Fre-Way Little League

When I came to Saint Lucia it never occurred to me that I might attend a meeting where my education wasn’t needed. It never occurred to me that I wouldn’t use the skills I built in the thirty years of my corporate life or the college teaching experience I gained in the first years of my retirement. They didn’t need any of this . . . no, what they needed was my experience as a Fre-Way Little League team mom, coach, manager and all around “what-ever-you-need, I’m here to help” person. When I applied to Peace Corps they never asked me if I had Little League experience.


I am helping Brenda, the Community Development Officer and a Peace Corps Volunteer, Andy, who is having so much fun here he’s extended for an additional six months. Brenda and Andy have worked on a plan to implement an after-school program pilot program. This is a national pilot program and a neighboring village is lucky enough to be included in it. A small group of forty children were selected to participate in activities that will include sports, life skills, the arts, IT and academic assistance. After school programs like this don’t exist in small villages and they are a lucky group of children to be chosen to participate.

The one requirement to be included in this program is commitment and participation. I can’t imagine this will be a problem for the children, but how to gain commitment and participation from the parents is another matter. The question arose, “how can we get them to participate?” There were many answers: we could invite the mothers to tea or give special training programs to help them build a consistent message for their children to hear and to bond home life and the program together. They were good ideas that will probably be used, but still something is missing.


I began thinking of my own experience so many years ago. I had three boys, a full-time job, shopping, cleaning and taking care of all the little things that come up in life when raising a young family. I thought I had no time to fit even one more minute of activity into my schedule. I remember mowing the lawn after I fed my children dinner. I painted the hallway at midnight to cover all those smudgy little handprints. I paid bills after they went to bed and did laundry to ensure we all had clean clothes for the next morning. I remember thinking, “someday I will wonder how I did this”. Today, I wonder how I did it.


One day I picked my oldest up from the babysitter and he told me he registered for t-ball. He was five years old and made this decision all on his own. That was the beginning of a new life… maybe for him, but definitely for me.


I was a Fre-Way Little League coach, manager, team mom and scorekeeper from the time my oldest was five years old until my youngest was twelve years old. As my lawn grew, the hallway re-smudged and laundry overflowed in the hamper, I worked in the snack shack, coached t-ball and was on the board of directors for the next several years.


The calendar I carried in my purse that was once used to track my work schedule, suddenly became the “family” calendar with game schedules, snack commitments and pizza parties scheduled in between my work meetings and occasional travel. I would often find one of my sons fishing through my purse to locate the calendar and study our schedule.


I was able to flex my hours and travel ensuring I made every Little League commitment a priority. It was an incredible bonding experience, not just for our family, but for the community as well. I made friends I would never have had the opportunity to make without Little League. We were at the field for practice, games, and fun.


Toyota loaned Fre-Way Little League the land. There were three fields, a conference room and a snack shack. There was electricity and water. Many times after the games were completed, we would build a big fire pit in back of the snack shack. On two occasions we dug a pit and roasted a pig. As we partied by the fire late into the night, our children would play on the fields and run themselves into exhaustion. It was a safe family-focused time. During the off-season, we continued to attend picnics and pizza parties. When we were at home, Little League was always the common topic that we could all talk about. When is opening day? Who will be the starring pitcher? Which team will I be on? Remember when I hit that homerun? How many bones have you broken? I’ve broken more than you! Our orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Uniten, unknowingly became a silent member of the team.

When my children decided they were done with baseball, it was my life that crumbled. What was I going to do with all my time? Who are my friends? How will I adjust? All the team parents felt this way. Occasionally I run into one of those parents and we reminisce about the great times we had.


The Fre-Way Little League sign is long gone as is the old snack shack and conference room. The manicured fields that the fathers spent hours mowing are long gone. The old field boasts of new Toyota buildings with tall trees producing shade and pretty foliage that gardeners tend each day. It has a freshly paved road where the dirt road once was.


We live in the same house and pass by it often. My children are in their thirties now and we have moved on from life on that field. Many of the parents are now grandparents; some have moved away while others remained. We’ve all moved on with our lives. But anytime I’m with one of my kids and we pass the field, I hear a soft whisper, “those were some of the greatest times I can remember”. There was an amazing sense of community and family that was built on that field.

At the Orientation Meeting for the After-School Program a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that many parents in the room didn’t know one another. Some parents were shy and didn’t say anything. It was then that I knew what was needed! I discussed this with Brenda and Andy and they agreed. At the next meeting we would implement the plan.


Brenda called the Parents Meeting to give a status of the program and to ask for their help. The children had already been split into four after-school groups: A, B, C and D. When it was my turn to speak I asked the parents to meet in their child’s group and to pick a “team parent” who would make sure children had snacks and would agree to be the contact for their team for special meetings and informational sessions.


I asked them to think about anything else they could do to help make this program a success. I told them about the team banners we made and about the competition between parents that developed. Then Andy came up with a stroke a simple brilliance …name your teams.


The parents were slow to mix with each other. In some groups only two or three parents were talking. Andy, Brenda and I walked around and encouraged the parents thinking and group discussion. At the end of an hour the room was buzzing. Three teams came up with great names, the Progressives, the Energizers, and the Stars. The fourth team is still looking for the perfect name. Everyone had a Team Parent and there were a lot of Assistant Team Parents who were named as well.


One team decided to plan a walk to fund-raise. Another said they couldn’t wait for that and agreed to and collected dues of $1. Their treasury is now $6. The cheers became progressively louder as each team was called by name. It was incredible to see this type of enthusiasm . . . and all it took was an American Little League team experience to be passed on to another country. Brenda declared it a big success and said their enthusiasm has taken a weight off her shoulders.


This experience gave me pause to reflect on a wonderful time in my life and so I’d like to whisper to my boys, Jay, Kevin and Brendan “those were some of the best times of my life”. I love you guys.