Who knows what the future holds for the eleven lads that represented Jackson Parish at the Dixie Youth 6U District Tournament this past weekend in Olla, La. One thing is for sure, though. They will be forever remembered as the first ever group of six-year-olds to represent the Jackson Parish Recreation Department in postseason All-Star competition.
No, the group didn’t win the two games they played in the tournament, falling 16-0 to Alexandria on Friday and 4-1 to Winnfield on Saturday, but so many positives came from the experience the guys gained that you can’t help but count the weekend as a victorious effort.
If you can remember when you were six years old (LOL), imagine the feeling of traveling long miles through the woods to a place that is a long way off and one that you probably have never even heard of before.
Either your eyes would be glued to the window the whole way, gawking at all the new sights or you would be sitting there hardly able to focus from all the nervous energy you contained that had you nearly trembling.
Suddenly, you arrive at your destination and are thrust under the glowing lights of a ballfield containing kids you have never seen before, which is surrounded by more people than you have ever played in front of in your life.
Think it would be maybe just a little intimidating?
One can only imagine that it took several innings just for the shock of the situation to wear off. By then, any chance of winning the game was gone, but still, a victory was had.
The “win” was the experience that the young guys came away with. The feeling of what it is like to play in an All-Star environment. It can only be classified as a “win” because of what took place next, which was a newfound determination by each player to do better next game.
And boy did they ever!
Through the quality assistance of coaches Conner Stokes, Adam Pardue, Alexis Johnson and Darenta Gilbert, who expertly captured the team’s focus, JP6U turned in a tremendous performance to almost come away with a win on the field
“Our boys brought their A-game today,” said Stokes after the great effort given against Winnfield. “They took note of the mistakes they made and prevented them from happening again.”
That is a victory in any book!
“We could not be more proud of these boys and how far they have come in such a short time,” continued Stokes. “In the end, this team has created the best friendships and walked off the field with smiles. We really look forward to next year!”
The players that made up the Jackson Parish 6U All-Star team was Thiago Dominguez-Jackson (named team MVP of the Friday game), Dredyn Gilbert, Christon Gray, Ashton Hebert, Harold Hogue IV, Dawson Otwell, Alan Palmer, Parker Pardue (Saturday game MVP), Makhail Raborn-McCarter, Tanner Ross, and Kohen Stokes
For these 11, the experience was a “perfect 10”!