My wife and I this past Saturday went to our first ever Bitty Ball game where friends of ours 4-year old was a participant. While we sat in the small, musty old gym I was reminded of a fact that I have previously learned in the past, but from time-to-time forget and it is this....kids have it all right and adults have it all wrong.
Bitty Ball is a great example of how important mentoring is for children. As these four year olds ran/fell up and down the court, you could tell the game was being played how it was meant to be played. That is with laughter, teamwork, and good sportsmanship.
Bitty Ball is an exceptional example of the old adage we have all heard that states....everything we need to know as adults we learn before the age of six. There is some truth behind that. These kids learn to work together for the better of the whole, not to focus on 'who' gets the glory, try hard irregardless of the score (if there even is a score), and how to keep our eyes on the goal (so you don't run off into the stands, get lost and never return to the court). You get the picture.
It makes we wonder if those people whom find themselves in trouble as adults ever had someone invite them to Bitty Ball? Did anyone ever share with them the importance of others first and me last? The answer is probably resounding.
It is fun to watch kids playing basketball who get excited about simple things such as, "look mommy I've got my own jersey" or "look mommy I was able to put my own shoes on today...the right feet too" or "WOW, we got strawberry Caprisun today...COOL!"
That in comparison to tattooed professionals who in-between games attend court dates on weapons charges, care more about how they look on the court than how they can make their teammates better, think sharing somehow involves passing around STDs to out-of-town groupies, and annoyingly tug at the front of their jerseys to draw attention to the team name on the front of the jersey when in reality they are actually attempting to draw attention to their own successes.
Bitty Ball shuns those principles and is successful in part because some adults care enough to show children the right way to engage in competition. Unfortunately, as our children get older the caring adults seem to vanish and are replaced by drill Sargent's bent on world domination or however far the 10-12 year old pee-wee baseball soldiers can take them.
Yeah, my gut feeling is there are few if any Bitty Ball players sitting in prison. However, maybe that could be a good ministry for some eager men/women interested in sports and convicts. We could call it Bitty Ballin'. After all, it is never to late to go back to Kindergarten and learn all that we need to know even if we are no where near six any longer.
Steve
(Thanks to Paul and Gretchen Bush for the picture of Pierce hoopin it up)
5 comments:
First of all, let me tell you Steve that you have quite the talent for writing!! If you ever get out of therapy you should pursue a career in writing!! Secondly, what truth there is to what you said! I treasure the innocence of my children and all children for that matter, they have not yet been corrupted by this world and wouldn't it be nice if they would only stay that way. Thanks guys for coming that was really sweet and Pierce was beyond thrilled that "his friends" came to watch him :)
Steve - you rock! I agree with Gretchen that you have a talent for writing. I wish Levi could stay innocent forever!! LOL!
What is it with our guys being the talented writers among us. I wish I had matt's talent to write on my blog, one of the reasons gretchen I didn't think that I could blog.
Anyway, good insight.
I told him that he needs to start saving some of writings and send them off to various newspapers. I honestly think he could do some freelance writing.
Bitty Ballin' - ha ha! Love it!
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