CROWN POINT | Maya Seifert's eyes were wide, and somewhat moist. But what do you expect when an 8-year-old gets called up on a stage in front of an estimated crowd of 8,000 colorful softball players and fans?

Valparaiso's Seifert had just been named the National Softball Association's Miss Softball for her age group at the NSA World Series Opening Ceremony in downtown Crown Point. The pitcher for the Valpo Phoenix 8-and-under team split the team's games against Crown Point and Schererville earlier on Monday.

But Monday was not about winners or losers; it was a party. And it's why the NSA bringing its national event here is good for the Region and great for our area's economy. But most importantly, it's great for the kids who were a part of a 205-team parade around the old Lake County Square.

"All I said was, 'Wow!'," said Seifert, daughter of former Morton softball coach Don Seifert.

Seifert is a straight-A student, and her academic achievements helped her skip a grade. And if that isn't enough, she also donated $200 to help save the giant panda bears.

Seifert received an expensive softball glove for winning the award, but since she already had a glove, she gave it to her teammate, Hanna Thomas, also of Valpo.

"I don't think she was all that excited until she talked to you, a reporter," Don Seifert joked.

Another former Region coach, current Crown Point mayor Dave Uran, was excited to bring the event to downtown C.P., where kids did the Electric Slide on the courthouse lawn, released multi-colored balloons into the air, and made new friendships with kids from Missouri, Wisconsin and Ohio, among others.

In the parade, teams dressed up in different outfits. My personal favorite was a group of young ladies who dressed in "Public Enemies" attire.

"Youth sports is recession proof," said Uran, who coached the Hanover Central boys basketball team for five years before stepping down to "coach" C.P. politics. "A lot of families made sacrifices to come here and allow their kids to compete. This is great for Crown Point, but also Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties.

"As a coach you try to teach life lessons to your kids, and you've done your job if you accomplish that. By looking around here (Monday night), a lot of coaches are doing a very good job."

Monday morning, I saw something that made this grizzly old sports scribbler cry, literally. The Chitown Express from Burr Ridge had just beaten a local team 16-0. The kids who lost felt awful as they shook hands on the dusty field in C.P. But as the losing players turned to go back to their dugout, the Chitown 10-year-olds made a path for the other team.

They started chanting, "We are proud of you. We are proud of you, say what? We are proud of you." Their arms made a tunnel for the losing players to walk through as they clapped hands. Suddenly, the kids who had a tough game were smiling ... and making new friends.

"Our organization's model is simple," Chitown Express coach Larry Roberts said. "Make sure you have fun and show great sportsmanship. Every girl on our team has been through that before. Teams and kids are at different levels. You want to win, but you want every player to have fun. Sportsmanship is important."

Crown Point 9-year-old Alycia Pappenheim, a member of the losing club, was happy the Express did the right thing.

"It was good, it made me happy," Pappenheim said. "Because they were being nice. They didn't go and celebrate. They talked to us."

Hats off to the Express. Well done, ladies. I'm glad you're visiting our home.

This column solely represents the writer's opinion. Reach him at steve.hanlon@nwi.com.