Youngsters enjoy Summer activities

Summer fun

Ann Marie Carr awaits ball during recent softball practice session.

Activities keep youngsters busy

By Travis Connolley

Summer time in Pike County can be summed up largely as blazing temperatures, unpredictable rain showers and kids out of school to name a few. But with the children not in school until August, the McComb Recreation Department is helping to find fun activities for the children to partake in during the summer.

The MRD offers multiple sports including football, baseball, softball, gymnastics, soccer and kickball. The wide variety of activities available is something that the MRD wanted to provide, not only for children but also for adults. "We really wanted to offer and bring in a lot of new programs and things to offer, not just for kids but for adults as well," MRD Programmer Paris Ratliff said. "Last year, we really realized that life can just stop at any moment. Nothing went on last year because of coronavirus. This year we really wanted to come out swinging with different programs, not just with our existing ones, but we really didn't have a lot of things to offer for kids like community days or fun days. We wanted to come up with more programs for the summer because we were stuck in the house for a whole year with nothing to do."

As far as kickball, Ratliff said that the new activity is already creating a buzz with participants asking if there could be a fall league set up for the adults. "We got a lot of positive feedback for kickball," she said. "We only had two teams for summer kickball for adults and we had a lot of people come out on our first night of playing. They were so excited about it. We already have five teams that have signed up for a fall kickball league for adults."

The MRD also assisted the Junior Flag Football League in making a comeback after a year off as well, by allowing the JFL to use the multipurpose field. Recently the JFL held its annual combine ahead of its season opener.

JFL President Marcus Gatlin said he was thrilled to bring the league back for the children ages 6-12 by providing another activity for them to participate in for the summer. But for Gatlin, it is also a way

"We really wanted to offer and bring in a lot of new programs and things to offer, not just for kids but for adults as well."

MRD Programmer Paris Ratliff

Marques Wells prepares to throw football during recent flag football game.

Neely Walker makes a pitch in recent softball activity.

of providing something for the children to keep them away from the threat of violence. "The message that I would like to express throughout McComb being a law enforcement officer is we have to stop the violence," he said. "We have our young kids out here and we want to show them a way to have fun and a way to do it in a safe manner."

Even though the restrictions were put in place and the league was canceled for the year, participant Lee Brown found time to stay in shape preparing for the return the year after. "I would play every once in a while (with my Dad)," he said.

While the JFL did not play at all in 2020, the Pike County Youth baseball and softball leagues were the first to test the waters last July after some COVID-19 restrictions were relaxed by state and health officials.

Youth softball 8U coach Cam Sharp said he is thankful to get a full year in after the shortened 2020. "It feels very good," he said. "You have a lot of excited kids, a lot of excited girls who were ready to play. They missed a lot of ball last year and they were ready

Parker Robinson throws ball in baseball action. Ashton Lucky makes a run for it in recent flag football game.

to hit the fields this year. The (level of excitement) was through the roof from the first day of practice all the way through the season and into all-stars."

His daughter — eight-year old Paisley — added that she was also very excited to get back out on the field and that she enjoys playing with her friends.

Looking back on the MRD program, Ratliff is very thankful to see it continue to grow due to interest from the community. "It is amazing to see this all come to life," she said. "Putting it on paper and trying to get people to even try and get interested is the hard part. That is where all of the legwork comes in. Because you can come up with a lot of great ideas, but if you don't get the feedback and participation, it only stays a dream or an idea. But if you put in the hard work and go into the community and pass out flyers and see people come in and get excited, it makes it all worth the while." n