Spending money on baseball or softball registration: $75 to
$225. Lifetime investment for youth sports: More than $10,000.
Memories that will last a lifetime: priceless.
Spending money on baseball or softball registration: $75 to $225.
Lifetime investment for youth sports: More than $10,000.
Memories that will last a lifetime: priceless.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus but at this time of the year thoughts also turn to registering your son or daughter for youth sports. And, if it’s your first time, are you ready for this possible 10-year journey that sometimes doesn’t lead to the land of Oz?
Are you ready to ingest hundreds of hot dogs that will qualify you as a spokesperson for Oscar Mayer? Are you ready to sip down 40 gallons of coffee per season that subsequently has you searching for the nearest restroom? And, are you ready to purchase Mountain Mike’s frequent pizza debit card?
Can you endure the anguish your son or daughter may experience by being called out on the worst call by an umpire you’ve ever witnessed? Can you endure your child striking out four times in a game, the last one with the bases loaded in the last inning? Can you endure a game that was supposed to start at 5 p.m., actually began at 6pm and was completed just before dark, thus ruining your dinner reservations at a romantic bistro.
Will you be able to work the snack shack, get after-game snacks for your team, coordinate the post-game snack shack schedule for parents and make sure your kid has a snack, all in one day?
Is your car big enough to haul 12 muddy youngsters home from practice? No? Well, trade in your Yugo for a reasonably priced used Hertz shuttle van. And leave enough room for the equipment.
Can your current vehicle be equipped with a GPS unit so that when you arrive at practice and realize it’s the wrong field, you can make easily it across town to the right destination on time?
Are you ready for cold dinners reheated three times, dinners on the run, In-N-Out hamburger dinners in your car, yummy nacho cheese dinners at the field or a microwaved burrito at the mini mart?
Are you positive you can withstand watching a game in sub-freezing inclement weather or dripping of sweat in desert like conditions? Is your folding chair equipped with a heated seat, a portable fan, a parka, a mini fridge, an umbrella, a hot chocolate holder and a fold up wind screen?
Can you refrain from yelling at the umpire, yelling at your spouse, yelling at your child, complaining about the field, pestering everyone for the score of the game every half inning, yelling at your spouse again because he or she doesn’t know what inning it is and can you quit complaining that the field doesn’t have a jumbo plasma TV scoreboard so you can watch the instant replay?
Will buying an athletic supporter, batting gloves, a cup, non-wedgie sliding pants, an Under Armour sweatshirt, a glove, a nitro glycerin bat, an equipment bag with a Gatorade mini-bar, sunglasses (yes, they look cool), sweatbands, cleats, socks, eye black (so your player looks tough), pants and 27,000 bags of sunflower seeds bother you?
So, are you still ready for this?
Well, if you’re like most new parents, you’ll sign on the dotted line, hand over a check, grimace at what awaits you and wonder what you’ve just gotten your self into.
What you’ve gotten into, believe it or not, is spending priceless time with your child, despite the sunburned shoulders and frost bit hands.
Rich Taylor is the CEO and head instructor of California Pitching Academy and a scout for the New York Mets. Reach him at
rj******@ya***.com
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