Youth league summer baseball and softball are winding down except for a few all-star and select teams still participating in state or national tournaments.

The season is extremely long, with practice starting as early as February and play extended into late July. It is no surprise that so many kids get burned out on the games before they even reach high school.

Only the most dedicated are willing to undergo the almost year-round practice and games schedule into the upper adolescent years, and those are the kids who don’t have to be really pushed by parents to participate.

An enthusiastic parent who is well-versed in the intricacies of baseball or softball can mold a winning child with some athletic ability into an excellent or maybe a star player, but the same can’t be said for football.

A kid must have either superior athletic ability or complete dedication along with some natural athletic ability reach the pinnacle of football success, and it usually requires a combination of both traits.

As baseball and softball wind down for the summer, many kids, coaches and parents are gearing up for the fall youth soccer programs.

Youth soccer is probably the fastest-growing sport in America as I have written in the past. In the Jackson area there seem to be as many select soccer teams as there are select baseball teams, and that is a lot.

High school soccer is growing rapidly and has become the winter sport for those kids who don’t participate in basketball.

It is good to see several soccer players from Natchez schools plan to continue their careers when they reach college.

I understand Patrick Biglane, who was a multi-sport star at Cathedral, plays at Delta State, and several other local players will play at other colleges.

Registration for the local youth soccer season is under way. A change this year will allow 13-year-olds to play in the U-13 league as most 13-year-olds are too small to play against the 17- and 18-year-old kids in the U-19 league.

The league’s players are drawn from Adams and Franklin counties as well as Concordia Parish.

Soccer officials are in short supply. Officiating soccer is an excellent way for officials in other sports to maintain conditioning aside from being fun and a good way to help kids.

Dr. Ken Stubbs handles certification for local soccer officials, and a soccer officiating clinic will be held in August.

A lot of credit for starting local youth soccer in Natchez goes to David Gaud, who got the whole thing started and maintains records and about everything else for the leagues.

I read Jordan Farmer, Matthew Hall and Mary Kate Byrne all played well in the recent Natchez City Junior Golf Tournament, which bodes well for next year’s Cathedral golf team.

Cathedral won the 2003-2004 state all-sports trophy, which included a runner-up spot in golf, playoff spots in football and soccer, along with the state championship in baseball. If they could grow a couple of 6-9 basketballers, it would complete the picture.

And that’s official.

Al Graning is a former SEC official and former Natchez resident. He can be reached at

AlanWard39157@aol.com.