Post by Tammy Pitts, Vice President, Operations with Coldwell Banker Premier Realty

Las Vegas has always been known for fantastic entertainment, gaming, fine dining….and a little ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ action. What most may not know about our wonderful city is that outside of the Strip, the Las Vegas Valley is truly a dynamic family and civic community topped off with amazing weather, which is perfect for our many outdoor leagues and activities (we’re still tooting our horn about being named National Geographic’s Top Adventure Town a few years back.) And now we have yet another reason for a huge dose of pride about our desert city with being able to cheer our Mountain Ridge Little League team as they represent the West and Las Vegas in their class-act style at the Little League World Series!

Just like these amazing young men in the World Series, Las Vegas typically flies under the radar when it comes to anything outside of what Las Vegas is known for. If you drive (or stumble) literally less than a mile off the Strip in any direction, you’ll find people living, working and enjoying life in Las Vegas. From parks, master planned communities with affordable to truly luxurious housing, and more churches than you can shake a rosary at (Las Vegas is typically on the nation’s list for having the most churches per capita….that’s right, churches in ‘Sin City!’) there’s nothing we DON’T have in our mountain-encrusted valley.

Now, people will finally believe us when we say we all don’t actually live or work in a hotel on the Strip and that we have an incredibly diverse list of sports available to kids and adults, which, not to boast again, can be played year-round outdoors. You should see the talent of our athletes! Wait….you already are on ESPN. To name just a few: indoor/outdoor soccer, baseball, softball, lacrosse, football, basketball, volleyball, hiking groups, marathons and 5Ks, cheerleading, wakeboarding (Lake Mead is next door) skiing/snowboarding (another surprising factoid: the Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard resort is open from Dec-April with real snow and is just 30 miles from the Strip) martial arts.  Are we bragging again? Sorry. But we can’t help it.

No matter the outcome at the Championship game this weekend, the Mountain Ridge team (and many of our other local underdog teams) is a winner in our book, with the Mayor of Las Vegas scheduling a parade and celebration in their honor on August 30th. This will allow our 2 million residents a chance to cheer for these fellas even though the majority of us couldn’t make it out to Pennsylvania. Hopefully not everyone will show up so we can get a parking spot and a front-row seat at the parade.

Even if they weren’t the first Nevada team to reach Williamsport in the 70 years of the LLWS, we are more than proud of these young athletes who are not only representing the game of baseball, but an amazing city we all love – full of life, culture, homes, pets, and families!

Tune in on Saturday on ESPN 12:30 pm (PT) to cheer our boys on as they knock it ‘literally’ out of the park.

Image Source: Flickr