The essence of sports is competition. The objective, obviously is to win the game. Without competition, what would be the point? If you've ever been to one of those childrens league games where they don't keep score, you probably had the same feeling I did, that something was definitely missing. On the other hand, in my years of playing, coaching, and umpiring, I have seen way too much of the opposite extreme, where it seems that the emphasis was entirely upon winning, and much of the enjoyment gets sucked right out of the competition. Why does winning become so important, especially at the amateur level? At the end of a "championship game," the winners jump up and down and hug each other. The crowd cheers, maybe a trophy is given. But in very short order, everyone goes back to their lives, and not long afterward, it's hard to even remember who won.
There is something in our human nature, especially among men, that drives us to compete, and sometimes we go a little overboard. I'm often just as guilty as the next guy, at least "in the moment." But I'll bet that if I presented various scenarios to you where you might have to choose between your personal integrity or christian witness and winning a softball game, you wouldn't have any problem responding with the "right" answer. But it's a lot harder out there on the field, "in the moment" when you are trying your hardest to win. When you think about it, this is a lot like life ... the christian walk sounds really clear and easy when you hear an inspiring message at church, at least until you get to the exit of the church parking lot ... yes?
SNECAA was born out of a desire to "get it right." It has taken a lot of work to get it going... legal setup, insurance, field acquisition, scheduling, rule making, web site building... and the sense I get right now is that we as a league are sitting at the parking lot exit. What SNECAA will be like going forward will be determined by how we act on the field, how we treat each other, and what our witness is before fans, umpires, and one another. Throughout the rest of this season, and over the winter, there will be a lot of issues and decisions that will provide the opportunity to "get it right." Here are just a few:
SAFETY ISSUES - We already insist on a "double bag" rule at first, and we are considering a new rule to protect our pitchers, many of whom are not.. ahem ... young men. We all have jobs and families at home, and it seems that the balls are flying off the bats faster this year. Over the winter, we will probably take another look at the bats we allow and the ball we use. In the meantime, here's a conversation starter... If you or a fellow player feel you HAVE TO use a souped up bat so you can hit an occasional home run, even at the increased risk to another player, is this the right league for you?
SCHEDULING - We are testing a new doubleheader format beginning July 7, which should be fun. If this format is successful, it certainly could be expanded to start earlier into June. But there are lots of other scheduling changes that could enhance SNECAA's mission. We already have an unbalanced schedule, which this year is pretty random, but what if we introduced some intention into it for future years. Divisional play by region could reduce travel times, or unbalancing the schedule by previous years record might result in more competitive games... The top four teams so far this year are 15-0 against the bottom four. In the four games between the top two teams and the bottom two, the average margin of victory was over 17 runs. If a team consciously sets out to be as inclusive as possible and focuses on fellowship, shouldn't we as a league protect them from enduring regular thrashings as their reward? What if we consciously scheduled teams of equal ability based, say, on previous season record or even scheduled the second half of each season based on the first half record? We could create many more close games, and isn't that the type of competition we really want?
FELLOWSHIP - At the Spring meetings, there were a lot of ideas thrown around for enhancing fellowship in the league. A single field with multiple games allows for more fellowship before and after games. Or perhaps not all of our doubleheaders in the current format need to be two games between the same teams. Tournaments, cookouts, charitable events, all have been discussed.... stay tuned for those possibilities. But the first fellowship-oriented undertaking this year has been this web site and the associated league lineup website. We have worked hard to get the websites set up and running, and the league lineup site alone has received over 800 visits in the first eight weeks... over 100 per week. We now have over half of the teams keeping stats on line for their teams.
Then there is this blog. I hope that going forward, it will generate some good online conversation, beginning with this article. I look forward to hearing your ideas and feedback, as we try to find balance between healthy competition, fellowship, outreach, witness, sportsmanship, and Christ-like attitude that can make SNECAA a truly great league.
