Hi all,
After joining the Baseball Victoria Research Project, I began thinking back to the way my family became involved in sports.
In the small Victorian town where I grew up, the choices were simple: in summer you played cricket or tennis; and in winter you played Australian Rules football. There were no other options and there was a strong community expectation that you would turn out for one of the local teams. Basketball and baseball were sports we played at school but cricket and football were the dominant team sports we played on the weekends.
When I had kids myself, it seemed that AFL Auskick and MILO cricket were their introduction to organised sports. These programs were based around our local primary school so friends and peer group pressure ensured a large turn up to these programs. As a parent the convenience of having these programs widely available in the Melbourne suburb where we live was another factor that favoured my children’s involvement. However, I have to say that baseball was never on our sporting horizon, and I don't know why not, it’s just that it was never an option we considered.
Given my experiences I wondered how you all came to play and love the sport of baseball. What lead you to the sport, did you have friends or family in the sport, did your school encourage you, or were you attracted through come and try days, T-Ball etc? I would be very interested in hearing your stories.
Ricky
In the small Victorian town where I grew up, the choices were simple: in summer you played cricket or tennis; and in winter you played Australian Rules football. There were no other options and there was a strong community expectation that you would turn out for one of the local teams. Basketball and baseball were sports we played at school but cricket and football were the dominant team sports we played on the weekends.
When I had kids myself, it seemed that AFL Auskick and MILO cricket were their introduction to organised sports. These programs were based around our local primary school so friends and peer group pressure ensured a large turn up to these programs. As a parent the convenience of having these programs widely available in the Melbourne suburb where we live was another factor that favoured my children’s involvement. However, I have to say that baseball was never on our sporting horizon, and I don't know why not, it’s just that it was never an option we considered.
Given my experiences I wondered how you all came to play and love the sport of baseball. What lead you to the sport, did you have friends or family in the sport, did your school encourage you, or were you attracted through come and try days, T-Ball etc? I would be very interested in hearing your stories.
Ricky
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