Little League Life Lessons

Hi to all!  Dad and I had a very unique experience this week when we went to Williamsport, PA for a game of the Little League World Series.  Williamsport is about 30 miles north of us and we go there every Wednesday for our District Meetings.  Williamsport’s claim to fame is that is the home of the Little League World Series.  Since day one of the mission, we have been hoping that when it came time for the series to start that we could attend at least one game.  We had no meetings this Wednesday (what luck!) so we stood in line with a few hundred other folks and waited for the doors to open to the field for first come, first served, tickets.  Our luck held out and we got good seats in the shade.  We had so much fun watching these 12 year olds play some very good baseball.  We saw Japan vs Panama:  the Japanese team was precise and amazingly quick as they did infield practice, while the boys from Panama were sort of laid back and much less intense.  You could tell they were all having a great time being there – no one seemed stressed or nervous, just excited and happy to be playing baseball in the United States.  We were not prepared for how well each of the teams played – the pitching and fielding was great!  Japan won the game and they are the international champs.  They play the US champion, Tennessee,  in the final game today.  My money is on the Japanese team.  The insider talk was all about the team from Uganda.  Uganda has tried three years in a row to qualify to represent Africa at the Little League World Series.  The first year they failed to get proper documentation (not too many African women have a birth certificate for their children), the second year the Visa process got delayed, but this year the Uganda team came to the US.  The African kids were so friendly and gracious and became instant celebrities wherever they went.  Their team jersey that was for sale in the gift shop, sold out in the first 2 hours of the two week Series and we noticed lots of people wearing the maroon shirts of the Ugandans. All the teams stay together in an Olympic village sort of facility with a common cafeteria.  The Uganda team discovered pizza and potato chips which they had never tasted before and they couldn’t get enough!  The teams from the US became super close to them and we heard they came out to every possible game to cheer them on.  The stadium was completely packed when the Ugandan team played Panama early in the week.  Even though they lost that game, they had smiles and hugs for all the players.  They went on to win one game and the fans cheered nonstop for the entire game.  These boys came with little equipment and one or two had no baseball shoes.  Through face book, some of the US moms sent out the word and the Uganda team now has backpacks full of clothing, sports equipment, and school supplies to take back to their villages.  What a great little microcosm of life on how we all should get along. Cooperation, compassion, and companionship was demonstrated by these young boys as they played their favorite game and showed basic human decency.  They didn’t realize what was happening because they were just enjoying the moment while the rest of us were watching it all unfold.  What a lesson for all of us.