The High Court

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The American Story

Why we have it right here in America!

By Darth Reagan

 

This past week I had the fortune of coaching in the 11 and under AAU National Tournament at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex. If you haven’t visited this complex yet, you should do so because it is a fantastic facility for all sports, as well as, Spring Training home of the Atlanta Braves and host to the Tampa Bay Bucs summer training camp. The entire week was a grind for all of our players, coaches and parents. We played 8 games in 6 days while enduring 95+ temperatures with 90% humidity. Each day we had to haul our gear down a walk way surrounded by field after field of perfect baseball fields, which seemed to never end, to our designated ball field. By the end of the week the walk was lovingly dubbed as ‘The Green Mile’ by many of the parents and coaches. It was on this walk during our final day of the tournament that I did most of my thinking and realized once again, like so many times before; we do it right here in America!

 

National Tournaments are always fun for the kids because they love their games, they love other kids and believe me, with 120 teams from 50 states there were a lot of kids! They are also fun for parents and grandparents because they get to see their children having fun and being happy. We all know there’s nothing more rewarding for a parent than seeing their child have fun. This is what it’s all about in my book: Family and fun! I sat their before games and looked out across the 25 fields of play and saw thousands of parents cheering on their kids. All of these parents have jobs and could’ve easily chosen to take their vacations to some exotic island getaway but instead they chose to spend time with their children while they play a game that they love. That is a commitment, that’s family and that’s America!    

 

Another amazing facet to this tournament is the fact that it was not only a wonderful experience for the families but it was also a winning business venture. Wide World of Sports sold passes to games, food, beverages, memorabilia, bats, balls, gloves you name it they sold it….And guess what, they made a fortune….and good for them because they deserve it! In return for the parents’ hard earned money their entire family had a once in a lifetime experience in the most beautiful baseball facility I’ve ever seen. That’s capitalism at its best and that’s America.

 

As I mentioned earlier, the week was a grind but that’s the way it is supposed to be in sports. The competition was fierce throughout the entire tournament. The best teams from every state were lining up and going at it for the ultimate prize: The National Title. As a coach, I wanted to win as badly as anybody on the planet but never at the expense of the kids ability to have fun. So we focused on fun and had a blast while advancing to the Sweet 16 of the tournament. The boys played brilliantly but most importantly they played with sportsmanship and pride. After every game, win or lose, each team would line up and shake hands. There was no bickering, some tears of course, and a lot of nice words between teams. It’s simple, every team played hard and always tried to win but both teams can’t win. That’s competition and that’s America.

 

Finally, I’ll never forget my final walk down ‘The Green Mile’ last Thursday. It was early, I was wearing my uniform, the sun was out, there was a smell of recently mown grass and a light breeze keeping it somewhat cool. I made my way down the corridor of fields and batting tunnels as I looked out to Field 1. On it I could see 40 young men stretching before a practice. Amazingly, it didn’t look a lot different than my guys getting ready for a game. They were in nice uniforms, in straight lines and enjoying some pre practice discussion. Then as I got next to them I realized they were the most recent Atlanta Braves draftees getting ready for their first professional assignments. I remember thinking; not long ago, they were 11 year old boys competing in tournaments and enjoying it with their families. Today they are grown men playing a boy’s game…….as I passed the field I thought of how much I love my family, my team, my country and the game of baseball. I kept walking and looked to my right to see an Atlanta Braves coach discussing practice and getting ready for the day….I said “Hey Coach, great day to play some baseball”….and he said, “Yes it is…..Good luck today Coach”……..That’s baseball and that’s America!