K-Ball

When the form for T-ball originally came home from the YMCA, I asked Eli several different times if he wanted to be signed up for it, and each time he replied no.  He later on told Grandma Mary he did want to be signed up, so she picked up another form and got him signed up after all.  

I think there might be a separate T-ball league (I'm not exactly sure), and it took me a while to realize what "K-Ball" meant - I think it is for kindergarten-age kids who are in between T-ball and baseball since this league was coach pitch but then the tee was used after 4 pitches/misses during the games.  

Overall, Eli had moments he seemed to enjoy and other moments (in retrospect) I think he was just too tired at night to even think about participating so this experience was in some ways similar to his soccer experience.  He seemed to enjoy the practices more than the actual games.  

Eli actually had the same coach this time for K-ball as he did for soccer.  I was once again very impressed with this coach's ability to keep a group of kids this young engaged while attempting to keep their attention the entire time all while helping them learn the basic skills of the game.  He had so much patience for each of them, took a genuine interest in them, and was very attentive in trying to get Eli to participate in a reassuring way.  

After Eli became very adamant that he have his own helmet and bat like some of the other kids on the team, I ended up getting these for him and he still didn't want to participate in the first game - at all.  I wasn't planning on taking him to any more after that but Ian did and decided to just drop him off at the next practice and run errands rather than staying to watch.  That must have been the trick because since then Eli has been more willing to participate.  

It was amazing to see the improvement in the entire team of kids from one practice to the next.  Even Eli really seemed to improve in his catching, throwing, and especially hitting skills.  He seems to enjoy being up to bat the most now but still could use some reminders to pay attention while in the outfield and to remember to try to get the ball when it comes his way.  It has been a good experience for him overall to try something new and grow in confidence and learn a few new skills at the same time.