That's West Palm Beach
What the young folks do in WPB
Like most young parents these days I am seeing the ?soccer mom/day? scenario here in the West Palm Beach area. Lots of time dedicated to getting little Marco, John, Hunter, Coleman, Ricardo and Dwayne to the practice field on time. And the multiple nationalities are great for people watching. Latinos galoore and tons of they young pure gringo kids, too. But you never know nowadays, since a boy named Trevor might be 1/2 Cuban, 1/2 New York City whatever....And a kid named ?ngel might be Dominican/Peruvian or Cuban/Gringo, you just never know.
Actually, in my case these are baseball parents and their 13-15 year olds play in the Okeeheelee Youth Baseball League. These leagues are supported by the county in several ways, mostly by just having the Okeeheelee Park at their service. Half a dozen ball diamonds, four soccer/f?tbol/calccio fields, 10 tennis courts, a golf course, well shaded walking paths filled with wood chips to cushion the steps, water and snacks available a multiple stations, areas for volleyball, tons of parking, well patrolled by horse patrols of real policemen/women, and batting cages for training. The ball fields are maintained, leveled, lined and prepared by county park staff, and there are professional part-time umpires, referees, announcers etc.
Baseball season is winding down, but to see these young men playing with the intensity and passion of major leaguers, is a pleasure. And on the other side of the coin, there are the parents, not those cartoonish screamers but Moms and Dads who come out to support their kids with water, and doughnuts, Gatoraid and fries?what the hell, they are kids and kids eat anything. And did I mention that there are four (4) coaches for each team???? All volunteers. Sweet.
On Saturday it was packed. We?ll see tomorrow night when the teams play the semi-finals. Then I have to get on a plane back to the real world, my real world?.
Blessings,
HB
What the young folks do in WPB
Like most young parents these days I am seeing the ?soccer mom/day? scenario here in the West Palm Beach area. Lots of time dedicated to getting little Marco, John, Hunter, Coleman, Ricardo and Dwayne to the practice field on time. And the multiple nationalities are great for people watching. Latinos galoore and tons of they young pure gringo kids, too. But you never know nowadays, since a boy named Trevor might be 1/2 Cuban, 1/2 New York City whatever....And a kid named ?ngel might be Dominican/Peruvian or Cuban/Gringo, you just never know.
Actually, in my case these are baseball parents and their 13-15 year olds play in the Okeeheelee Youth Baseball League. These leagues are supported by the county in several ways, mostly by just having the Okeeheelee Park at their service. Half a dozen ball diamonds, four soccer/f?tbol/calccio fields, 10 tennis courts, a golf course, well shaded walking paths filled with wood chips to cushion the steps, water and snacks available a multiple stations, areas for volleyball, tons of parking, well patrolled by horse patrols of real policemen/women, and batting cages for training. The ball fields are maintained, leveled, lined and prepared by county park staff, and there are professional part-time umpires, referees, announcers etc.
Baseball season is winding down, but to see these young men playing with the intensity and passion of major leaguers, is a pleasure. And on the other side of the coin, there are the parents, not those cartoonish screamers but Moms and Dads who come out to support their kids with water, and doughnuts, Gatoraid and fries?what the hell, they are kids and kids eat anything. And did I mention that there are four (4) coaches for each team???? All volunteers. Sweet.
On Saturday it was packed. We?ll see tomorrow night when the teams play the semi-finals. Then I have to get on a plane back to the real world, my real world?.
Blessings,
HB