SPORTS COLUMNIST PETER JAKEY:Minor Girls team is a good reflection on the community
When Little Leaguers from Rogers City and Posen arrived in Port Huron for the Minor Girls state tournament nearly two weeks ago, not many people knew much about Rogers City. Some didn?t know where Rogers City was or much about the Little League program. They would soon learn, though, as the all-stars finished third in the state. The girls from the Rogers City area gained respect from their competitors with the way they played softball on the field and from the fans with the way they conducted themselves off of it.
The Minor Girl darlings of the diamond were the epitome of what a Little League team is supposed to be when they visited Port Huron for nine days, one tournament official told coach Jay Schuiteman. ?…and that has a real reflection on the whole community of Rogers City,? said Schuiteman. The way the girls played and acted was a good reason why people running the show in Port Huron, who didn?t have a local team playing, sort of adopted Rogers City as the team to root for.
?All those people were pulling for Rogers City,? said Schuiteman. It certainly wasn?t a typical tournament run for a Rogers City all-star team ? each year the local Little League sends a squad to state ? but this was a special group of kids. The young players deserve a tremendous amount of credit, but their success hinged on the support they received from their parents and the community back home. To coach Schuiteman, both were outstanding. It was an incredible experience for everyone involved, and less than 48 hours after parading down Third Street Sunday afternoon with the girls, Schuiteman talked about the trip to Port Huron:
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Q. What were the nine days like?
Schuiteman: It went by pretty fast. We did a lot of extra-curricular stuff like going to the movies. We took them shopping. One day we went to a water park. The girls were all really good. We had nothing but good comments about them from every place we stayed, about how well behaved they were. All the parents were there and everybody joined in and helped out. We just had a really good group of people.
Q. What was the experience like for the girls?
Schuiteman: I think at nine and 10 they really didn?t realize what they had accomplished until they got home and were met by the firetrucks. To them I think they were just playing ball. I think they enjoyed themselves. They enjoyed staying at the hotels and swimming in the pools. I don?t think they really realize what was going on to really appreciate that they were number three in the state.
Q. What are your thoughts on the community?s reaction?
Schuiteman: The community really came together behind this group of girls. The girls worked hard to raise money and everybody in the community was terrific in giving $5 here, $10 there. They raised enough money to send them there and we?ve got some to give back to Little League. It was just tremendous support from the community and we really appreciate that.
Q. And you had lots of support from those parents as well?
Schuiteman: Every kid there had a parent there and the parents stayed the whole time. The parents were instrumental in raising the funds and everyone got along. We didn?t have many problems with anything. Everyone was just going with the flow. They are just a tremendous group of people.
Q. Did you expect such a high placing?
Schuiteman: I did. There?s a lot of talent on that team. We only had eight practices with these girls before we went to state. We took 11 girls out of the 22 girls in our league. Posen?s going to have a very go
Rogers City lost to Mattawan 12-0 last Saturday, bringing an end to the tournament run. They had won four games in a row before the loss.