Family Time -- Steve Smith

Some days as a parent are better than others. In truth, some days are

much better than others.

Our family does very well on the road, so I always enjoy the days we

spend away together, regardless of where we go. Kids in the car are a

captive audience, and the best always seems to come out of them when they

don’t have the temptations and distractions of home.

In particular, they don’t have the stress of homework. It seems as

though there is a lot more than I had when I was a kid 35 years ago. It

may be because we’ve learned so much in that time and we have to impart

it to our children, but the playtime-homework time is a struggle.

Other days I am fond of are their birthdays, Thanksgiving and almost

any Sunday.

There is one day, however, that I particularly enjoy. That day is

opening day of the Little League season, which for Costa Mesa kids

happens to be today. Baseball is a lot like chess, another game I enjoy,

and I use this analogy with the kids each season. But I’ve found that not

enough kids play chess to know what I’m talking about, so that tactic

doesn’t always work.

Chess ought to be taught in schools, even in place of something else.

This year, it is my privilege to be the manager of the Cardinals in

the Minor B division. This is the first time that kids pitch to each

other. Prior to Minor B, their parents pitched to them or they received

balls and strikes from a machine.

Each team is supposed to have a banner, roughly 2-by-3-foot that has

the team name, a logo and the names of the players. The banner is hung

outside the dugout at each game.

The banners use a lot of felt, which is not an easy fabric to work

with. It doesn’t cut cleanly with ordinary scissors and trying to draw on

it with almost anything is nearly impossible. Often, in order to make a

colorful scene, the felt has to be layered, which can get tricky. One

small spot on the new Cardinals banner has four layers of felt.

This season marks the sixth banner Cay and I have made, either for

soccer or baseball. I have worked with her on five of them and enjoy the

duty more and more each year.

That’s unusual because at the initial parents meeting where the team

meets to divvy up the duties, such as candy sale coordinator, baseball

card coordinator and Angel ticket sale coordinator, the responsibility

for the banner usually has everyone staring at their shoes or running to

make an urgent appointment they’ve suddenly recalled.

Over the years, I have seen players become attached to the banner. A

couple of weeks ago, when I forgot to bring my daughter’s team soccer

banner to a tournament game, several kids wanted to know where it was.

The banner takes a few hours to make. More than the attractiveness, a

good banner sends a clear signal to kids that we care about their

participation in sports and in whatever they do.

That participation is crucial. The best soccer and baseball teams I’ve

seen have the most involved parents. The term “best” doesn’t refer to the

team with the best record. “Best” is a way of indicating the most fun and

interesting, although most of the time, that team also happens to be the

winningest.

When the games are fun and interesting, kids become willing

participants. I have told the team’s parents for years that my goal each

season is not to win the most games but to make sure that every kid who

plays on the team signs up for Little League the next season. If that

happens, I’ll know I’ve done my job. Opening day is today at 11 a.m. at

TeWinkle Middle School.

There is a team parade during which the banners are seen publicly for

the first time, a few announcements by some league officials and perhaps

even a guest speaker.

There is also some baseball. Our first game is not until 3 p.m., so

there will be some anxious moments in between the ceremony and the first

pitch.

As much as I enjoy opening day, my guess is that the players may enjoy

the closing ceremonies a little more. That’s when the league managers are

required to sit in the “dunk tank” -- a large tub of water over which we

must sit while our players throw baseballs at a target that drops us into

the tank if they hit it.

It’s a tough situation. The better they get, the more chance I have of

getting soaked to the bone next June.

Play ball!

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer. Readers

may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at (949) 642-6086.