Interviewing kids

spot on for the most part....

Don't expect to get a worthwhile quote when talking to Little Leaguers...if you do, consider it a small bonus. The eye-level thing helps...I always kneel down in the grass or find somewhere to sit...sounds like it wouldn't matter, but it really does.

and by all means put up a force-field that repels parents.

Covered my first Little Leaguer game of the summer last night

 

Someone once told me to ask them what their "strategy" was ... It has yet to yield any great quotes for me, but is better than nothing. Kids always have a strategy.

 

It's kind of tricky getting a 12-year-old off to the side for a one-on-one interview, though. Not like you would usually have an interview room. And being alone with a 12-year-old girl is kind of dicey.

I like the idea of getting a few teammates together.

And you really should look for the talkative kids -- there are usually a couple on every team -- and try to include them even if they didn't do that much.

I'd say most kids are hard to interview but some are really golden.

 

Some solid advice on here, especially about looking for the talkative kids. There can be such a variety. Ask one kid to talk about the game-winning hit and he might say "It was good" and be done. Another kid might go on for several minutes, tying it into it being his big brother's birthday and his mom told him he would get a bigger piece of cake if he had a good game.
As others have said, try staying away from questions which can be answered with one or two words.

 

I'm 6'7" so the squatting advice is definitely helpful since kids are usually intimidated by my height. I covered a 9-10 year old Little League game the other day and I literally sat on the ground while talking to one kid who was probably 2 1/2 feet shorter than me. It turned out to be a pretty decent interview. You need to simplify your questions, too, but still leave it open enough so the kid answers you with at least a couple sentences.

 

Rhody: Did you just say you like young girls best?

 

I usually use "Tell me about . . . " questions.

Tell me about your home run.

Tell me about that catch.

 

I was wondering which post on this thread would be the one to get us linked from the NAMBLA message board.

 

Normally, interviewing 9-12 year-olds is like sitting in a dentist's chair for me. But once in awhile you strike gold. A few years ago, I was assigned to do a feature on a hotshot 9-year-old golfer. The kid was really good – top 2-3 in the country in his age group, and he'd already played twice in Junior nationals at Pinehurst.

OK, I set up the interview at his parents' house, which is in THE richest subdivision in town, I get there and I start getting a little uneasy. Mom looks a little like a Stepford wife, the father comes across as a bit of a control freak, and the kid (an only child, FWIW) has the polo shirt and khakis thing going and looks very shy. So I'm thinking it's going to be the parents doing the talking and the kid giving me a lot of "um," answers.

So I was astounded when I started asking questions and he's answering in complete sentences and talking like he's really studied the game and knows what he's talking about. There were a couple of times when the parents prompted him a little, but for the most part, he didn't need any help. Kid was more articulate than a lot of college athletes I've encountered.

BTW, he was top medalist in the high school state tournament this past spring as a 7th grader, so he's got a future in the game if he sticks with it.