Have you ever thought about what goes through the mind of the average 6 year old? 

For starters, they run everywhere they go. The terms “No running in the halls” and “No running by the pool” were no doubt originally uttered by parents and teachers of a 6 year old, because those kids run everywhere.  It doesn’t even make any sense.  Where are they going?  And how could they possibly always need to get there so fast? Most 6 year olds don’t have a care or commitment in the world, but whatever they do have to do, it appears in their little minds it has to be done quickly!  For most of us, with the exception of Forrest Gump, this phase of our lives apparently passes.

For five years I worked with a pair of National Hockey League franchises with a large focus on grassroots efforts and work with 4-8 year olds.  The locker room banter is a little different than in the high school, college, or pro settings you may be accustomed to today, but no less entertaining.  It’s simple yet often hilarious…..On second thought, perhaps it is EXACTLY like the conversations you have grown accustomed to.

I have seen 6 year olds do some pretty amazing things in athletics, but typically what makes Little League “Highlights” so great is the fact that they are destined for the blooper reel.  If I click on a link that is advertising a youth baseball clip, I fully expect (and want) to see a kid making contact for the first time and either running directly to third or tearing around the bases bat in hand.  Imagine my surprise when I got baited into this Little League clip on Yahoo on my way to my email this morning?

The 6 year old kid turned an unassisted triple play within 6 seconds of the batter making contact! How does he even understand the rules of the game well enough to think to do that let alone execute the play? I played with a kid in college who didn't leave the bench after our team scored an OT winner at UMass because he didn't understand it was sudden death.  Donovan Mcnabb was getting paid millions and even he forgot how overtime worked in the NFL. And somehow the applause for this kid was minimal! Coach got off his bucket and gave just a single fist pump.  Have you ever been to a Little League game?  Do you have any idea how long it typically takes those little guys to string together three outs?  They implement "run limits" in Little League to not only save the feelings of young children, but to save parents from having to sit through Red Sox-Yankees like four hour games  Can you imagine how crazy Good Will Hunting and the boys would have gone if that play happened while they were brown bagging it at the Little League park they frequented in South Boston instead of in Georgia?