oh to be twelve again

If you dig deep into the archives of this blog (OK, not that deep. It's only a few months old. It doesn't have a that deep, yet.) you'll find where my son broke his wrist and pretty much lost the second half of his twelve year old little league season. For those of you who don't know, and I didn't before he started playing, in little league, twelve is the year. It's the year where you finish little league. If you're going to Williamsport for the Little League World Series, this is the year you're doing it. Now, I have no delusions of grandeur for my son. He's not quite all star material, let alone Little League World Series stock, but you can grasp the importance of that year in baseball for these kids. He cried when he was told his season was pretty much done, and when the cast came off and his team was in the playoffs, he cried again when the doctore told him he couldn't play ball for another two or three weeks.

Well, God and the A.A.U. smiled on my son. For many years, the cutoff date for 'how old you are' in kids sports was August 31st. That meant, whatever age your child is (or will be) on August 31st of that year is the age he is considered for sports. Since my son turned twelve in May (even though the season was pretty much over), he was considered twelve for baseball purposes. Someone noted that meant he, among many others, played his entire twelve year old season but were only eleven years old, and just in time for us, changed the magic cutoff date to April 30th. No, it had nothing to do with him personally, but he does benefit. That means this year, he would have been eleven on the cutoff date, and next year he'll be twelve, which gives him a whole 'nuther chance to be twelve again. All I can say is, he's going nowhere near the skate parks. Someone up there smiled on him and I hope he gets to take advantage of it.