Danielle---many a time I have thought the same thing regarding baseball season----How RICH we are to be able to spend an entire Saturday at the baseball park watching our kids play.

ANd gee, I don't want to put a damper on any of that soaking up the sun bit....but, it IS more than a little anti-family in that we must give up family dinner time together to have the umpteeth practice. It does tend to make the children think their activities are that which the world revolves around, rather than say, the family, our church and community. Have you had to make the tough decisions to not play ball on Sundays? How about holy days of obligation? Mass is only offered at 7pm and the game starts at 7--which one to attend??? hmmmm.....How about missing a game for your sister's Confirmation (NO ONE could believe we MADE our son do that!!)

Well, that is the reality of children and sports/dance etc. There needs to be a balance. Fortunately, we still have rec league in our town--which constitutes one night per week practice and games all at the same place/evening--but only goes through 6th grade. But more popular than that are the "select" teams which travel to different STATES to play in tournaments and have umpteen practices and schedules as long as the big leagues. These start for fourth graders.

Once we start to get into middle school, all bets are off---your COACH decides if and when your family eats dinner together. Well, that's if you let him. Last year as a gift, I gave our oldest's sons coach (8th grade) the Champions of Faith video put out by Catholic Exchange. I would like to think THAT has been the reason that the practice schedules this season have been more more humane AND family-friendly. He even gave the team a week off practice after a long weekend tournament. That was after I gave him the sequel: Champions of Faith, the Bases of Life. Good stuff.

Enjoy the season---really I mean that!

I'm with Untitled. Sports threatens to take over our lives, even at the 7- and 8-year-old level and I don't like it one bit. Seems the choice is either your child is on the team and is therefore obligated to put endless practices and games before all else, or your kid doesn't play a sport.
I wonder why more parents don't step up and demand a saner schedule which would allow all the wonderful benefits of team sports--activity, fresh air, team-building, cooperation, etc.--without holding family and faith hostage to it.
Seems sports is on a pedestal these days and I, for one, think that's very wrong.

There is an alternative, though I don't know how widespread it is. My kids play for Upward sports...they are in soccer right now in fact. It's a nondenominational Christian group that does sports pretty sanely...one practice a week, one game a week. All games are on Saturday. The teams are deliberately of the less-competitive variety...all kids get equal playing time and play all positions, and there's a big emphasis on good sportsmanship and special awards for "Christ-like behavior". There is a generic bible devotion halfway through the practices and the kids memorize bible verses, but we know several other Catholic families involved and no one has had any complaints about anything. It wouldn't satisfy a hard-core older child that wanted to be competitive I guess, but it suits us just fine. Anyway, if anyone is interested, google it and see if it's near you! :)

As far as the more traditional options...at least it's short term I guess...a couple of months? And it *is* family time....crazy family time, maybe, but we enjoy it, especially since it's for a limited time. And there are enough options out there for mass, even for us in our small town, that I can't imagine, if we played on "regular" teams, we would have to choose between mass and a game. If we did...then mass would win.

Mel--We have Upward Basketball sponsored by a small protestant church here in our town. Although we don't play (basketball is not our sport) we know many who do and it IS a very sane way to have both fun and family. So glad it is catching on. There are many Catholic families involved and several of them have vonulteered to give the half-time "talk" and it has really been good for the community.

Mrs. C--we too always choose Mass over any event. But I really feel for out protestant friends who don't have "options" such as Catholics for their service times. And with the lesser "obligation" to attend than we Catholics have, many struggle with the Sunday games and most choose the game--I think one Baptist family did choose church over a game but then unfortunately, the child didn't play much in the next game--great message there, eh?

But it has been a great lesson with our children regarding having to make choices and what choices are infinitely more important. We try to make the best of it and at the same time petition league managers/coaches to be sensitive to family time and religious obligations.

... as the mother of five kids and 3 sons who all play baseball.

If you think things are bad now, just wait til your boys play high school baseball.

Thank you to my son Billy for sending this along! He is an outstanding son of whom we are very proud (just google him to confirm his pro-life leadership), and baseball was part of building his character. So it does pay off! Hang in there, younger moms!

We currently have 6 in baseball/softball. This means baseball mon-fri evenings, and Sat from 8 till 1. I think we have it a bit easier here, as the only fields are together in one complex, and there is a canteen for 'hunger' emergencies. Also, it never gets cold! As we are still (cross myself) a mostly Christian community, nothing scheduled for Sundays :)

It does wear me down by the end of the season, and Saturdays are hectic, as those without baseball on Sat., play rugby!

Its a lot of 'activity', but with 6 boys, I find less furniture gets broken, the more they are outside and 'gainfully' employed! We do put both Church and family ahead of sports, but everyone knows this about us, and are still happy to have the kids participate. Probably an advantage of a smaller community - smaller pool of kids!

As a "rookie", I'll be pretty lucky when my kids start sports. We live in suburban Maryland, just north of DC, and our parish participates in the Archdiocese's Catholic Youth League. Our pastor would never allow games on Sunday or Holy Days, so we're covered there! Plus, joining CYO will be a nice introduction to the kids they'll be going to school with, since our parish also has an elementary school.

I am so there with you, Danielle. I have had to review the whole Unity of Two thing ... and how this very male passion in my household calls upon me to remember that God's image includes baseball. I sit long hours here in San Francisco's foggy, bone-chilling Pacific winds - they built all the baseball fields on the top of ridgelines where no sane person would live. I drink hot chocolate, hot coffee - but even gulps of Tabasco don't warm me up. BUT THEN, last Sat, my 8th grader hit a home run - this after years of games, practices, batting cages, hitting tutors, analytic discussions over dinner about the proper bat-ball contact spot, Dad's purchase of ever more expensive bats, arguments about swinging the bats through the midair of my living room - he smashed that sucker out of the park and trotted around the bases ... no he swaggered around the bases. I felt, well, thoroughly warm! Sigh. It's all so lovely.