Home base

Students reflect on their Little League days and its impact on their athletic life

It had been a while since they had won a game, and this time, the Little League team was going up against a better one – or so they thought. Despite the added pressure, they emerged victorious. The parents in the stands erupted into cheers, shouting their children’s names and applauding wildly. The team huddled at the pitcher’s mound, dogpiling on top of one another, relishing in their victory. Junior Rohit Kumar fondly recalls the pride he and his teammates felt after winning that particular game 9 years ago. It wasn’t the most important one, but to Kumar, it is the game he cherishes the most.

Kumar’s early love for the sport sparked from his days playing baseball at the YMCA when he was eight, using a tennis ball and plastic bat. Wanting to learn more about the sport and challenge himself, he had asked his parents to sign him up for Little League.

“At that [age], I had tried out a few sports, and I just hadn't really enjoyed them,” Kumar said. “I had tried out tennis and played a little bit of basketball and soccer, and I just didn't really like them. When we started playing, even when it was just with a plastic bat and a tennis ball, it was a lot of fun and I felt something that I hadn't felt with other sports.”

Similar to Kumar, junior Aman Sidhu started playing baseball in elementary school. Both players felt that the stress-free environment of playing at a recreational level helped them develop passion for the sport.

“Little League as a whole, I think it was very important because it was low competition and having fun with the sport,” Sidhu said. “Overall, [Little League] focused on having a good time, not necessarily paying attention to wins and losses. It was more of a platform for most people on whether they wanted to move on with further things in baseball.”

On the other hand, junior Nitin Subramanian, who also participated in Little League, didn’t continue baseball in high school and decided to pursue track and field. However, he explains that his experiences in Little League taught him important lessons that is still a big part of his life today.

“One of my coaches [told me that] the cleanest dugout was always the winning dugout, [and] I still think about it today,” Subramanian said. “When my room is messy, I always try to keep it clean because of that. Another thing [I learned was] consistency is key. Those [lessons] are things that stick with you the most.”

While he believes that in general, athletes learn more in high school practices, Kumar feels that his years in Little League ultimately helped him achieve his full potential in high school by polishing the fundamental skills that he needs in varsity baseball. 

Having played with the same athletes for several years, the Little League teams have led to the formation of strong bonds between members and an environment where athletes benefit from each other to become better baseball players. Sidhu, Kumar and Subramanian all agree with this and while Sidhu is currently not involved in the sport due to academic commitments, he adds that the lasting friendships he made in the sport were what he treasured in his time at Little League.

“Overall, from the friendships that I made, I feel like it was more so a mutual understanding of each other in terms of baseball,” Sidhu said. “The fact that whenever we played, we knew each other's tendencies, it made a more lively environment. Little League was more about having fun, remembering funny stories and motivating each other.”