From the sidelines
Marty Gordon
Eight years ago, a group of 9–10-year-old little girls took the field in the Christiansburg Recreation Department’s Babe Ruth softball league. They would have an outstanding season even claiming the district championship and took a trip to the state tournament.
Over the years, the group continued playing together in the recreation league and even a few travel teams.
Saturday, they claimed the Class 3 state championship at Christiansburg High School.
I personally got to umpire many of their recreation games, learning each one by first name. This weekend, they put all that together to win Christiansburg’s first ever state softball title.
I will continue to support them and remind everyone what the early beginnings really meant. There were plenty of coaches and parents that attended long practices for those youngsters. Way to go! All of you should feel some congrats in the bigger picture.
I was recently reminded by one of those parents that the early encouragement when they were nine and 10 years old kept them playing. They all should receive a big Congrats. They were honored at the downtown Christiansburg summer concert when they rolled back into town on Saturday evening.
The win is important to these kids, their parents, the school and the community.
I also hope people remember how important those early years were to this group.
I am reminded of a comment from my past that was given to me.
“Participation in sports helps young people learn about discipline and dedication as well as personal responsibility and self-control. It helps in the development of like skills, such as goal setting, time management and leadership.”
The Centers for Disease Control points out youth athletics is important in so many ways.
In 2020 (the last year the statistics were reported), 54.1% of children aged 6–17 years participated in sports.
And according to the National Council of Youth Sports, there are around 60 million registered youth sports participants across the country. With an estimate of around 74 million children in the United States, a large portion have participated in youth sports recently.
While the idea of every one of them winning a championship is definitely out in right field, it does get them involved, and in most cases active and maybe in better health.