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Little League's Impact Goes Beyond Field

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By IMANI ASUKILE, Tribune correspondent

Published: February 22, 2008

About 500 boys and girls will suit up for the Dade City Little League's opening-day ceremony the morning of March 1.

Before the league moved to John S. Burks Memorial Park in the mid-'80s, the season began with a parade of players, coaches and officials hiking from the Dade City Theater, now Center State Bank, to the ballpark.

The Dade City league has a rich heritage. In more than 50 years of service, the league has established the values of teamwork, sportsmanship and fair play in thousands of young ballplayers.

Michael Smith, a marketing manager for State Farm Insurance and member of the 1979 boys all-star state championship team, attributes much of his success as an adult and the opportunity to play for the University of South Florida Bulls to the values he learned in Little League.

Mike has two boys who play in Little League, and he coaches a team.

Volunteering is his way of paying back the league for what it did for him.

Several Dade City players went on to later success.

Pasco High School softball coach Shamalene Broner, a hall of fame athlete at Florida State University, played in the league and was one of the first girls to make the boys all-star team.

Two members of the University of Tampa team that won the 2007 Division II College World Series are graduates of the Dade City program.

In 1985 and '86, the big league girls advanced to the World Series in Indianapolis, and the senior boys made it to the World Series in Maine in 2004.

In 1992, Dade City's Little League All-Stars (ages 11 and 12) won the state championship and finished third in the Southeast Regional, two games away from the Little League World Series.

And way back in 1953, in the league's early years, the Dade City All-Stars won the North Florida Sectional to advance to the Southern Regionals in Greenville, N.C. That team lost to a team from Alabama that won the Little League World Series.

That was before the league integrated.

But there are countless boys and girls who never made it to an all-star game, had a game-winning hit or played college ball who learned a thing or two about life in Little League.

The league is about families and relationships.

League President Randy Lane met his wife, Wendy Wilks, at the ballpark during all-star games. Wendy is an assistant principal at Woodland Elementary School and played on the '85 and '86 teams that advanced to Indianapolis. Both of their children play in the league. It can be a way of life.

The league that started at the old Massey Field with just two fields today has eight fields at Burks park, off State Road 52.

But the league is down about 100 players from a couple of years ago. Registration is $75 a player. Multiply that by 100, and that is a significant financial loss. The girls teams have been hit the hardest.

It's obvious times are different. Many Hispanic children are choosing competitive soccer over baseball. Children are not willing to rot on someone's bench without the chance to compete for playing time. Lacrosse is the newest youth sport on the horizon in the area.

Children and parents have other options now. Little League is not the only game in town any longer.

When all is said and done, though, Dade City Little League is still one of the best institutions in Pasco County. It does a whole lot of good. It's a bargain, so let's keep the balls moving and bats swinging.

Imani Asukile, a Hernando County native, is a longtime Dade City resident and one of the founders of the African American Heritage Society of East Pasco County. His column appears every other Friday. To suggest a future column, e-mail him at idasukile@yah

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