Humble Observer - Sports
Best of 2008: Little Big Leagues
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| Humble Legends head coach Jon McDonald hits ground balls during infield practice. |
By STEPHEN WHITFIELD
(from the July 23 edition of the Observer)
Earl Luckett is an early riser.
He has to be. As the manager of the Humble Astros, Luckett must be as prepared as possible.
Usually that means getting up at 5:30 a.m. to go over opponent scouting reports, reviewing his team’s previous games and figuring out what his players need to work on.
Luckett , an Humble resident, is familiar with this routine. During his two seasons in the Houston Astros’ minor league system, he has learned the value of advanced scouting.
“It is a great way of getting to know your opponents,” he said.
There’s only one catch: None of Luckett’s players is over 6 years old.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Youth sports leagues are among the most popular extracurricular activities for school-age children, and youth baseball is the most popular sport.
And with the dog days of summer slowly drawing to a close and the dreaded back-to-school rush along the horizon, the world of youth baseball prepares to take its annual break. Many leagues are finishing their seasons now, competing in various World Series around the country.
The end of the season provides a rare opportunity for most coaches to take a break.
Tryouts start in late August and early September. Teams spend the better part of the fall practicing and possibly going to tournaments. By the spring, the season is in full swing.
In order to coach, many coaches lead double lives. In the daytime, they work normal 9-to-5 jobs, raise families and do all of the things normal people do. In the evenings, they are teachers and mentors, running practices and getting their players ready for games.
Luckett , an employment counselor for Work Force Solutions, said running a youth baseball team requires a lot of extra work.
“Typically you’re preparing early in the morning because during your normal job you can’t really do that,” Luckett said. “You have to make sure you’re prepared early so that when practice does start after work, you don’t have to worry.”
Little Big League
The quick turnaround from season to season represents a fast-growing truth: Youth baseball has become a year-round endeavor.
Kids with an eye toward the major leagues and NCAA Division I scholarships are working as hard as possible to join the pool of talented prospects, and little league teams now serve to steer these potential big-time players in that direction.
For many teams, this means entering tournaments against top competition from all over the country.
Bart Cobb, of Spring, founded the Sluggers select team three years ago to provide proper training for his children as they began their baseball careers.
In addition to coaching, Cobb and his wife, Kristi, handle all the logistics and planning. They plot and pick various tournaments. They order the baseballs, bats and other equipment needed to practice. They handle the parents and they handle the sponsors.
For Cobb, a vice president at ICI Construction, the Sluggers have become a second full-time job. He has a short window after work to change and grab a quick dinner before heading out to the practice field.
And when the Sluggers have to travel for a tournament, Cobb said he has to use up his vacation time at work.
“You have to take a week off of work for a tournament and it becomes something of a family vacation,” he said.
Nevertheless, despite the extra effort, Cobb said running the Sluggers is a rewarding job.
“I get a lot of self-satisfaction because of the work I put into it,” Cobb said. “We work very hard with the kids and to see them do well, it doesn’t get any better than that.”
Earl Luckett is an early riser.
He has to be. As the manager of the Humble Astros, Luckett must be as prepared as possible.
Usually that means getting up at 5:30 a.m. to go over opponent scouting reports, reviewing his team’s previous games and figuring out what his players need to work on.
Luckett , an Humble resident, is familiar with this routine. During his two seasons in the Houston Astros’ minor league system, he has learned the value of advanced scouting.
“It is a great way of getting to know your opponents,” he said.
There’s only one catch: None of Luckett’s players is over 6 years old.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Youth sports leagues are among the most popular extracurricular activities for school-age children, and youth baseball is the most popular sport.
And with the dog days of summer slowly drawing to a close and the dreaded back-to-school rush along the horizon, the world of youth baseball prepares to take its annual break. Many leagues are finishing their seasons now, competing in various World Series around the country.
The end of the season provides a rare opportunity for most coaches to take a break.
Tryouts start in late August and early September. Teams spend the better part of the fall practicing and possibly going to tournaments. By the spring, the season is in full swing.
In order to coach, many coaches lead double lives. In the daytime, they work normal 9-to-5 jobs, raise families and do all of the things normal people do. In the evenings, they are teachers and mentors, running practices and getting their players ready for games.
Luckett , an employment counselor for Work Force Solutions, said running a youth baseball team requires a lot of extra work.
“Typically you’re preparing early in the morning because during your normal job you can’t really do that,” Luckett said. “You have to make sure you’re prepared early so that when practice does start after work, you don’t have to worry.”
Little Big League
The quick turnaround from season to season represents a fast-growing truth: Youth baseball has become a year-round endeavor.
Kids with an eye toward the major leagues and NCAA Division I scholarships are working as hard as possible to join the pool of talented prospects, and little league teams now serve to steer these potential big-time players in that direction.
For many teams, this means entering tournaments against top competition from all over the country.
Bart Cobb, of Spring, founded the Sluggers select team three years ago to provide proper training for his children as they began their baseball careers.
In addition to coaching, Cobb and his wife, Kristi, handle all the logistics and planning. They plot and pick various tournaments. They order the baseballs, bats and other equipment needed to practice. They handle the parents and they handle the sponsors.
For Cobb, a vice president at ICI Construction, the Sluggers have become a second full-time job. He has a short window after work to change and grab a quick dinner before heading out to the practice field.
And when the Sluggers have to travel for a tournament, Cobb said he has to use up his vacation time at work.
“You have to take a week off of work for a tournament and it becomes something of a family vacation,” he said.
Nevertheless, despite the extra effort, Cobb said running the Sluggers is a rewarding job.
“I get a lot of self-satisfaction because of the work I put into it,” Cobb said. “We work very hard with the kids and to see them do well, it doesn’t get any better than that.”
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