Playing in the Sand Box with the Big Boys.

I have always maintained the reason I am involved in Little League is to one day write a phenominal book about all the crazy things that happen in youth sports.

This week, I have been "thinking" about how funny it is to be a women in this boy world. From the draft to board meetings, coaching and tournaments many funny things happen. I can't really talk about current events because then people will know who I am talking about. However, there are a few funny things that have happened in the past that I will go ahead and share.

One day Chris and I were in the midst of moving gear from one field to the next...(back to back games on Saturday). We were walking back to the field to get a bucket of balls that was left behing. A little boy (aprrox) three years old was standing next to the bucket. He reached in and grabbed a ball out and was holding it. This was particularly alarming to Chris cause he hates loosing balls. Every year it is a struggle to keep enough balls for batting practice. So he starts to hurry over to get the bucket. The little boy proceeds to put the ball on the ground. He pulls his lil pants down with his hiney showing and begins to pee all over the baseball.
Thankfully, Chris decided it was best to leave that ball behind. If the boy needed the ball that bad he could keep it.

Coaching a tournament team definately presents it challenges. However, nothing is more challenging than introducing yourself to the opposing coach. I would be warming up the boys getting them ready for a game. The coach of the other team would come looking for the manager. I would stand back and watch. The coaches never approached the woman actually working with the boys. The would approach any dad who looked remotely "coach like" standing by the dug out. The dad would direct them to me. Without fail, I would be asked one to five times in different ways if I was the coach. For example

"Are you the coach?"
"So you coach the team?"
"Are you the team Mom or the coach?"
"Oh, you coach?"
"Are you the coach and the manager?"