FROM THE TOP
LELAND ACKER chreporter@mediactr.com
You throw like a girl! Yep. I remember that phrase well. You know, with the way the Rusk softball team is playing this year, that phrase is not really an insult anymore. When I was eight years old, it was the worst thing a little league pitcher could hear.

Though I didn't play little league (I liked basketball), I went to the games to watch my friends and siblings play.

During one game, while my friend was on the mound, the phrase "you throw like a girl" was yelled so loudly, everyone could hear it.

It would have been one thing had the phrase been yelled by a member of the opposing team, or even some loser who was just watching the game. No, this time the phrase was yelled by my friend's mother.

As parents, we want to see our kids excel. When they don't, we hurt for them. When they don't succeed because they are just goofing off, it may even anger us.

However, we can not get so zealous for our kids' success that we do things that actually harm our children. Granted, that mother is probably the only one in the world who would tell her son he throws like a girl. But we all can be guilty of inadvertently hurting our kids while trying to push them for success.

For example. John is convinced that his seven-year old son, Jack, is the next Nolan Ryan. John, being the good father that he is, spends extra time with Jack, teaching him how to throw the fast ball, the knuckle ball, the curve ball and even the screw ball.

John sends Jack to all kinds of pitching clinics and has him playing select baseball 12 months out of the year.

What John doesn't realize, is that Jack's body isn't ready for the stress of all that pitching with those different types of pitches. (He may also not realize that at the age of seven, Jack is already considering retirement from baseball.)

Such physical stress on a seven-year-old arm can cause irreversible damage, ending Jack's career before he even hits high school.

Hebrews 5:13-14 says "(he) that uses milk is unskillful in the word... for he is a babe, but strong meat belongs to them that are of full age." While this verse applies to Bible study and knowledge, it can be applied to little league as well.

Don't push your kids too hard too soon, or else your child will be over the hill before they even hit the minors.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to watch the Rusk Lady Eagles throw like a bunch of girls.