During the summer, we often dedicate space on the editorial page to commending the achievements of Dixie Youth Baseball and Dixie Softball all-star teams.

Some of those teams compete in their district or state tournaments right here in the Heart of Virginia, while others have to travel a bit. Those squads experiencing particularly high-level success may travel to North Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama or elsewhere for the World Series.

The highly successful teams hailing from Prince Edward, Buckingham and Cumberland feature players that show discipline and skill. These players have good attitudes that help foster good chemistry with their teammates, contributing to strong play. Their good character also leads to good sportsmanship, which helps direct everyone’s focus to the things that are most important in life.

All of these qualities stem from the character of the individuals who are raising those young ballplayers.

The players wouldn’t be at the tournaments to compete if their parents didn’t make the arrangements and scheduling sacrifices to faithfully get them there on time. In service of the same point, the players wouldn’t demonstrate the skill they do without having consistently been at all the practices and regular season games that lead up to the all-star season.

These players wouldn’t likely show much discipline on the diamond if their parents didn’t model it in the home. This model of discipline also includes the consistency that parents demonstrate in disciplining/correcting their children.

Lastly, the ballplayers wouldn’t likely have a good attitude or the right priorities if they didn’t have parents who helped establish those things by practice and teaching.

So we would like to celebrate the parents who have made possible this and previous summers of success on the diamond. Thank you, Mom and Dad!