The Decision That Came From Dealing With Shame

Long before LeBron James made his announcement of where to take his talents for the following season, a kid I know from back in 1977, was forced into deciding between Baseball and Soccer as his sport of choice, and worse off he was made to feel shame for issues beyond his control

At that time he was excelling in both, but the soccer coach was demanding a further commitment of extra practices, and there was a time conflict of Saturday games for both events, so a decision had to be made. How this decision was finalized is a moment all in itself, and I’ll get to it in a minute as the outside distractions all became too much, and it finally came down to one small factor.

I was that kid, and I loved playing baseball with my friends at Roxbury Park, as in my 2nd season I was beginning to figure things out, and as a benefit of an August birthday, I would be given an additional year of little league, and not be forced to play on the big diamond for my 8th grade year. My coach had been accused of some embezzlement, so myself and two other kids would be thrown back into the draft, and I had been told by many that I would be the #1 pick of the Giants by coach John Melnick, whom my brother had also played for some 10 years earlier.

Soccer however is where I really excelled, and although some games I looked like I was half sleeping out there, and played lazy, I would inevitably come up with one play late in a game with a goal, or assist to help my team win. The problem with soccer was that I was really good at a young age, and scored like 5 and 6 goals a game sometimes, so my work ethic in practice was non-existent, as I was lacking the motivation. What was I going to do, run harder so I could score 8 goals a game? Back in the late 70’s, Academies, and players going overseas did not exist for us.

Throughout my youth sports career, I held a vicious secret inside which sometimes held me back socially, and limited my performance. I wore a diaper under my uniforms because I had a serious bladder issue that would show itself in nervous moments. We wore white pants in little league so even the littlest dribble of urine would present itself, as I played shortstop, and if I dove for a ball, when I arose there would be a huge dirt spot where I had peed. I was so lucky the first time it ever happened, as the uniform shirt I wore was too large for me, and I pulled it out to cover the spot for the rest of the game.

One player on my team did see the spot though, and eventually found out about my problem, to subsequently call me BABY HUEY , the loveable cartoon character who was a giant baby chicken who wore a diaper, and the insults were so bad for the next months, I started getting into fights at school, and on the fields of play as well.

The phone calls started to come in from Melnick, and some parents on that Giants team, that I should choose baseball, and that their team was good enough to be the champs that next season, and we would also have a great all-star team as well to represent our park.

I had no idea what to do, as I really wanted to play both sports, but the pressures of the soccer coach were unrelenting to make a choice. Things were a little easier on the soccer team as we wore black shorts as our uniform, so that was a bit of relief, but I still had no idea what to do, and at that age should have not been put in a position to choose, which is a big issue nowadays of coaching forcing kids way to early, to choose a sport, instead of letting them have a good youth experience in many sports.

I WILL RE-POST ANOTHER ARTICLE AS TO WHAT MY CHOICE WAS, BUT I WOULD BE INTERESTED TO HEAR WHAT THE READERS THINK I DID

• SOCCER PLAYER
• LITTLE LEAGUE GIANTS PLAYER
• PLAYED NEITHER TO BE REBELLIOUS
• FOUGHT TO PLAY BOTH AND HAD 2 BAD SEASONS

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