Column: Aaron Worm, Behind the Mic

Kids grow up way too fast.

We have heard or said that many times as parents. One day you’re helping them brush their teeth and the next day watching them receive a diploma. And for the parents of the American Legion Post 56 baseball team last weekend watching them qualify for state.

Watching the celebration at Hayek Field and the parents waving their pompoms in the air, you could feel how proud the parents were of their young men.

I talked to head coach Jack Kortan after the game, who has two sons on the team, Conner and Carter, and asked him about the emotion he was feeling as a coach and a dad. He was so proud as a father and had spent so much time around all the guys over the years, that they all sort of felt like his kids. Kortan got a picture taken with his two boys, and Aaron Klatt with his dad, Dave, and so many parents took the time to capture the memory with some family pictures.

As a father of 3- and 5-year-old boys, I thought how sweet of a moment that must be not just for the players but for the parents. You hear the adage that the parents are more nervous than the players during a game (as a broadcaster I think I get more nervous than the players). Every parent is so proud of the accomplishments of their kids, which of course they should be.

My dad coached me when I was younger in baseball, back in the days of 13-, 14- and 15-year old Babe Ruth. I have said this before, I was never much of an athlete, and sometimes I think my dad felt pressured to play me because I was his son and pressured to not play me because again I wasn’t very good. But no matter what happened, I remember as a kid being happy that dad and mom were at every game, even if I never got a chance to bat, and were always encouraging.

My parents never missed a game for any of us four Worm boys and got to enjoy the excitement of any win and the disappointment of any loss, but still supported us no matter the outcome. That’s what I saw at Hayek Field, and that’s what I see from so many parents from the area. The team could be state bound, or looking for win No. 1 of the season, and the parents are out there cheering on their sons and daughters, and that’s what it’s all about.

I thought to myself after the Legion punched its ticket to state that one day like the Klatts, Kortans, Bellrichards, Haalands and other families on the field, it would be the Worm family celebrating a victory.

But I shouldn’t get a head of myself. Kids grow up way too fast. I will enjoy the moments right now, supporting them as they learn to ride a bike or throw a ball.

KATE Sports Director Aaron Worm’s column appears each Monday in the Tribune. He can be heard from 6 to 11 a.m. weekdays on the Breeze.