Adventures in t-ball

Last fall, Connor told me that instead of playing soccer, he wanted to try t-ball. Sure, I thought. That sounds like fun. I got online, found a Little League team right in our area, and signed him up.

I am having signers-up remorse right now.

Red flag number 1: My neighbor and I were talking a few weeks ago. Baseball came up in conversation, and when I told her which league Connor was playing in, she said, “ohhh….that’s a really competitive league. We like this other league better.” My stomach did a little flip-competitive sports and my 5 year old (quasi-nonathletic) son do not go together. I chose the wrong league for him.

Red Flag number 2-I just got an email from the coach. Let me quote part of this for you:
Practice Schedule
Until the games begin, we will practice twice a week – Thursday nights (5:30 pm – 7:00 pm) and Saturday mornings (9:30 am – 11:00 am). I know several of you may not make it to practice on Saturday mornings until the end of basketball season. (Because the practice field does not have lights, we will start at 5:30 on Thursdays and go until darkness hits at ~7. We’ll change practice times when we can have more daylight.)

There are 3 key things that bug me about this.
–3 hours of practice a week?? For 1.5 hours at a time?? Am I the only one that thinks this is a little over the top for a bunch of 5 year olds playing t-ball for the first time? There isn’t much that Connor likes to do for that length of time, and I have a suspicion that baseball practice is not going to fall into the “I love this and want to do it for hours” category. I mean, the kid was sick of soccer practice after only 45 minutes, and that’s way more active. And do you think that Derek or I really want to be at practice for that long with our preschooler?

“I know several of you may not make it to practice on Saturday mornings until the end of basketball season.” As I was reading this sentence, I was thinking to myself, you’re right some of us won’t make it to Saturday practices since it’s ridiculous to be practicing that much. But no. Some won’t make it because apparently they are all-star athletes in training, and baseball season conflicts with their other sports. Keep in mind, we are not talking about adolescents. We are talking about a group of 5 year olds.

Because the practice field does not have lights, we will start at 5:30 on Thursdays and go until darkness hits at ~7. We’ll change practice times when we can have more daylight. Um, please don’t change the practice times. My kid normally gets in the tub at 6:30 and hits the hay at 7:30. Bedtime is pretty sacred around here. He certainly doesn’t need to be practicing t-ball until 7:30 or 8:00 at night.

There is a big part of me that wants to quit this before we even begin. I don’t even want to tell him that t-ball is starting, but I am sure he will remember at some point, so I guess I have to give it a go. But if he hates it, I will not hesitate to end his season a bit early.

Is this normal? Do I just need to grow up and realize that this is what it’s like for kids to play sports? At five years old? Our only sports experience has been soccer with a local rec center. There was no score keeping, no refs, just kids having fun at one practice and one game per week.

This is so over the top. I am kicking myself for signing up for this league, especially now that I know there is another, less competitive league right around the corner.

10 Replies to “Adventures in t-ball”

  1. oh Megs. I would say if you have a bad feeling about it now, get out while you can! Especially with a lil 100% coming along. T-ball (so far) has been our least favorite sport. We had lots of practices and it seemed a bit much for us too (especially at 5 years!) T-ball seems to be a big commitment? why? I just want my kid to have some fun!
    (that’s my 2cents)

  2. Definitely sounds like a competitive league to me. I’ve run the t-ball program here for the last 7 years. It’s only 3 weeks during the summer. We have practice (during the day) 3 days a week for 2 weeks (practice is 45 minutes) and then on the 3rd week there are 3 nights of games. The town down the road runs their program for 6 weeks. They usually practice once a week for an hour. This team sounds like it’s for PARENTS who want their kids to be serious baseball players! If C was 10 years old I would think it was ok…but at FIVE years old?!?!? That’s a little much!! Yes, they need to learn the fundamentals…but they need to have fun doing it!

    On the other hand…maybe practice will be lots of fun and C will enjoy it. Never know…

  3. At age 5, I was going to gymnastics from 6pm-9pm every evening and having competitions every Sat and Sunday during season. So to me, that does not sound like that much practice to me. Caleb played little league in Cali and they had 2 practices and a batting practice at a batting cage (he was 6). I think that sports are getting more and more serious at a younger age, so that is something we are going to have to deal with if our kids are in athletics. Maybe some different organizations such as your rec center, or the YMCA would not be as serious.

  4. Yikes! That schedule sounds like it’s for kids in middle school. I hope it all works out…even if Connor doesn’t end up loving T-ball, maybe he’ll make a nice friend…or maybe he will love it!??? Good luck!

  5. DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!! Get out while you can. My experience says he could end up hating a sport he might otherwise enjoy. This seems like a ridiculous amount of practice for 5 year olds. I agree with some of the others that this is for competitive parents, not for kids’ enjoyment.

  6. I’d say NO. If it’s not too late financially speaking, I’d change him to the other league that is not that serious. It should be fun and light…that sounds like it should be for older kids! Also, you are having a baby…

  7. This is your number one blog groupie here…My 8 1/2 year old son has been playing baseball for a couple of years, my 5 1/2 year old son (who is very non-competitive – he just wants the trophy & the uniform!!) played t-ball last season and will play again this season, and my 42 year old hubby has been coaching since we began this baseball journey. We eat, sleep and breathe baseball at my house during the spring, summer AND FALL. What I’m trying to tell you is that I have experience in these matters!

    If there is any possible way to switch leagues (or coaches), it would probably be wise to do so. It sounds as though you may have a very competitive coach and that can be a recipe for disaster, unless you have a son who is a crazed baseball fanatic. It would suck if Connor ended up hating baseball because of this experience. Maybe as a precursor to just pulling him, you could call the coach and express some of your concerns to see how he reacts. That would give you a good idea of whether this guy is reasonable or totally off his rocker.

    Just my two cents…Good luck!

  8. Is it too late to join the less competitive league? I’m just trying to figure out what they’ll be doing for 3 hours a week! I mean, its not like they really much work to do in figuring out how to hit the ball….its on a tee! The only other thing I can think of is that maybe they have so many kids on the team, they need that long to be able to get everyone up to bat a few times which is really red flag #3.

    But if you can’t, lets just all think positive thoughts!! Maybe this will really be Connor’s forte and he’ll just absolutely love it.

  9. C played 18 months ago and we all hated it! We were bummed about the Saturday morning games. 😉
    Our kids will definitely get to do outside activities… when they’re 8 or 9. 🙂

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