The other night, an alert “06880” reader writes, his son played in a Little League game.
A wild pitch brushed him back. Then he was hit hard on his left side, under the arm.
He went down in severe pain, and could hardly breathe. The reader’s wife — a medical professional, normally dismissive of her kid’s injuries — was very concerned, because the injury was so close to internal organs.
Both the walk-in clinic and hospital experiences, the reader says, were “phenomenal.”
But that’s not why he emailed me.
The pitcher was the opposing coach’s son. When the injured boy’s father got home, he had plenty of voicemails. His son’s coach, teammates — even parents on the other team, and random others — were calling to see how the boy was, and if the family needed anything.
But one person had not called: the opponents’ coach.
However, the father adds: “I was too quick to judge.”
Youth sports teach many life lessons.
The next day, he sent an email. He wrote of his own concern for the young player’s well-being, and said how sorry and distraught his own son felt for hitting the boy with a pitch.
“We, of course, had focused only on our own kid, and how we felt,” the “06880” reader writes.
“We never thought how the other child and coach/father might be feeling.”
That, he continues, is why “youth sports are so great. They’re about life lessons, and perspectives, and redemption, and making quick judgments.”
And about life lessons — for kids and parents.
Play ball!