Two items related to youth sports in South Kitsap.
Act I: Can Pee Wees and Little League Play Nice?
The Port Orchard City Council on Tuesday agreed to allow South Kitsap Western Little
League to take over the remainder of the Babe Ruth
Association’s lease on the baseball field at Givens Community
Center.
With the
demise of Babe Ruth, SKWLL had hoped to occupy the field,
thereby giving a better play venue to their older players than the
junior high school fields they’ve been using.
SKWLL representative Bob Showers was there making his pitch, along
with Art Mikelsen, a long-time supporter of youth baseball. The
Little League season is just swinging into gear and will run
through July. The South Kitsap
Pee Wees take the field from August through November.
Pee Wee representatives were not at the meeting. But the city
attorney had determined that the lease could be altered with out
consent of the leasees.
Fred Olin, chairman of the public property committee, was the lone
council member voting against the lease transfer. Olin said the two
uses aren’t compatible, and although Pee Wees and Babe Ruth have
shared the field for several years, there’s been friction.
“They can’t play in the sandbox together,” he said.
Port Orchard Mayor Lary Coppola seconded that observation saying
much of his first year as mayor of the city was occupied by
“playing referee” between the two groups.
“We’re not going to get in a he-said-she-said, ya, ya contest with
you and the Pee Pees,” Coppola said to Showers. “There’s been
costly staff time fighting about how fields would be maintained and
who’s going to maintain them. We’re not going there about this.
“What I told them then and what I’m telling you now is, you will
make this work and you will get along with Pee Wees or you’ll both
be gone.”
Showers pledged that, whatever has gone on in the past, his
organization will prove themselves good stewards and good
neighbors.
“We are willing to work with them,” Showers said.
Rocky Huff, Pee Wees vice president, acknowledged on Friday that
there historically has been conflict over field maintenance. The
problem is that his group can’t reseed the field in the depths of
winter. So the re-growth of the grass — chewed up by hudreds of Pee
Wee cleats — sometimes encroached on baseball season.
The problem has not proven insurmountable, however, and with some
recent changes in leadership on the part of both groups, the
scuffling has died down, Huff said.
The lease transfer is only until the end of April, when the Babe
Ruth/Pee Wee lease is up for renewal … or not. Terms of the lease
are identical for both groups. The next month-and-a-half could be
considered a trial period during which Pee Wees and SKWLL can prove
they can share the sandbox after all.
Act II: Should Soccer Teams for U9 Players Be Randomly
Assigned?
The South Kitsap
Soccer Club met Thursday night to discuss whether the Kitsap
Kick-off Soccer Tournament would die for lack of volunteers. About
a dozen folks responded to a call for show-of-hands, so it looks
like the tournament may come off after all.
A knottier issue was the proposal by the SKSC board to randomly
assign players eight years old and under to teams. This would mean
that, except for players whose parents are coaches, kids would play
on a new team with a new coach each year.
This model is seen by board members as better for player
development. Under the current system, some teams with adept
players and coaches become dominant, resulting in lopsided matches
that don’t serve anyone well, board members said. The focus is on
the team and its record, not the development of individual players.
Coaches and players stagnate.
The proposal has been met with strong resistance from parents,
especially those who have invested time to coach their child and
other children. They say randomizing teams would disrupt any
consistency or momentum they’ve managed to generate among team
members. One of the most important benefits of soccer, especially
at a young age, is the socialization kids get from being part of a
team. Kids don’t like or tolerate change, they say.
The observation was made that qualification and training of coaches
should be more uniform if the club moves to this system. Board
members agreed and said they would provide more opportunities for
training.
South Kitsap Soccer Club last year had about 1,300 players. OK,
you 1,300 families out there, I’ve got a challenge. Help your KIDS
find the poll on the homepage of this blog and let them have their
say. Should the club move to randomized teams for players 8 years
old and under? (I’m OK with players old than 8 taking the poll.)
The choices are:
Yes, I think it would be fun to play with different kids every
year.
Yes. Then some kids wouldn’t get stuck with a bad coach while
others get to keep a good coach.
No, my teammates are my friends. I would miss them.
No, my coach rocks. I want to stay with him/her.
I don’t care. I just want to play.
Interesting concept. Getting experience riding different horses with different temperaments, training levels and learning curves makes a better rider than one who rides only one horse.
A child may well become more self-sufficient, confident and empowered by learning how to get along and form a team with different players. Its more challenging on the coaches, I imagine…but more fun too.
Have studies been done on the benefits for the kids?
Sharon O’Hara
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/ken/news/87024137.html
Good article, Karen – thanks. It shows a great need for soccer- any team sport?- in the kids life.
I wonder how many of the kids would turn out without their friends? The article seemed to indicate kids played because their friends played.
I wonder what percent of the kids turned out to play simply because they wanted to play soccer?
The kids and adults I know pick activities they are interested in and meet people with similar interests who may become friends.
Sharon O’Hara