August 6, 2009

sports

It’s like a chat with Santa Claus

By Jimmy Chesire

These little children are so interesting. Take Mateen Sajabi, for instance. He’s 2, a straight, slim reed of a boy, but to see his careful watchfulness, his quiet studiousness, you might mistake him for a judge presiding over his court. When he comes to the plate his father, Cyprian, accompanies him. Mateen looks at the t, the ball balanced atop it, a bat in hand, quietly studying the situation. He does not move, he does not swing.

“You want me to help?” his father asks so softly, so gently, almost no one can hear it save Mateen.

“Yes,” Mateen says with a quick nod and turn of his head toward his father. Together they pop the ball off the t and into the infield grass.

Eliza Gilchrist, 5, who is so beautiful her parents ought to be arrested, says, “Chase me.”

“What?”

“After I hit the ball,” she says, “chase me.” So I do and I tell you, I can be as dumb as an oyster. I mean, I know children like this, but why is it so overwhelmingly wonderful? Why is it so hilarious (to them and to their parents)? Why is it such a hysterical thing? Why is it so deliriously delightful to the child? I don’t know, but it is, and as soon as she hits the ball I make a whoop and chase her around the bases, which she cuts short, running around the pitcher’s mound instead of to first and then to second. I run behind her hooting and howling and Eliza’s so happy you’d think Santa Claus had just stopped by for a chat. And maybe he has.

Russell Besson, 4, is animated, talking a mile a minute: someone had just rammed him as we ran in from doing our calisthenics and it’s not right, one shouldn’t do that, one can get hurt when things like that happen, and I tried to figure out who it was, telling Russell he’s right, we don’t want anyone getting bumped or pushed down or anything like that, and then as we reach the diamond, he’s done with this topic, he says, “When I’m not batting I will come talk to you.”

And I feel like Santa’s just stopped by for a chat.

Oriah Thomas Foley, 2, is another natural athlete like Miles Gilchrist, 2. You watch these naturally gifted children pick up the ball and then see them wind up and throw it back to you — which is remarkable in and of itself, since half the time when a child throws a ball back, Lord only knows where it will go. You see them taking a step back before they throw so they end up throwing the ball with their whole body.

It is remarkable, always amazing and marvelous to see.

“Who taught him that?” I ask Christa Thomas, Oriah’s mom. “No one,” she says. Brian Gilchrist tells me the same thing about Miles, about Eliza, too, for that matter. He smiles and shrugs his shoulders: who knows where this comes from?

Meanwhile Mateen Sajabi is back in my radar. He and Simon Green Thompson both have their hands on a ball — two boys, one ball. They are tugging at it, pulling back and forth like it’s taffy-pulling time. They both want that one ball. It looks like a fight brewing. I turn to Eric Thompson, Simon’s dad who is throwing balls out to the kids on the field.

“We need another ball,” I say, nodding to the two boys clutching at the same ball — and as I do, as Eric and I turn to look, the two boys march off the field, the two boys holding the ball together. It is awesome, fascinating. There is no trouble, none at all. They are calm and sweet, moving easily. It is as if that ball were an accident victim and they were a pair of paramedics come to its rescue. They walk off the diamond in perfect sync. They hold the ball easily, cooperatively, between them, like a mom and a dad carrying a beloved child to safety.

Henry Smith-Heston, 3, tells me he can’t make it to our final t-ball evening, next week, Aug. 7, when we have our weiner roast potluck trophy night.

“I have something important to do,” he says, explaining why he cannot make it. Later Melissa Heston comes up to me with Henry on her hip. It’s the end of the evening. They’ve come to say thank you and good night. When she reaches me, Henry leans forward, leaning into me, his arms extended. He puts his arms around my neck to give me a hug.

I am massively delighted, of course. These hugs from toddlers are like manna from heaven, worth their weight in gold. But when he pulls back after we hug, he looks with mild alarm and a bit of disgust at my neck. It’s where his head and face had gone — into my sweaty neck. It’s been a shock. It’s grossed him out a bit.

“Sorry about my sweaty old man neck,” I say and tell Melissa we’ll get a trophy to her.

But for the rest of you bandits, you have to come out to the diamond next week, Aug. 7, to get your trophy. It’s our final night of t-ball for the 2009 season. We’ll have a shortened evening of play from 6:30 to 7:20 or so, followed by our annual potluck weiner roast. We will end the evening and the season by giving a beautiful, golden trophy to each child — paid for, by the way, for the ninth year in a row by the Yellow Springs Lions Club, those wonderful people who bring us the circus, our 4th of July fireworks, and who also help children every year with eye problems, buying glasses, paying for special treatments, examinations, even surgeries for those in need. Thank you, Lions!

The potluck trophy night is always a lovely affair. So, come on out and help us soak up some of this incredible childhood energy. We’ll have tons of good eats — hot dogs (veggie and non), covered dishes, chips galore, fruits and desserts, and a bevy of cool drinks — and we’d love to have you.

Youth KTC basketball open gym for girls

The Yellow Springs Youth KTC Select girls basketball program offers open gyms on Wednesday evenings from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the Bryan Community Center. Sessions are open to any girl going into fourth, fifth or sixth grade. For more information, contact Ann Ridgeway at 767-2074 or apoortinga@gmail.com.

Summer open gym for girls basketball players

The McKinney School and Yellow Springs High School girls basketball program is offering open gym sessions on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 4 to 6 p.m. The sessions are open to any middle and high school girls interested in playing basketball. Players or parents with questions can contact Coach Duncan Thomas at 937-580-0152.

Footballers to meet

The Yellow Springs McKinney School football program will hold a meeting on Monday, Aug. 10, at 7:15 p.m. at the high school practice field for students and parents of students interested in playing on this year’s junior high football team. The coaching staff will discuss the team’s schedule and address questions and concerns regarding the season. For more information, contact head Coach Craig McCann at 532-5111.

Girls open gym volleyball

An open gym volleyball for high school girls will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays, in the Yellow Springs High School gym, from 6 to 8 p.m. For more information, contact Ryan Berning at 937-269-2808.