T-Ball and other Adventures of a 5 year old Boy

The Woodside Sharks Lineup

You would think that after fall and spring soccer, skiing during the winter and swimming year around that we would be set for sports. Who would have expected Stewart would be delighted when one of the parents in Owen's preschool class asked about forming a T-ball team in Woodside ~10 miles away? It turns out that Stewart has been waiting for the opportunity to coach baseball for all this time. He signed Owen right up, hand delivering the form to the relevant commissioner. As surprising as this was to someone with little community sports experience, it has turned out to be a great time for everyone involved. Owen is a totally ball obsessed boy who is happy to take direction from his father, learns easily and executes well. So good feelings all around.

T-ball in the 4-5 year old set presents a very different set of coaching challenges than soccer. Instead of small children running around wearing spikes attached to their sneakers kicking each other, there is the challenge of milling around. At any given time, only a small number of the kids are doing anything in a baseball game. They spend a lot of time lining up. Owen's best buddy from school is happy to fill his down time by dashing through the crowd, tackling any other child he comes across. If I had to pick one thing to avoid with a 4-5 year old boy, it would be milling around. That being said, everyone seems to have a good time and it appears that they have grasped the basics of taking turns to bat, how to run around the bases (more or less) and to leap upon ground balls en masse.  It's actually totally entertaining and cute.

Owen at the plate

Both boys continued soccer in the spring.  Through the mysteries of the AYSO registration process, Owen was assigned to a kindergarten team in the fall but an Under 5 team in the spring. Under 5 is for pre-K kids but having previously played with older kids Owen is force to be reckoned with. He is a one man tornado in an overlarge AYSO shirt, diving into the pack of kicking children, taking the ball from opponents and teammates alike, charging down the field and scoring goals with an unexpected ferocity. In his last game, he was kicked in the nose and knee and had his hand stepped on.  Once he was done crying, he wiped his eyes and charged back on the field to do it some more. This is all in marked contrast to his older brother who when faced with a pack of snarling boys all going for the ball, remains only too happy to stay out of that mess. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of Owen doing his thing but I'm sure opportunities will present themselves in the coming years.

Owen keeping busy at Matthew's Soccer Practice