Written by Don Weyrick
One of my favorite sporting events of the year is the Little League World Series. Baseball was my first love from the age of 3. Little League was my life and my family’s for more than 10 years. We were there at the field Mon-Sat. And we all loved it. Little League World Series is amazing because it’s put on by 100% of volunteers giving up their time and paying their own way just to give back. The kids are playing the sport with pure joy just as the beautiful game of baseball should be played.
I’ve recently enjoyed watched the Little League World Series. There was a game with Chinese Taipei, who hadn’t lost and held the most titles in the history of LLWS, playing Florida, who lost their first game and had to come back many times to even make it to this game. Florida went 0-8 in the championship games as well.
This was a great game to watch and a lot of nail biting moments. Although the ending was not ideal , it was a great watch nonetheless. But, to me, the best parts of the game were watching moments between coaches and players.
One moment was in the bottom of the 6th with 3 outs remaining. The Florida coach talked to the team. He told them that when they got to Williamsport, he was prayed over. He waited to this moment to share with them and said, “we’ve already won, now let’s go out and finish the job we came to do”. It was a great moment and showed God moving and working in the midst of the game, knowing they are ultimately in God’s hands.
Another moment was right when the Florida team won. The Chinese players started crying, and instead of continuing to celebrate, all the Florida players and coaches went around and consoled the other team. This showed amazing sportsmanship and what this sport, this event, and what intentional leadership is all about. We can learn a whole lot from these amazing group of 11-13 year olds and how to model ourselves, and encourage our coaches, players, and volunteers to conduct themselves in a way that is honoring and pleasing to the Lord.