Canzano Captures a Little League Sportsmanship Moment Perfectly
By Ken Reed
In the Southwest Region final of the Little League Baseball World Series tournament, Kaiden Shelton of Texas drilled Oklahoma’s Isaiah Jarvis in the head (which luckily was protected with a batting helmet). Jarvis fell down like a rock and was shaken up for awhile. But he eventually got up and made it to first base, where he noticed that Shelton appeared to be distraught and crying.
Jarvis then went to the mound to console Shelton and …
I’ll let John Canzano (@johncanzanobft), who writes the Bald Faced Truth blog, pick it up at that point:
Once there, he did the wildest thing. He hugged him. Then, Jarvis told him, “Hey, you’re doing just great.”
I’ve spent a lot of time in the last few months growing disillusioned with sports. We’re in a summer that has given us LIV Golf, the defection of UCLA and USC to the Big Ten, and Kevin Durant signing a $198 million extension, then demanding a trade one year into it. …
Then, came that wonderful Little League scene. …The two teams were competing for one of 20 spots in the World Series in Williamsport, Pa. One advances. One goes home. … I don’t know about you, but the empathy, class and sportsmanship displayed in that moment felt like a cool breeze across a scorching-hot sports landscape.
I didn’t like seeing Jarvis get hit in the helmet by that pitch. I held my breath when I saw the video. I was glad the kid wasn’t hurt. Then, I watched him go to first base, and do something the rest of sports hasn’t done enough of lately — lift us all up.
My eyes watered.
I sure needed it.
Maybe you did, too.
Read the rest of Canzano’s poignant piece
See the video clip from the game
Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans

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Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families. Linda writes extensively about how youth sports can hijack families, and family outings, non-sports activities and bonding time are lost in the pursuit of the next club team game or travel tournament.
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Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
Episode #25 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Physical Education Should Be a Critical Component of K-12 School Design – Michael Horn is co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
Episode #24 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Mental Health and Athletes: Ending the Stigma – Nathan Braaten and Taylor Ricci are the founders of Dam Worth It, a non-profit created to end the stigma around mental health at colleges and universities through sport, storytelling, and community creation.
Episode #23 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Olympian Benita Fitzgerald Mosley Talks Title IX, Youth Sports and the Olympics.
Episode #22 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Rethinking Sports Fandom with Author Craig Calcaterra – We discuss Calcaterra’s new book “Rethinking Fandom: How to Beat the Sports-Industrial Complex at Its Own Game” and explore new ways to be a fan.
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"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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