bases do).  Organized sports allow my children to have a door to acceptance when we move somewhere new.  It's harder to fit into a loose group of friends that are getting together to play a sport in a sandlot.

via coachandplaybaseball.com

There was a day when sandlot baseball and pick-up games were the way players developed their skills. We have moved a long way from free-play style games and now rarely does a ballplayer ever play outside the umbrella of organized leagues and tournaments.

Let us look at why baseball players have moved away from sandlot baseball and also look at the possibilities of bringing back pick-up games.

The biggest reason might be parents. So many parents look at youth baseball as a vehicle to a college scholarship or a steppingstone to a pro contract. We have shown the chances of playing baseball past high school and it is not really in the players favor.

via questia.com via googleScholar

by David C. Ogden

Somewhere between the late baby boomers and the X generation, baseball seemingly lost its status as the object of spontaneous play among adolescent males. "My friends and I would get games going all the time as kids, but kids today don't," observed a Midwestern youth league coach.

At the same time, certain types of organized baseball have grown substantially during the 1990s. (1) The characteristics and merits of both "informal" and "formal" baseball have been extensively debated. (2) Some scholars have expressed concern about the erosion of pickup baseball from the cultural landscape and about the diminishment of baseball's role in the development of social skills. The extent of that erosion and its impact on "elite" youth players has been discussed little, if at all. A review of the sports sociology literature and interviews with youth baseball coaches and officials throughout the Midwest show that baseball is losing its status as a vehicle by which children and adolescents learn cooperation and negotiation and hone physical skills.

via voanews.com

American children are spending more and more of their leisure time indoors -- watching TV, playing video games and chatting with friends on line. That concerns many child development experts and others who would rather encourage them to be outside hiking, climbing trees, riding bikes and watching birds. They want to end children's alienation from nature, and what they believe are the adverse effects on child development.

"I grew up in a pretty large family, having six older brothers and sisters. All I did was play outside," says Olympic gold medal soccer player Abby Wambach. "My parents helped out in that arena. They locked the door on us; they told us you couldn't come back until dinnertime. So, I pretty much spent my life outdoors."

Even if playing outside doesn't lead to a gold medal, Darell Hammond says it is important for a child's physical and mental development.

Read more at voanews.com

Matthew Edlund, M.D., HuffingtonPost.com
Director, Center for Circadian Medicine and Author of THE POWER OF REST


Thumbs. They race across joysticks and pale glass surfaces, clicking and pulling so quickly you need a stop time camera to appreciate what they've done. They kick footballs, pilot spacecraft across millions of light years and explode the sharp-teethed jaws of flesh-eating aliens who would destroy Earth and every living thing on it.

And that's the only part of the kid that's moving.

Adults of all kinds, grandparents, aunts, cousins, mother-in-laws, teachers, come to me with the same complaint: the kids are inside all day. Why are they sitting in chairs glued down like a mollusk rather than playing in the sun? These same adults angrily tell me "the kids' parents should get up off their duff" and go outside to watch them, but they're "too damn lazy to move."

Alejo Tenutta, blog.movingcost.com

Unfortunately, moving to a new town often means losing contact with friends and family. This means having to build new friendships, but in order to do so, you have to find the right social mediums. One of your best options is to join pick-up games at the local park and there are various reasons why. Now, before you simply jump into the game, there is some etiquette you should follow to ensure your success.

Start by finding local pick-up games at the nearest park, whether they're football, soccer, or even kickball. Don't jump in right away, but simply note the time and day. Go to the same spot around the same time and see if they're playing. If they are, walk over to them and ask if they need another player. If they say yes, join them.

By Paul Giovanopoulos, www.socceramerica.com

Are our kids playing enough pickup ball?

There have been countless articles written about this. While we all agree that this is not happening enough, many of us just sit back and hope it starts to happen somehow on its own.

We hope that somehow they start playing at the schoolyard at recess, or they come home to text their friends to go to the local park and play.

Today's suburbia logistics probably would not allow for this. So maybe we can organize pickup soccer. I know many of you just started laughing as it goes against the philosophy of the pickup game. However there is merit to this.

Real Families, Real FUN: Get Out!
All-Family Pick-Up Baseball Game - Get everyone out for a game
by Elizabeth Wells, for Real Families, Real Fun

The crack of the bat says it all--baseball and softball seasons are in full swing. And who doesn't dream of hitting the winning run in the bottom of the ninth? With the stands full of tense parents and a win-at-any-cost coach on the sidelines, kids can let the fear of making a mistake keep them from developing skills and enjoying the game. But for kids to have a chance to learn the essence of team play, good sportsmanship, and a love of the game, an informal all-family pick-up game might be just the right ticket.

When one of our charter families from New York State reported having so much fun at a pick-up game, we decided to take their idea and go with it. 

Read more at thenewhomemaker.com

By Rich Radford, The Virginian-Pilot

Bobby Valentine remembers the days when he would ride around his neighborhood on his bike and round up the guys for a sandlot baseball game.

Or two games.

Or three.

"I was the ringmaster," said Valentine, an ESPN analyst and former major league manager who grew up in Stamford, Conn. "All the kids in the neighborhood kept their gloves on my handlebars, so I'd just ride down by their houses hollering that it was time to play. Usually, I didn't even knock on doors. I just hollered. We'd play until dinner was on the table."

No coaches. No uniforms. And no umpires.

No crowds. No parents. And no pressure.

It was where kids learned how to run pickoff plays with their next-door neighbors. Where they learned to field ground balls on infields littered with rocks and debris. And where they discovered the high school kid from two blocks over really did have a mean curve ball.