Organized sports for children, I think my boys have tried most of the ones available in our area except the ones that involve body checking (although they did try basketball).  Now, for food allergic kids on sports teams, the things to avoid seem obvious – shared water bottles, celebratory snacks, but we quickly discovered there are a whole host of surprisingly risky things lurking in the gym bag.

T-ball began in kindergarten. What a hilarious sport!  Kids try to hit a baseball off a high tee and then parents try (often unsuccessfully) to direct their budding Major Leaguer to first base.  Left handed batters often end up running to third and some poor souls make a beeline for the pitcher’s mound.  With about 12 kids out on the field corralled by 24 parents, the game is more of a batting, yelling free-for-all; a perfect way to start a baseball career.  After outfitting G in the supplied polyester uniform and required jockstrap and cup (which, by the way makes them all walk around like bow legged cowboys) he was ready to take to the field and try all the positions.  Now in t-ball the only interesting position is catcher because you get to actually touch the ball by picking it up and placing it back on the tee.  This is quite a skill for these 5 year olds and all of them want a turn at showing off their ball placing skills.  When it was G’s turn he eagerly put on the complicated catcher’s gear (sorry, equipment) and got ready to pick up the ball when it was knocked off by the batter’s body on follow through.  The leg armour was strapped on and the chest protector clipped into place; he donned the helmet and face mask and “click”, “click” went the camera – wow he really looked like a Baseball Player!  Alas, it was a short career for G in the coveted position as catcher.  He probably survived 5 minutes in the face cage.  He was wiggling the cage saying my face is itchy.  Sure enough, when we whipped off the head gear, his face was covered in hives where the mask had touched his skin.

He did play baseball for a few more years, but those beginner years of little league can be quite painful (I mean from a boredom point of view) so I was not sad to see it go.  His Spring sport has become field hockey which suits me just fine as a spectator.  He’ll never be in goal though because of the shared face mask thing.  This also suits me just fine – it’s not pleasant to watch your child have hockey balls drilled at them, even if they are wearing a cup that fits …