I suppose in any competition people get emotionally involved. To the credit of Arlington Little League I don’t believe I have ever seen or heard anything that might be considered a sportsmanship issue, that one of the league officials (or umpires) did not get corrected immediately. I think every situation I have seen had to do with a parent or fan and I have not seen players do anything but play the game as it should be played - perhaps because the kids all seem to know one another, or has a teammate that knows the ones otherwise unknown. Once I saw a coach ejected from a game for something and found out later that the Board of Directors had a process in place to deal with situations like this without delay. At the beginning of each season we were met by the boys’ coaches and reminded of a code of behavior that was expected by parents and fans. I think it was effective, because I never saw a situation where a parent or a fan was uncomfortable to be around. Little League preaches a positive influence from everyone – coaches and players – and also from the parents. Our experience is that it works. The Little League ball field is a comfortable place to be.

I would like to say something about the playtime as well, as that seems to me also to be sort of a sportsmanship issue. It would be easy to exclude players that have not developed stronger skills, but that does not happen. I understand the Little League program requires a certain amount of play for every player, but I know that at least some coaches make sure lesser skilled players get even more time on the field.

Our experience has been super! This was one of the really nice surprises for us as we had some anxieties about it. At first I was not sure how this would work out and was afraid players would come together based on ability, with all the good players on one or two teams and the rest spread over the others. This did not happen. There is a method that Little League uses which encourages a distribution of talent at the older kids’ level. I guess it is like a draft with teams taking turns at choosing new players, but I know there is some allowance for siblings to play together, which made things easier for us in terms of scheduling and rides. This has worked out very well. The experience of my boys over the years was to play on teams that performed at all levels. They have been on teams that have been at or near the bottom of the competition, they have been in the middle and they have been at the top. As a parent, I was thrilled. This is the kind of exposure I wanted them to experience – sort of the Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat. It is all great emotional experience for them . . . and for their parents, too! For the years central to their play at the higher level of competition, I am not sure any one team has repeated as the winner of the regular season or the tournament championship. There have been six or seven different teams that have had that role while we have been involved and that means lots of kids got to experience winning. I have not looked as closely at the rotation of losing teams, but imagine there have been lots of kids getting to experience that end of things, too. My wife and I think this mix is super.

The Arlington teams have not done really well in the tournaments that include other Little League teams in the northern Virginia area, so I guess even though there seems to be a balanced competition within the league, it breaks down when we extend across other programs. My boys both got to play with the Arlington All-Star teams and I had some concerns for their feelings for games, which ended in a lop-sided score. I was greatly surprised! Both of them had their moments in the games when they did something positive and those were the things that they remembered and talk about. They laugh at the scores, but beam when they talk about what a good time they had. The Little League competition is very strong in Northern Virginia and I have seen other leagues win the state tournament on several occasions, even missing a shot at the World Series in Williamsport by a single loss in the regional tournament in Florida. I am not surprised by the less-than-brilliant showing of the Arlington teams in the district tournaments. The fact that Arlington has two different youth baseball programs must have an impact on the tournament performance. Still, I know the kids from both of these programs come together at 13 years-old and above. I have followed them in the local newspaper and am not surprised to see that the Little League players seem to make up half (or more!) of the all-star teams at the older age, and these teams are commonly winning when they play the same teams from around northern Virginia. It makes me feel confident that the Arlington Little League program is training the players in not only community and sportsmanship, but also in skills of the game. I see this further as the Arlington Little League players play prominent roles on the teams of the three local high schools. In fact, I think recently there were at least three Arlington Little League players in professional baseball.

The other thing I wanted to comment on, though this might not be the right question for this, is the role of the umpires in the Arlington Little League. I know some of these people and I know them to have been typically dads that decided to get involved and with no experience. There must be training for these people, because they always are there at the games and they seem to get better and better. I talked with a couple and learned that at least two Arlington Little League umpires have been to umpire at the Little League World Series and several umpire in games at the state tournament level! It seems the Little League program has organized clinics and schools and Arlington umpires attend them! Arlington umpires are competitive, if I can say that!

One of the greatest things to come out of the constant mixing of kids on different teams is the benefit to parents. I sat in the stands with parents when my boys were at the 6 and 7 year-old level and as they moved along, those parents went to different teams, following their kids. Then I sat in the stands with new parents, but a year or two later, some of the old parents were back and then there were other new ones, and this mixing happened over several seasons. The outcome of all this shuffling is that by the time my boys moved into the 11 and 12 year-old level, I knew a lot of parents and I have enjoyed sitting in the bleachers behind both teams during any game and have always felt welcome. I’m sitting with people I know and count as friends, as we have shared experiences with our kids on the fields together and across the diamond. The same mixing of players that benefits parents, also benefits the kids. My boys played with and against so many of the kids that there is a measure of camaraderie with the opponents of every team in the league. They are never playing strangers. They are always playing with and against kids they know! It extends beyond baseball. When they participated in inter-school activities like orchestras, they have found themselves thrown in with kids they know from Little League experience. We think the free exchange of kids and parents, which results from the Little League program, is a great model for my boys throughout their life.

I am not sure what to say here, but since I have been involved in the early ‘90’s the communication has been excellent. There has never been a question about scheduling and venues and meetings.  We always know when things are happening.

The national level of Little League at Williamsport has programs of safety and positive coaching and rules review and probably other things, as well. The clinics they conduct in Virginia and Washington are constantly feeding down to the local leagues and I assume Arlington benefits from the strong national structure.

Did either of your sons suffer an injury while participating with ALL?

Of course! Yes, they got their share of bumps and scrapes, but I don’t believe they had anything more than what anyone gets when participating in life, and I think these sorts of things are important and the kids are better off for it.  Nothing serious, fortunately, has happened to either of them, though I suppose the opportunity is there. They play hard and accidents happen! However, I have been very, indeed, have been extremely, impressed with the safety measures that Arlington Little League has established and maintains.  There are two things I am especially happy to see - the very strict guidelines for coming off and staying off the field when lightning occurs and allowing only the batter at the plate to swing a bat. It is great to see. It helps having the adult umpires watching for these and other things that may be not safe.

I have felt the Little League program in Arlington has had the interest in the kids who are playing the game as their priority. The players are expected to do their best and that seems always to be positively reinforced, no matter what the outcome. But the expectations are not only about performing their best on the field. Coaches also hold expectations for performance in their homes and schools and in community activities. We have felt there has been a very broad, positive coaching influence on our boys. We loved the program and think there are many positive things to recommend it.