Sometimes the love of the game is lost when it comes to professional sports, and youth athletics are a great reminder of why it is enjoyable to get out on the ballfield in the first place.
The Glen Ellyn second grade White Sox baseball team loved the game so much that they would practice extra just to be on the ballfield. These seven-year-olds exemplify what youth baseball is all about: having fun and being competitive with a smile on your face while playing fall baseball.
The team was coached by Jim Vavrek, and according to his wife Chalet, every practice he would end it by saying, “Practice is over, but if you want to stay and practice more, I’ll stick around.”
Every player stayed at each and every practice, making the hour long practice double in size at times.
“That’s dedication for seven year olds,” Clalet Vavrek said. “But they love the game."
Chalet Vavrek said the practice and dedication showed in the results on the diamond.
"These boys had their best season yet, worked so hard and had a blast!" she said.
One aspect that made the White Sox team unique was that one of the team moms, Jenna Salm, coordinated walk up songs. The songs were through the BallparkDJ app and included Cub’s announcer Andrew Belleson for each of the players. They would have a huge speaker at each game, blasting their music of choice. The players had one song they loved in particular, “Ando en la Versace,” where they would all drop everything and dance.
The roster, along with their walkup music choices, are as follows:
| Number | Player Name | Song | Artist |
| 11 | Brooks Walti | It's Going Down | Nic D & Connor Price |
| 12 | Tanner Schaffnit | All My Life (feat. J. Cole) | Lil Durk |
| 13 | Jimmy Salm | Tick Tick Boom (feat. BygTwo3) | Sage the Gemini |
| 14 | Will Stanfield | Godzilla (feat. Juice WRLD) | Eminem |
| 15 | Nicholas Wassef | Get Ready | 2 Unlimited |
| 16 | Emmett Wojcik | The Final Countdown | Europe |
| 17 | Elliot Kohler | My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up) | Fall Out Boy |
| 20 | Noah Stark | BOOM | X Ambassadors |
| 21 | Brady Wenzl | We Will Rock You | Queen |
| 22 | Luke Ciccione | Lose Yourself | Eminem |
| 23 | Easton Vavrek | Ando en la Versace | Omega |
