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My almost-11-year-old son Johnny’s Little League season ended last night when his All-Star team lost to another team from our town (Vienna, VA–where baseball is far and above THE biggest sport).  But what a great experience this season–his first one in the “Majors” of Vienna Little League–has been for him, even beyond the great post-game feasts where Johnny (above) can never seem to get enough watermelon.  The coaching he’s received has been amazing–far beyond just baseball skills.  I never really appreciated competitive sports that much, having only been a cheerleader myself and not happy about the fact that someone always has to lose; I also grew up without any brothers.  But now seeing the world of competitive sports at a deeper level through the eyes and experience of my son, I’m now much more appreciative of the broader, positive aspects of Little League that Kevin Hassett pointed out to me a year ago, when he shared with me this article on the subject, where he explains (emphasis added):

When pundits discuss the influence of sports on American culture, they often emphasize the negatives: Michael Vick and dogfighting; the steroids scandals in baseball; lewd fan behavior in football; doping incidents in cycling and track. But below the radar of popular athletic culture is something that has profoundly shaped the lives of millions of Americans for the better: youth sports. A growing body of research is showing the social and economic benefits of participation in youth sports to be surprisingly large and overwhelmingly positive. Other things being equal, if a kid plays sports, he will earn more money, stay in school longer, and be more engaged in civic life…

we speak from personal experience. What we have learned coaching youth baseball suggests why sports, especially modern team sports, can be so transformative.

For starters, one thing we have noticed is that no matter how low the stakes, the participants’ emotional attachment to competition is intense. There seems to be little distinguishable difference between the transcendent joy of a World Series victor and a local Little League champion. A kid who has never had a hit in his life will feel like a Major League all-star when he rounds first base after his first line-drive up the middle. It’s doubtful there is a former Little Leaguer around who doesn’t rate his first home run as one of the happiest moments of his childhood.

A coach does not have to teach a kid to care about winning. Indeed, the problem is the reverse. The youth coach’s role is to focus on sportsmanship, effort, and excellence precisely because the obsession over the outcome is so innate and so strong.

But since individuals care so much about the outcome, they experience—perhaps in a way that is unprecedented in a young life—a desire for excellence. Once this fire is lit, the change in the behavior of kids on a team can be extraordinary. Parents do not have to hound kids to practice. They do so voluntarily. And when they do, they almost always improve.

The positive feedback between effort and results can then lead to snowballing commitments to excellence. One particularly successful cohort in our league, for example, consisted of kids who would organize informal practices at the local ball field. If you drove past the park on the way home from work, the odds were pretty good that half a dozen 12-year-olds would be on the diamond, working out.

This lesson—that hard work can lead to excellence—is one that can transform lives…

As a cheerleader at heart though, I’ve also noticed how Little League has taught my son about the importance of moral support and that cooperation, collaboration, and compassion that come together in any truly “good team”–how there’s no better friend than a teammate who pats you on the shoulder with a truly encouraging word when you’re pitching a game that you’re about to lose on a “slaughter” ruling.  Or how a coach’s “good game, Johnny” after a not-very-good last game of the season has a deeper meaning that my son seems to “get”–even as he says to me “they’re lying” with a smile on his face.  Those deeper, broader effects that my son “gets” tell me that he’s learning about more than hard work and even “teamwork”–he’s learning how to be strong on his own (inside and out) but also how to grow even stronger by connecting (inside and out) with others.

So despite the fact that participating in Little League is not a cheap proposition (and post-season All Star play still more money spent), I am sure that Johnny’s experience has “enriched” us this summer.

You may be reading more about my family’s “summer enrichment” later this week.