My family's last 8 weeks have revolved around Little League All Stars.
Youth sports is a hot topic for a lot of parents. Are we pushing them too much? Is there too much focus on specializing in one sport? Are rec sports disappearing and only travel sports going to be available? The list goes on.
Little League is significantly different than competitive travel ball, and I love it. It's all about community. Think The Sandlot. Kids showing up to the park to watch their friends play in a league where anyone who registers gets to be part of it. It's awesome.
At the end of the season they choose a 12-player All-Star team, and at the 12U age things heat up quickly. You can go all the way to the Little League World Series.
Kaden's team has been playing for the last two months. They won their district, then their section, battled hard at the State Tournament, but ultimately came up short yesterday.
Watching dozens of games in multiple cities over the last couple of months gave me one big takeaway.
Contrary to what you see online, youth sports are awesome. The parents are awesome. And I think they're needed more than ever.
The internet will have you believe every parent is trying to live through their kid, screaming at umpires, or getting into fights in the parking lot. Does that happen? Sure. But in my experience, it's incredibly rare.
I actually kept waiting to see one of those moments because that's what social media keeps showing us. Instead, what I saw was parents who were invested and supportive. Coaches giving up countless hours to help kids improve. Players competing as hard as they could, then shaking hands afterward and cheering each other on.
Watching these boys battle over the last few months, laughing one minute and crying the next, only reinforced why Ashley and I are so invested.
Sports give our kids so much more than a workout. They teach delayed gratification, sacrifice, resilience, teamwork, and how to handle both winning and losing. Those are lessons they'll carry with them long after they forget the score of any game.
Youth sports aren't perfect. But neither is sitting on the couch all summer.
Maybe my biggest lesson wasn't about baseball really. It was a reminder to be careful letting the internet shape our view of the world. Algorithms reward the loudest, worst moments because that's what gets attention. They rarely show the thousands of ordinary moments where good parents are raising good kids, coaches are pouring into them, and communities are coming together around something meaningful.
Kids naturally build community through sports. They spend months training together, competing together, and creating friendships they'll remember for years.
As adults, that doesn't just happen anymore. We have to be intentional about creating it.
That's one of the biggest reasons we started TRAIN HARD Men's Club. It's a place where men can train Shoulder to Shoulder, grab a coffee afterward, and build the kind of friendships that are easy to find as kids but harder to find as adults.
Community doesn't stop mattering when you grow up. If anything, it matters even more.
Enjoy the kids' sports. Be part of a community. Keep training hard.
Jason
