What do 9-10 year olds remember? The game, the experience or both?
Last night was my son's championship game for the District 1 Renegades. Washoe LL vs. Sparks Centennial. A hard fought game between the teams with good pitching and hitting. Close game until the 5th inning when one team pulled away.
Then the mayhem.
Top of 6th with one out and a runner on 1st from a nice base hit. Then the sprinklers come on. That's fine. Funny things like that happen in little league. So after about 10 minutes it is 11:05PM with both teams in the dugouts and a packed stands, the lights turn off!
Still a funny event, just chaotic with zero visibility and siblings at a large park and no communication from the officials or umpires.
After 10 minutes of darkness with sprinklers, instead of getting everyone's attention and letting us know what was happening, the umpires walked over to the dugout and said something to the coaches letting them know they had won. The kids are going crazy, the parents/fans are scrambling to figure out what to do, the other team wasn't notified, no hand shaking or congratulations.
So instead of a ceremony of any sort, everyone is scrambling to find their equipment and meet under the street light next to the snack bar. Not exactly the winning experience.
So my question is, what will the kids take away from the experience? The game, the winning, or the chaos?
