University Hills Optimist (UHO) Little Miss Kickball

Congratulations to the Red Hotz for winning the first-ever UHO Kickball Rookies tournament, as a part of the 2010 Pee-Wees and Rookies Spirit Day.

By Dennis, Your Neighborhood (and Bacon-Cheeseburger Lovin') UHO Webmaster

Bleeding cuts. Bruised shins and toes. Strained and pulled arm and leg muscles. Jammed and broken fingers. Broken ankles. Hard hits. Exhaustion. Blows to the face and head.

This is not a recounting of the casualties of an NFL training camp. This is not a listing of injuries suffered in a hard-fought baseball game. This is not a rundown of a mixed martial arts fight card.

This is Little Miss Kickball.

Kickball? Yes.

Little Miss Kickball? Yes.

How is this so? Isn't kickball a non-contact sport where kids with smiling faces punt around a big bouncy red ball?

Sorry. You got the wrong color ball and the wrong league.

On May 20th, there will be two mandatory meetings for Seniors All-Star applicants and their parents.

If you are a Seniors division player applying for All-Stars or are the parent / guardian of a player applying for the UHO Seniors All-Stars team, you must attend one of the meetings.

Because we have two Seniors games happening at different times, 7:20 PM and 8:40 PM, we will have two meetings.

For those playing in and participating with the 7:20 PM game, Fusion vs. Navy Sharks, we will have a meeting in the UHO Clubhouse, starting at 6:45 PM.

For those playing in and participating with the 8:40 PM game, Chameleons vs. Lady Spartans, we will have a meeting in the UHO Clubhouse, starting at 8 PM.

This meeting is crucial for you to receive information concerning the All-Stars tryouts and league expectations that will govern the tryouts and on-going participation with the team we'll field to go to Brownsville.

Again, if you are a player and want to tryout, provided that you have applied with an All-Stars application, you must attend this meeting. There will be a sign-up sheet and those who sign in and are present will be allowed to attend tryouts.

These Rookies games are becoming a real treat to watch.

Last Thursday, the Purple Sparkles did the unexpected: they held on to win over the Wildkatz, 7-6. It was a fun game to watch, and the girls made some great catches (that applies to both sides) on some relatively hard kicks.

Yesterday, the top two teams in the UHO Kickball Rookies division, Red Hotz and Wildkatz, got together for another fun game. These teams are head and shoulders above the other teams within the division.

We know. That spot on your wall has been bare for quite some time. You got the perfect frame and organized everything else on the wall for the sake of that one photo. If only you knew when that team photo was coming in! Then life would be complete, your wall would be happy, and world peace would follow.

We can't promise world peace and a fulfilled life, but we might be able to satisfy your wall.

By Dennis, Your Neighborhood (and Sometimes Cranky) UHO Webmaster

Go ahead. Sue me. This is nearly a week after the fact.

Let me get the obvious thing out of the way. The Dimez won, 5-4. I'll revisit this in a moment.

Arguably, they are the team to beat. You could say that right now, as far as league teams are concerned across the state, they just might be the best team in the state in Teenagers. That's not "homer" talk; I am being seriously objective in saying that. Among their credentials: District IV Mid-Season Tournament Teenagers Division Champion, and Southside LMK Mother's Day Tournament Teenagers Champions. They are the Cherry Dimez.

Think about this for a second. Since April 8th, the Dimez have only lost once, and that was a tournament game. They have beaten teams from their own league as well Southside, Oso, Northwest Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi United, East Brownsville, Brownsville North, Tip-O-Tex, Central Austin, and NWA. They've won 9 straight league and/or District games, and went a perfect 5-0 in the Mother's Day Tournament.

Up until May 13th, the Dimez had won 18 of 19 games, whether league, District, or tournament. By any accounting, those numbers are impressive.

Enter the May 13th home game versus the Central Austin Pretty Bees (or is that Pretty B's?).

"Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality." - Warren Bennis

Every year in Little Miss Kickball, each league has a vision. The vision is to field competitive teams in league play, have loud, proud, supportive parents and community members, and grow young girls into confident, character-driven young ladies.

Yet, there is another strand to the vision.

It is a strand that comes clearly into view for only a select few each year. It is a strand that gets tested in 100+ degree heat, gets blurred with a single defeat, and shut down by tears with a second defeat. Yet, for the team standing at the end, with their eyes open, there is reward, pride, and accomplishment, with the knowledge that 16 other teams tested, challenged, and changed them... into champions.

The crucible of that strand of vision is called the Little Miss Kickball All-Stars State Tournament, hosted this year by the Riverside league in the Brownsville area.

Every vision needs a sage... a guide... one who can not only see the specs and debris that cloud and clutter the vision, but can also remove them to restore clarity.

On May 18th, there will be a mandatory meeting for Juniors All-Star applicants and their parents.

If you are a Juniors division player applying for All-Stars or are the parent / guardian of a player applying for the UHO Juniors All-Stars team, you must attend this meeting. This meeting will be held following the 6:00 PM games. This meeting will be held in the UHO Clubhouse.

This meeting is crucial for you to receive information concerning the All-Stars tryouts and expectations that will govern the tryouts and on-going participation with the team we'll field to go to Brownsville.

Again, if you are a player and want to tryout, provided that you have applied with an All-Stars application, you must attend this meeting. There will be a sign-up sheet and those who sign in and are present will be allowed to attend tryouts.