the kids who would miss practice and it became clear to me that there were specific reasons that had nothing to do with the child. Often times it was a broken home. One parent trying to get too many kids places. Or it was something going on within the family that one would never know. Or it was simply the parents were struggling or just odd. I realized these kids were 100% dependent on their parents and it really wasn't their fault. In little league I've completely changed my perspective on this.