Little League Season Opens In North Camden With 'Unity' Parade
By Pat Loeb
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) - The city of Camden may not be known for Norman Rockwell features, but it felt like small-town, middle-America Saturday as the North Camden Little League opened its season with a parade from downtown to the recently refurbished fields at Pyne Poynt Park.
Hundreds of players in team uniforms marched with their beaming parents, their team cheers echoing off buildings along the route, blending into one jubilant noise.
It is a welcome sound in a city that has struggled with crime and poverty for decades and, indeed, the Little League is seen as an important symbol of the city's improving conditions.
"It feels great," said John Torres, who has two sons playing. "It feels great to see my sons doing something positive, something better than what we used to be. Camden changed in different ways and this is one of the biggest steps there is, something I didn't get when I was growing up. So it's a beautiful thing for them, getting to see different things in this world than violence and stuff like that."
The League calls the march a "Unity" parade, something even the youngest players on the Riversharks T-ball team understood.
"It's about teamwork," they said. "We work together forever."
"It's to represent to the community we're all here to play together, to have fun," said one team dad, Santos Perez. "We're here to support North Camden."
"Like a team," agreed Tereena James, whose son plays for the Angels. "We're all together, for the community, for the kids."
Camden County Freeholder Jeff Nash threw out the first pitch. He helped get the fields refurbished.
"Part of a city's renaissance is making sure the quality of life matches the other opportunities that are being created," he said. "Especially for the children, no different from the kids in Cherry Hill or Winslow, we want these kids to have the same opportunity."