Portland, Tennessee Blog

My daugther played t-ball at Little League this last years season. I was very displeased with how things went. I understand when kids are little you don't want to upset them but it was rediculous how the games were run and how the park is ran. My daugther did not learn anything but how to run when she was playing. The coaches and umps were to busy talking and not paying attention to the kids. What happened to the coaches being involved with the kids. The only practice my child got was at home with her dad and myself. We only had one practice the whole season. The coaches that she had were not very informative with the parents. All but 2 of my daughters games they had the kids hit run to second instead of first then wait for the next hitter then run home instead of 3rd base. We never had outs except at our last game. When we did only a few of the kids knew what outs meant.If we weren't going to have outs then my daugther should have been playing junior t-ball again. Most of the time our games were over within 30 minutes because the ump and the coaches wanted them to get it over with as soon as possible. My husband played at the Little League field and High school ball for Portland. He was upset to see how things have gotten at the Little League ball field. I have heard alot of comments on how on much better the Dixie League is. If I thought my daugther was ready I would put her in Dixie but they don't have t-ball from what I was told. My daugther has expressed wanting to play again next year but it won't be at the LIttle League Park. It will probably be in Westmoreland were they play t-ball like it is suppose to be played. I have co-workers whose children played in Westmoreland and when we watched them play I was very impressed and the games lasted 1 hour or more. For my experience at the Little League field I didn't like it. I agree with the other parents it should be for the kids. But not teaching them what outs are and not running the bases like they are suppose to just so you can get the game over quicker is ridculous. I put my child in ball because she wants to play. I would sit there and watch her play for 30 minutes or 2 to 3 hours if I had to. So why did the umps and coaches rush it. I enjoy watching my kid have fun. If the coaches and the umps didn't want to take the time to play the game for the kids then they shouldn't have volunteered and wasted the parents time that actually cared.

My son has played Dixie for the past three years and this will be his fourth. We have a friend who goes to White House school, plays Portland dixie and lives in between. We also have a friend who lives in between that plays spring Portland dixie, fall White House Dixie, and goes to Portland school.

To make a long story short, (I will always pick Portland, because I grew up here.), but I think you will make a great decision either way you go.

I've been debating if I should go Portland or White House for my son's baseball season. (We live inbetween) I haven't played or visited any of the youth sports in Portland since I was a child... so I have no idea how things are these days.

I have grown up with Portland Sports. I played Youth Basketball, Soccer, Baseball (Both Little League, City, and Dixie.) Every league has its ups and downs, but I believe Little League was my worst experience. It seemed there was always a fight somewhere in the park and the coaches were mostly VERY young. I haven't been there in years, but I would have thought this would have been cleaned up by now. I learned a lot about baseball through the City Leagues, but the Dixie Experience was great! It's always fun to play against other cities best players, and this prepares you more for the future (High School). The only downfall is the time consumed with travel/practices which makes it difficult on the parents. Soccer was always fun for me, but I played when Portland just begin competitive soccer at the recreation level. My favorite passion was basketball. I grew up in Richland Gym. Portland is VERY LUCKY to have this type of facility for the youth. Probably one of the best City Leagues in the surrounding area. While Traveling teams offer the experience of playing with/against the best players around, Portland is fortunate to have the number of kids/coaches/refs involved in the city basketball league. I would like to see more Middle/High school coach involvement at the youth level. Kids need to learn basic offense and defense set ups that will help them grow and feed success to our school programs.

My Son has played Soccer for 3 seasons. He really enjoys the game ans we have had a great experience. Every season it seems that more and more kids are coming out and that the Soccer program is growing.

My two grandsons play Dixie League Baseball. It has been a wonderful expierience.