We all woke up at the horrific hour of 7 am today (on a Saturday - mama mia!) so that Brian and Ben could go to baseball practice by 8. Ben is playing in the Greenwich Village League this year so he can play with his friends from school. Until now he's always played in the East Village.
At Opening Day for Ben's team last week, I couldn't help noticing how few non- white kids were there. Maybe I'm not being fair - but it appeared that way.
Today after practice we headed back east and rode our bikes along the East River Park. It was a beautiful day today and the breeze off the East River felt good (if that's possible). The park is a long series of playing fields along the river with a broad walkway adjacent to the FDR Drive.
It was Opening Day for OLS (Our Lady of Sorrows Baseball League). There must have been over two hundred boys running around in their adorable little baseball uniforms.
The baseball fields are broken up by several small small soccer fields where guys of just about every nationality were going at it. How interesting it is to see soccer being played really well.
I love my neighborhood and wish it could stay this diverse - but it's not likely.
So where do we go from here?
2 comments:
It is predominately white in our area's league also. My husband went into the project areas one year and tried to recruit players and only got one child. We had financial assistance available and only one taker. A shame.
As for your previous post, I remember when Reggie Jackson played for the Yankees and I got to see him when he came to Anaheim. But after that I developed a crush on Dwight Evans and that was the end of my love for the Yankees. So fickle I know :-)
Jar -
You reminded me of an interesting interview I saw recently with Jackie Robinson's wife. She heads a large foundation that helps inner city kids. Both she and her daughter are spearheading an effort to get more African-American kids back into baseball.
My husband took my son on a tour of Fenway Park in Boston (it was free). Brian lamented on how most of the tour pointed out all the new new luxury seats/boxes that have been added.
Regular people can't afford to go to the ballgame anymore - how frigging Un-American that seems to me. We sure can't afford $50 a ticket to see the Red Sox more than once a season.
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