Why I Coach

There are many reasons why I coach, it was hard to focus on few. Here are 3 reasons I love it so much.

1. Love for the game

The first and most important reason is: I love the game! I love the smell of the dirt, the sight of fresh chalk lines, the sight of dew on the the outfield grass but most importantly the look on a child’s face when they had their first hit. The look of fear when they face a live pitcher for the first time, and realize that it’s really not that scary. That ground ball that magically made it in their mitt. Or The time they strikeout and can’t wait to get another chance at hitting the ball. There are so many ups and downs in this game, sometimes the real challenge is learning how to deal with it and being able to keep on playing through it all.

2. Life lessons through sports

Learning how to field a ball, hitting and drop step will come to them over time. Learning how to bounce back after a strikeout or dropping the infield fly can be an even bigger challenge. Teaching the players how to deal with their emotions and learn how to play with others is just as important as learning how to bunt.
Coaching can be so much more than fundamentals, it’s about learning how to deal with things that happen in your life on and off the field. It’s dealing with their emotions in a positive way, dealing with their frustration in a manner that doesn’t bring the whole team down. This is the real challenge in coaching, it makes learning how to run the bases a easy task.

3. Fun

I love to coach kids who want to learn how to play the game. The kids that are there to become better players. The girl that wants another chance to hit the ball. The girls that can’t wait to see their friends and throw the ball around. And at the end of a season, whether it’s a good record or not it just really doesn’t matter. In the end if they tell their parents how much fun they had and that they can’t wait to do it again next season, that’s all that matters. If each child has improved on their game, has become a better player and has had fun, then my job as a coach was a successful one.