Meet the Team: 8U Baseball Royals

Player: Beckett

  • TEAM: 8U Baseball Royals
  • TIME with RBI: Third season
  • SCHOOL: Laurel Mountain Elementary
  • CAREER DREAMS: What do you want to be when you grow up? An inventor. I would invent a hover car and they’re going to come in bright colors.
  • LOVE OF THE GAME: What’s your favorite part about playing baseball? Being able to play with my friends
  • FAVORITE POSITION: Catcher
  • FAVORITE PLAYER: Who is your favorite baseball player? I don’t know. I don’t really like baseball. My favorite team is the Express so my favorite player is probably Spike. I’ve been to his dog house 25 times.
     

Parent: Alyssa

  • RBI KIDS: One son, Beckett.
  • TIME with RBI: This is our third season.
  • PERSONAL VALUE: What do you think Beckett gains the most from being involved with RBI off of the ball field? Sportsmanship, being part of a team, and being part of something bigger than himself. He also gets to cheer on his teammates.
  • PROUD PARENT: When is a time you were most proud of Beckett? I’m most proud of him when I see him being compassionate to other people. He’s very aware of all the homeless people on the side of the road. He wants to know all about them and help them. Any time he thinks of other people first, I’m proud of him.
  • BASEBALL PARENT: What’s the hardest part about being a baseball parent?It’s a time commitment. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but people are working and living all over the city so it’s definitely a big time commitment. Well worth it, though. 
  • GAMEDAY MUST-HAVE: What is something you have to have with you when you are watching a game? Every game I bring a squirt bottle and I spray all the players to keep them cool. It’s very popular.

 

Coach: Brian

  • TIME with RBI:This is my 5th year involved with RBI but my first year with coach pitch. Beckett is my son so I’ve just moved up through age groups as he’s gotten older.
  • BACKGROUND: Did you play sports growing up? I played sports, but I was from a really small town and we didn’t have a lot of money so I didn’t play baseball. I played soccer, basketball and some softball and I always enjoyed it.
  • LEARNING FROM THE KIDS: What’s something you’ve learned from Beckett? Resilience and keeping focused. He has cystic fibrosis so putting on weight and muscle and everything about sports is hard for him. We try to push him towards sports to help him with that, but it’s always a struggle. When he was struggling to get a hit last season, he was really determined. He said he wanted to go out and practice 20 minutes a day every day until he got a hit. Getting to cheer him on is awesome.
  • PARENTS and PLAYERS: What do you think families and players gain the most from being involved with RBI? I think RBI is a family. We talk about cheering on each other, and I think it brings out a commonality. All of these parents drive so far and put in so much time and effort so getting all of the players together is really special. A couple games ago a few of our players said they were glad their coaches didn’t yell at them so we try to always be positive and encouraging for our players, even when we’re correcting them.
  • PROGRAM VALUE: What do you think you gain from being involved with RBI? The relationships with the players and seeing them all growing up from season to season. Seeing them remembering the value of teamwork and knowing that they always have people around them who they can lean on.