Although this weekend was dominated by headlines of rain and thunderstorms that kept most of us inside Saturday and Sunday, the highlight of the weekend had to be opening day for youth baseball and softball.

The storms postponed games scheduled for Friday night, but opening day Saturday was unaffected by the rain, thanks to tremendous work by the Selma Recreation Department’s staff.

Crews arrived at the Dallas County Sportsplex early Saturday morning, working on the fields and getting them prepped for a long day of opening day action.

There are dozens of events in Selma each year that we get excited about covering. Youth league opening day, because of its uniqueness, has to be in its own special category.

Who doesn’t enjoy watching kids race around the ballpark, dancing with excitement like it’s Christmas morning? There were children everywhere, of all ages, running around with excitement and nervousness Saturday. A lot of teams had new faces — kids taking in the sights and sounds of a full day of baseball and softball for the first time, but even the children who had already been through an opening day had a case of the butterflies.

Coaches seemed anxious too and that’s what makes opening day special. It’s not only the start of a new season for the kids, but it’s also a new adventure for the coaches and parents that are supporting the athletes.

As kids grow older, winning and losing matters more. It matters more to them, because they better understand the stakes on the line during big ballgames and it’s human nature to want to win. Once their kids grow up some, winning matters more to the coaches and parents too.

But on opening day, winning seems to mean less. It’s all about having fun, getting all of the players some time on the field and enjoying the sights and sounds of a brand new baseball season.

In sports, there’s always a winning team and a losing team, but on opening day it’s fair to say that we are all winners.