A few weeks ago, I wrote an article for the New York Times about a concept called Sandlot Day.
It's a new idea - sort of. Developed by the SUNY Youth Sports Institute at Cortland, the grand plan is for youth leagues to designate one day during their seasons when adults cede control to the kid players. They make decisions about the important stuff - who plays on which team, lineups, batting orders, whether stealing is allowed, if three strikes really means you're out. (Or get back in there and keep swinging).
As the article states, institute director Tim Donovan hopes to cajole about two dozen baseball leagues around New York State to test out Sandlot Day this season. It'll be interesting to see whether he reaches the goal. For the moment, the effort is limited to baseball, though it certainly could work for other sports.
I just noticed that the Pittsford Little League near Rochester, also cited in the article, has penciled in a Sandlot Day on June 20. I'll be looking for others.
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All of the youth leagues in Georgia are well into the "All Star" tournament phase of the year by then - so I would expect no break here.
Pick up games in all sports were a part of my childhood from age 5 on - but we lived in a neighborhood densely packed with elementary school kids. My kids live in the land of big yards and to catch a predator so it doesn't happen.
Pick up games for the kids is part of my plans for the kids thus summer as Rec level games come to an abrupt halt in late May shen school gets out.
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