Niece keeping sports in play

Taking a week’s vacation from being sports editor has hardly meant a break from sports.
In the last five days, my sporting docket has included soccer, baseball, track, basketball, and swimming.
My success rate has varied.
I was strong in soccer, swimming, and basketball. All of my track races, win or lose, were close.  But in my stint as a pitcher, I got lit up — by a curly-haired, 4-year-old girl – my niece Tatiyana.
She was my opponent in all of the events.
I knew I was going to be in for a marathon of activity as I visited home this week, given the text message I received from my sister before the trip: “Your list of things to do while you are here, per Tatiayna … Lake Erie Nature Center, swim in her pool, work in the garden, play, swim, Bay Village Carnival, swim, fireworks, play, swim.”
It started with playing soccer, in which we each dribbled up and down the yard and then kicked the ball into the goal. At that point, Tati declared that I needed to score 22 goals in order to win. Thankfully, we moved on to something else before 22 was even within sight.
When we made it to the driveway for basketball, I far outscored my 3-foot, 4½ inch opponent. Then again, I was dropping in layups off the backboard while she was trying to shoot a regulation basketball into a mini hoop that it barely fit through. Given those parameters, she was downright Jordan-esque.
In the pool, I was undefeated. But I suppose I was at a distinct advantage given that my body stretches the length of her new backyard pool in which the water is less than 2 feet deep. But Tati’s freestyle skills have greatly improved, and I taught her the backstroke during our two-hour swim session Monday.
Track events can pop up at any time.
Randomly Tati will just say, “Let’s run,”sparking a race to the driveway, to wherever one of the dogs happens to be, or around the house if we happen to be inside.
When it came time to play baseball, Tati was more than ready because last week at her summer camp was baseball week. The lefty stepped into the batter’s box against me with her foam-covered, pink bat  and hit just about every pitch I threw her, including the infamous “Sneaker Deaker.”
The “Sneaker Deaker” is a pitch my dad, the oldest of nine kids, invented years ago to throw to his younger brothers. As far as I know, there is no specific technique — except that it makes the batter feel like they’ve done something special if they hit it. It’s a pitch he later tossed to me and my siblings, and that my uncles pitched to their kids. And now both Grandpa and Uncle Ray throw it to Tatiyana.
And that’s the great things about sports: they bring generations together.
My family is most definitely united by the common bond of sports. You can guarantee that at every family event, a game – involving a Cleveland team, if at all possible — will be on the television. And family competitions in H-O-R-S-E, volleyball, baseball and cornhole, among other games, have been staples over the years.
Organized sports have their place, especially as kids get older. But it’s these moments in the back yard that are priceless.
I will always remember my games with Tatiyana, just like I’ll always carry memories shooting hoops with my dad, hitting pitches from my mom and playing games of “running bases” with my cousins in my Grandma Cooney’s back yard. And one of the images I’ll carry with me forever is when my Great Uncle Jim, who had Parkinson’s Disease, rose from his lawn chair, to pitch to his godson, my brother Brian, in a family game of back yard baseball.
Sports have been a constant in my life for as long as I can remember, and I’m thrilled to have a hand in passing them on to Tatiyana.
I hope someday she’ll have this week of memories, and so many more, to look back on when she’s tossing the ole “Sneaker Deaker” to her son or daughter.[[In-content Ad]]