In Wake of Tucson Shootings, Blog Post Reminds Parents, Coaches and Players to Keep Perspective

By Communications Division
SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa.
January 14, 2011

In the aftermath of the deadly shootings in Tucson, Ariz., that took the life of several people, including nine-year-old Little Leaguer Christina-Taylor Green, Pete Barth, a columnist with the Sheboygan (Wis.) Press newspaper, posted poignant and relevant remarks in his “2 cents worth” blog. It is a message that every Little League parent and coach is encouraged to read, and is appropriate for all children who play Little League Baseball or Softball to understand.

See Mr. Barth’s comments here:

Wednesday night, I happened to catch a TV interview with the devastated parents of Christina Taylor Green, the precious 9-year-old who was killed in the Arizona shootings.

Seeing images of a smiling Christina on the screen was heartbreaking.

It turns out her interests varied, and certainly included sports; she was the only girl on her Little League Baseball team.

As I heard more about her, it made me think that sometimes, those of us with children take the pure, unpoisoned wonder of youth sports for granted.

Maybe the next time we're too hard on our children because they're not playing well enough to meet our lofty standards, a quick reality check is in order.

After all, our kids are out there playing, competing, doing something good for them. We should embrace that, no strings attached.

Sadly, Christina's parents will never again watch her play.