News story

Helping Kids Play Ball -- Chicago Classics Teaching 100 Kids about Softball, Life

Nov. 20, 2003 – Senior Softball-USA

CHICAGO ˆ Whether it's a Cubs game at Wrigley Field or a pick-up game in a city park, baseball is the beloved game in the Windy City.

And now, thanks to the help of some senior softball players, playing ball has reached down to another level ˆ youngsters age 5 to 8.

Veteran softball player Joe Yacono is spearheading a drive to organize play for children in and around the city.

"In just our second year, we already have 100 players ˆ both boys and girls ˆ playing on eight teams for 10 weeks this past summer," says Yacono.

Yacono got the idea from the "Help Kids Play Ball" program initiated by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) and partnered by Senior Softball-USA.

The program is targeted at the one-quarter of America's youth ˆ that's 12.3 million between ages 6 and 17 ˆ who don't play any sports in America.

" Senior softball players like Joe are the ideal people to start these programs," said Terry Hennessy, chief executive officer of Senior Softball-USA. "Senior players act as mentors for the kids, they know softball ˆ and they know how to get the programs started."

In Joe Yacono's Chicago program, Play is the key to the league where the coaches do the pitching to ensure that everyone gets a chance to hit the ball. The rules are relatively simple: everyone gets to play an equal amount and they rotate between the infield and outfield. And most importantly, everyone gets a chance to hit.

Yacono, who has been playing softball and baseball for nearly 50 years, says "the kids came to the fields ready to play. They brought their own bats and gloves and we had games for them wherever we could find a field. Sometimes it was in the early evenings and sometimes it was on weekends."

The fields are very nice for the kids and they're donated by the park districts in the town so no one has to pay for them, he says ,

Who won this year?

No one knows because there's no score keeping and no standings.

When you press him for details, Yacono will tell you that "everyone won and we all had a great time. And that includes the parents who turned out in great numbers to see the games."

They had so much fun this year that Yacono is already looking forward to 2004 when he hopes to expand play to include those up to 10 years of age. And if that happens, Yacono will have a chance to see his granddaughter play softball for the first time. "She's already talking about giving up soccer if she can play softball," he says.

His other goal is to get more senior softball players involved in the Chicago area.

Shawn Aylsworth, SGMA softball program coordinator, reports that this year the number of programs grew from 22 leagues in 2002 to 46 this year with about 10,000 participants. Aylsworth ran the Indianapolis program.

He noted that the program was greatly helped by the Dayton Trio of Charles Crawford, Shorty Brewer and Lou DeSaro, who patched together a program that was so successful that the city decided to adopt it as its own. The program helped to get hundreds of inner city kids out playing softball and off the streets.

For more information on starting a program in your area, contact Shawn Aylsworth at (317) 879-2085, or e-mail him at esaylsworth@mac.com.