The Journey Ended But The Memories Remain
Last night, as I watched the inning that got away from Shelton's Little League team, I recognized once again the true importance of youth sports.
Shelton, CT, is two towns away from Milford. In fact, the ball fields where the Shelton Little League teams play are closer to my house than the fields where Jonathan practices, clear across town from us. Milford and Shelton are district rivals. Having a team so close to home do this well was exciting.
The Shelton team made the front page of the paper nearly every day since defeating Manchester, NH, to claim the New England crown. In doing so, they were invited to Williamsport, PA, to participate in the wonderful Little League World Series.
They lost a close game to Hawaii to open the series. Then their bats came alive against South Dakota. At 1-1, they had a chance to make it to the next round if they could beat the Tampa, FL, team. And for a short while, it looked as though it was going to happen.
Then they had an inning that got away from them.
Shelton lost the game, but won so very much more.
All of those boys get to keep the memory of Williamsport with them. Going home to see DVDs of their games -- games that were broadcast nationally on ESPN and ABC. They get to remember being interviewed by sportscasters. They will collect all of those front pages of the newspapers. They'll be able to reminisce about the fields, the big celebration parade and everything else that comes along with the Little League World Series.
Who knows, maybe one or two of those boys have a real shot at playing professional ball. They were, after all, a pretty darn good team. But realistically, the majority of them just had their finest sports moment.
And that was some moment. Some day, one of these kids will be a grandfather. he'll pull an old newspaper, yellowed and frayed, from his closet of a lifetime of collectibles. He'll call his grandson over and show him the picture of himself on that front page, and he'll get to relive that memory.
And that is what is so wonderful about youth sports.
Shelton, CT, is two towns away from Milford. In fact, the ball fields where the Shelton Little League teams play are closer to my house than the fields where Jonathan practices, clear across town from us. Milford and Shelton are district rivals. Having a team so close to home do this well was exciting.
The Shelton team made the front page of the paper nearly every day since defeating Manchester, NH, to claim the New England crown. In doing so, they were invited to Williamsport, PA, to participate in the wonderful Little League World Series.
They lost a close game to Hawaii to open the series. Then their bats came alive against South Dakota. At 1-1, they had a chance to make it to the next round if they could beat the Tampa, FL, team. And for a short while, it looked as though it was going to happen.
Then they had an inning that got away from them.
Shelton lost the game, but won so very much more.
All of those boys get to keep the memory of Williamsport with them. Going home to see DVDs of their games -- games that were broadcast nationally on ESPN and ABC. They get to remember being interviewed by sportscasters. They will collect all of those front pages of the newspapers. They'll be able to reminisce about the fields, the big celebration parade and everything else that comes along with the Little League World Series.
Who knows, maybe one or two of those boys have a real shot at playing professional ball. They were, after all, a pretty darn good team. But realistically, the majority of them just had their finest sports moment.
And that was some moment. Some day, one of these kids will be a grandfather. he'll pull an old newspaper, yellowed and frayed, from his closet of a lifetime of collectibles. He'll call his grandson over and show him the picture of himself on that front page, and he'll get to relive that memory.
And that is what is so wonderful about youth sports.
posted by E-Luv at 1:00 PM
2 Comments:
I was wondering if you were ever going to start blogging again... ~CT/NY (aka, Tango)
My parents live in Shelton. :) Of course, they don't have anyone in little league, but for such a little town, that's great news for those boys!
I had no idea you were that close to them. I've driven thru Milford many times on visits out there. They haven't happened in a while (too many kids to drive that far for a short trip), but I'm sure we'll be out there again someday!
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