Put me in coach!!!

Leaves are back on the trees, flowers are blooming and the pollen is flying like snowflakes in Montana.
No doubt about it, Spring has arrived!!!
And with the re-introduction to the season of renewal, two of the most beloved past times in America abound once again.
That’s right, it is time for youth baseball and softball. Young players from around these United States will don their brand new uniforms, re-condition their gloves and put a new shine on their cleats. It is time for moms and dads, grandmothers and grandfathers, aunts and uncles to break out the lawn chairs and get ready to cheer on their favorite diamond competitor.
For the youth of Ville Platte, baseball and softball season does not “officially” begin until the teams are introduced at the annual opening ceremonies. This year was no different, as every squad in Dixie Youth baseball and Ville Platte Girls’ Softball were formally announced this past Saturday afternoon at the Evangeline Parish Recreational District ball park.
As the Clerk of Court for Evangeline Parish and official emcee of the event, Mr. Randy Deshotels, called out each team from both leagues, the players paraded in front of the grandstand waving their caps and smiling from ear to ear, as they tried to pick out their family members in the crowd.
Most of us can recall what it was like to bask in the sunshine on our faces, smell the fresh cut grass and relish the feel of the bat as it connects with the ball in just the right way.
And for most of us, remembering the time we spent with our friends and teammates throughout the spring and summer allows us to revel in some of the most amazing moments of our adolescence.
Those memories are not for us alone, however. Each one of the blossoming young players that participate in both baseball and softball are also forming brand new anecdotes for themselves to be shared with their children later on in life.
“I just love to play baseball,” stated Bastian Veillon, one of the 240 players in Dixie Youth this season. “My family played baseball and I am just keeping up the tradition. I really have the passion for the game. Getting to see my friends and play with them and even against them is so much fun. I am very excited to get the season going.”
“I like to have my team announced during opening ceremonies so that my family can see me,” said Kali Shiver, a member of the softball Sharks. “Learning the game of softball is great. I love the game so much. I want to win every game, but mostly I want to go out and play to the best of my ability.”
Having opening ceremonies with both leagues in attendance at the same place and the same time would not have been possible five years ago. It wasn’t until the Ville Platte Recreational facility was built, allowing both leagues to be housed on the same grounds, that Dixie Youth and Ville Platte Girls’ Softball were able to simultaneously hold their beginning of the year function.
“The way the previous facilities were set up in the past, there was just no way to watch a boy’s and a girl’s game at the same time,” said Ville Platte Recreational Board president Nick LeBas. “Now you could conceivably watch four games in one place. It gives the parents a chance to enjoy not only opening ceremonies, but all of the games, especially if they have both a baseball and softball participant.”
“Having this facility is great not only for Ville Platte, but for the surrounding communities,” LeBas continued. “We are able to attract post-season tournaments for Dixie Youth and softball. When this place was built, there was a contingency in the plans to add on and create another four-field pod. Hopefully, we can have that in place in the near future so that if and when our leagues grow, we will be ready.”
“Being able to keep the boys and girls together, we are able to be one community,” commented Ville Platte Recreational park director Thomas Scully. “It makes the two organizations stronger. In the past, it felt like the boys and girls were separate and competed in some ways against each other for money and sponsorships from the businesses. Now when a business contributes to help improve the facility, it benefits both leagues.”
“I don’t think I have seen that many people at the opening ceremonies in the past,” Scully continued. “As long as we can keep on bringing in revenue, the park will improve and the people of Ville Platte will always have a first rate place for their kids to play. I really don’t know of any other place that does the opening ceremonies the way we do.”
One good thing for the young players of Ville Platte, both Dixie Youth and Ville Platte Girls’ Softball are in the midst of a wonderfully successful period. This season, Ville Platte Dixie Youth has added about 15 more players than were part of the league last season. And for VPGSA the numbers are on the uptick as well with 192 girls signed up to partake in the league.
“We have four teams in our Majors division, five teams in our Minors division, five teams in Pitching Machine and seven teams in T-Ball,” commented Dixie Youth president John Pitre. “We have 90-100 players just in T-Ball alone. I believe that more and more kids are wanting to get involved in playing the sport. In a small community like Ville Platte, there is not a whole lot for our kids to do. One of the things that they can do at a young age is play baseball. I think that is why you see the parents starting kids out at an early age.”
“The only drawback that I see is that some of the kids drop by the wayside as they move up in age,” Pitre continued. “We only have about 40 players in the Majors. And after that, we have no league for our older kids. Part of the reason is the days of backyard baseball are gone. In today’s world, we have so many other distractions and now the kids are taking the first four or five years to decide if they like the game and some are dropping off. They don’t have to be stimulated with baseball anymore, they have other things to stimulate them.”
The Ville Platte Girls Softball league has really blossomed over the past few years. Only a few years ago, there were no teams in the 10 and under division. This season the league will field six 10U teams along with seven 6U teams and six 8U teams.
“The numbers for our older girls are really starting to come up,” stated VPGSA president Shane Darbonne. “I really believe the reason our numbers have come up in the older divisions is because of the dedication of our parent volunteers and the success of our eight year olds that went out and gained a lot of attention for what they did in all-star competition. We now have kids from other leagues coming to join, as well as friends of those friends also joining. The publicity of our teams is really the defining factor.”
“What is really amazing is that the younger kids are sticking with it now,” continued Darbonne. “Girls are not dropping out as much as they have in the past. Hopefully we can carry this momentum forward and be able to field teams in a 12U division in the near future. If they players continue to stay with the program, I really feel that two to three teams are a strong possibility.”
Now that the ceremonies are done and the players are anxious to create memories of their own, let’s remember to let the kids play, the coaches coach and the umpires call the game. Let us just be fans so as to not ruin this innocent game of youth.
And, as John Fogerty sang, “Put me in coach, I’m ready to play today!!!”