No crying in baseball?
Edited to add: I played competitive softball in my youth (travel ball, including national tournaments) and high school. I have never experienced the level of emotion I’m currently witnessing in 10u boys baseball.
My son has played soccer since he was 4, and it’s always been his primary sport. We’ve been part of a really positive club culture with a mix of hired coaches and parent volunteers. One thing I’ve noticed over the years is that even during really tough losses or lopsided games, I never see kids cry. It just doesn’t seem to be part of the culture of youth soccer around us.
This year he’s also playing Little League and now AAA baseball (9/10U), and I’ve been surprised by how emotional the environment seems at times. At least 2–3 kids are crying almost every game — after strikeouts, rough pitching innings, bad losses, etc. Sometimes it even seems contagious once one child gets upset.
I want to be clear that I’m not criticizing the kids at all. Youth sports are emotional and every child is different. I’m honestly just trying to understand whether this is pretty normal in baseball culture at this age? Is it because baseball can feel so individually exposing compared to soccer? Or is our experience unusual?
My son has stayed pretty upbeat so far, but as a parent it’s been interesting to observe because it feels very different from what we’ve experienced in soccer.