"Why do you go to tournaments?"
Your mind immediately is flooded with a lot of choices!
For my daughter or son or both!
We are part of the team. We go were they go.
The coach picks the tournaments.
It's a family vacation.
It's part of summer baseball or softball to play in tournaments.
It's fun for the family.
For the challenge
To Win!
Why do we host tournaments?
Simple answers come to your mind. The real answer isn't what you think. After some less than stellar experiences as parents when our sons were younger, our perspective on tournaments changed. The league our boys were in played by a special set of baseball rules that they had generated to "simplify the game". At the end of one season, a team was selected to go play in a tournament. No problem. Our boys were good young ballplayers and they would go and compete like they always did. Oh but there was one detail. Instead of the modified rules, we were going to play real baseball. Dropped third strike and stealing were all new concepts but we had two weeks for the coaches to teach them. Fast forward. As we discussed the frustration from our sons after the run rule defeats and the new desire that they had to play real baseball, we transitioned from parents to coaches to tournament directors. Our belief...let's have the kids learn the game the way they will play it from here on out. No more time was going to be spent teaching special rules. The game of baseball is hard enough. It doesn't need special rules. The boys were extremely excited about the change and the game was now even more fun than it was before!
In our 9th year of hosting tournaments, we still run tournaments for those kids that just want to play that real game of baseball or softball. The game they see the high schools, colleges or professional teams play. The players they imitate in the yard or on the field. Each year there is a new group with that same excitement, that same passion, to play the game they have watched their brother, sister, aunt, uncle, cousin or friend play. As we begin playing again in April, our excitement grows. Our passion for the game is renewed as we continue to bring all the fun aspects of the game to a new set of players. That's why we do it. We want to give back to the game some of what it gave us.
Best of luck on your season and enjoy every season that brings your baseball or softball family together.
