It's said that everything you need to know in life is learned in kindergarten. If true, then one might also postulate that everything you need to know about sports competition you learn in T-ball.

Offered currently as a eight-week summer program through the Chapel Hill / Carrboro YMCA, this instructional predecessor to standard baseball -- from Little League to big leagues -- T-ball and elder cousin, coach-pitch baseball, teach allegorical lessons which cut to the very heart of what baseball should be and, perhaps, what sports should be on their best day.

"Baseball is a simple game. ... You throw the ball. You hit the ball. You catch the ball," says mythical manager Joe Riggins in the classic 1988 film "Bull Durham."

Add in a few more elements -- perhaps hugging, laughing, and snacking -- and you've arrived alongside 330 eager young players, participants in YMCA T-ball and coach-pitch co-rec baseball as it plays out on Chapel Hill's Homestead Park softball fields each Saturday morning.

"If anybody does take it too seriously, at first, all they have to do is come out and watch all of the bobble-head kids in helmets running around," YMCA sports director Mike Meyen said. "And then they get a better understanding of what we're trying to do."

"We have the attitude where we just want them having fun out there," said Brian Hatrick, coach of the self-named "Purple Snakes" squad of 3- and 4-year-olds. "We don't push them into anything they don't want to do at this stage. Whoever wants to play can play."

The YMCA at 980 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. in Chapel Hill offers a variety of sports programs for boys and girls as young as 3 years old. The YMCA philosophy is centered on participation and fundamentals, with no try-outs or cuts, and an "everyone plays, everyone wins" attitude.

Organized sports offered through the Y include spring and fall soccer, winter basketball, and summer baseball.

T-ball and "coach-pitch" baseball have age-group leagues for ages 3-4, 5-6 and 7-8.

"There aren't balls and strikes called and, even in coach-pitch, the coaches are pitching to their own kids," he said. "It doesn't make a lot of sense to keep score in T-ball, because (the entire order bats around), and the last kid to bat just runs all the way around the bases."

"At first, it's really just rudimentary skills, and it's almost just a social thing -- playing on a team and listening to someone other than their mom and dad," Meyen added. The 5- and 6-year-olds are starting to get the team concept and where the ball's supposed to go. By age 7 or 8, they're really taking off and grasping games. Then we sort of graduate them along to the park and recreation leagues, where they practice a couple days a week."

Straight arrows

Due to the extremely young age of T-ball players, the games can present challenges for coaches and organizers.

"In the early weeks, the kids are so amped up, you worry a little about safety, because the kids are swinging bats and throwing balls," Meyen said.

Jason Buchanan, coach of the 3-4 league Tigers, said getting the kids moving in the correct direction can be challenging enough.

"We work a little on positions in the field, but the batters don't hit the ball hard, so we really have to move our fielders in," Buchanan said. "We do try to rotate them between first, second and third base so they know where those positions are."

"Coming out of soccer, kids are so used to the idea that you kick a ball and then you go follow it ... you chase it," Meyen explained. "Here in T-ball, as soon as they hit the ball, some of them take right off after it. They want to hit it and then field it."

Rubber arrows placed on the field help to direct base runners along their way. At least in theory.

"By the end of the games, the arrows are all pointed wrong," Meyen said, chuckling.

Equipment factor

For all the challenges and lack of formal structure, games seem to move along without problems, short of the occasional skinned knee or emotional meltdown. Helpful parents keep the game in perspective.

"You hear about 'Little League parents,' and fortunately, we haven't run into any of that," he said. "Plus, we seem to have more parents who volunteer coaching along with the official coaches. Of all the sports we do, the baseball and T-ball leagues are benefiting from probably the best response from parents we've seen all year. We've got parents who coach runners at every base, and others who try to manage the infield scrum."

An "equipment factor" helps fuel kids' interest, Meyen said. "There's a direct correlation: the more gear there is, the more excited the kids get. My son Sam's playing T-ball for the first time. He was playing soccer, and he saw kids playing baseball and decided that was what he wanted to do. He's been pretty single-minded since then."

Dan Pollard, father of Tigers team member Ben Pollard, 3, agreed with Meyen's assessment.

"Ben likes to put on the shirt. That's fun," he said. "This is just our second day out here though. We'd missed a couple practices with vacations, and this is actually Ben's first real game. He hit and ran around the bases in the right direction, which is good, because he's probably one of the more likely to be caught standing around looking at the ants on the ground."

Griffin Galloway's favorite aspect was a bit more participatory.

"I like batting," he said.

But for Wes Krieg, the attraction was strictly culinary.

"I like snack time," Krieg said.

"This has been a lot of fun," said Erica Krieg, Wes' mother. "It's nice because everyone's at about the same stage, so everyone's just cheering, and it's probably the only time we'll have it like this."

Perhaps there's still a lesson for all baseball players to revisit in the simplicity of T-ball, where it's still about simply throwing, hitting, catching and enjoying every minute of it. A bonus is a hug from a parent, and the only mention of "juicing" is at snack time.

Next up

YMCA sports turn to youth soccer season on Sept. 11 and runs through Nov. 6. Registration is ongoing, with a posted deadline of Aug. 16, which may be extended depending on how quickly rosters fill up.

Soon after the beginning of soccer season, the Chapel Hill / Carrboro YMCA will begin registration for winter youth basketball on Sept. 20. That season will begin in January 2011 and continue through March.

Meyen said parents should look for handouts through the public schools or check the YMCA website for updates at www.chcymca.org to check on all the YMCA's activities.

"That's one of the things I really like about Chapel Hill," Meyen said. "There's a different level of play in almost every sport for everyone.

"Everyone has a level to be at. If someone's looking for it, then someone's probably doing it and doing it well, and it's probably nearby."