John Miller, who is playing and coaching for the Brussels Kangaroos in the Belgian 2nd Division and is a reporter for a big American newspaper, is now also the Little League Commissioner for Belgium. He is also back chronicling the 2010 season in his “Old World Pastime” column on Mister-Baseball.com for a third straight year.
So this weekend was the culmination of a 9-month project to set up an 11-12-year-old Little League baseball program for the whole country. In previous years, Brussels had chartered and sent teams, sometimes all the way to the World Series, but Flanders had not, at least not in recent memory. And nobody had ever tried to organize a tournament that encompassed the entire country.
So with a few other baseball admin types, we carved up the country into four regions – Flanders East, Flanders West, Brussels and Wallonia – and set up this tournament. In the end, it was a spectacular success, as you can see from this video:
It got me thinking why Little League’s program is so attractive. All I did was set up the tournament the way I’d seen it set up and apply Little League’s rules.
Here are a few conclusions:
1. Kids yearn to be taken seriously. They want their games to matter. Playing to advance in a global tournament means the games matter.
2. The substitutions and pitch count rules mean everybody plays. Everybody.
3. The mini-Major League ethos that Little League promotes — announcing names, music between innings — are exciting.
4. The formal ceremonies lend an air of gravitas that makes everybody pay attention.
The team representing Flanders East took gold and will play in the European championships July 27 to August 4. I’ve been playing ball against the Antwerp crowd for 10 years now. They are a proud, stubborn bunch, not always trusting of outsiders. They love their baseball, though, and I am thrilled their kids will now get a chance to compete for a chance to play in the Little League World Series.
Write me at oldworldpastime@gmail.com
