- Jan 22, 2011
- 1,635
- 113
The class of 2022 started playing t-ball the first year I was the vice president of the local rec league. Congratulations to all those young women!
Seeing Varsity Softball Senior Day photos online this week of 4 players who played rec for me has my allergies acting up. There are a fair number of college graduates I’ve helped coach, but realizing players I have coached in rec and travel whom my daughter has played with are graduating HS this spring and will be going out into the world has put me in a contemplative mood.
.
I started my journey as a coach the Saturday of Easter weekend 2005. I knew I was going to have a daughter the end of August and my wife was an athlete, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to learn more about softball.
Almost exactly 17 years ago my best friend said there was thing called summer tournament softball and asked if I wanted to help with a 10u-C team. I said sure and started this crazy, satisfying softball journey. For the past 17 years I have been involved in softball in some fashion, as a coach, a board member, umpire, Dad, field crew volunteer, and fan.
My best friend gave me great advice during my coaching journey that my job was to teach my players to “Win the game of life using softball as a classroom and laboratory.”
I am eternally thankful to my friend and three other coaches who took an unathletic softball novice under their wings the summer of 2005 to teach me about softball, and more important, being a positive influence on the lives of youth. Letting the players know you believed in them and cared for them as people more than as players. You are good friends and have taught me a lot about life.
Thank you to people at DFP, too numerous to name, who have shared their experiences, advice, expertise, their daughters’ triumphs and failures. I’ve had the honor of meeting several of you in person. One in particular, @Eric F , who I started following online in 2013 and drafted behind him in his journey with his daughter while they cleared a path ahead for me and my daughter. Maddie is going to do great things.
There are many successful women out there that I’ve had the honor of being a small part of their journey. A Doctor, nurses, a navy pilot, a navy veteran, at least one mom, a financial aid counselor, speech pathologists, at least one teacher, a girl who was so smart as a 9-year-old I think she was doing physics problems in her head taking into account temperature, wind, and air resistance when deciding whether to swing, and many others.
Congratulations to all the young women I have been blessed to be called “Coach” by. Go out and win at the game of life. Use what your coaches have taught you. Don’t be afraid to take chances, but also talk to your former teammates and coaches if you are struggling. In the immortal words of an old TV Show, “Let’s be careful out there.”
Seeing Varsity Softball Senior Day photos online this week of 4 players who played rec for me has my allergies acting up. There are a fair number of college graduates I’ve helped coach, but realizing players I have coached in rec and travel whom my daughter has played with are graduating HS this spring and will be going out into the world has put me in a contemplative mood.
.
I started my journey as a coach the Saturday of Easter weekend 2005. I knew I was going to have a daughter the end of August and my wife was an athlete, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to learn more about softball.
Almost exactly 17 years ago my best friend said there was thing called summer tournament softball and asked if I wanted to help with a 10u-C team. I said sure and started this crazy, satisfying softball journey. For the past 17 years I have been involved in softball in some fashion, as a coach, a board member, umpire, Dad, field crew volunteer, and fan.
My best friend gave me great advice during my coaching journey that my job was to teach my players to “Win the game of life using softball as a classroom and laboratory.”
I am eternally thankful to my friend and three other coaches who took an unathletic softball novice under their wings the summer of 2005 to teach me about softball, and more important, being a positive influence on the lives of youth. Letting the players know you believed in them and cared for them as people more than as players. You are good friends and have taught me a lot about life.
Thank you to people at DFP, too numerous to name, who have shared their experiences, advice, expertise, their daughters’ triumphs and failures. I’ve had the honor of meeting several of you in person. One in particular, @Eric F , who I started following online in 2013 and drafted behind him in his journey with his daughter while they cleared a path ahead for me and my daughter. Maddie is going to do great things.
There are many successful women out there that I’ve had the honor of being a small part of their journey. A Doctor, nurses, a navy pilot, a navy veteran, at least one mom, a financial aid counselor, speech pathologists, at least one teacher, a girl who was so smart as a 9-year-old I think she was doing physics problems in her head taking into account temperature, wind, and air resistance when deciding whether to swing, and many others.
Congratulations to all the young women I have been blessed to be called “Coach” by. Go out and win at the game of life. Use what your coaches have taught you. Don’t be afraid to take chances, but also talk to your former teammates and coaches if you are struggling. In the immortal words of an old TV Show, “Let’s be careful out there.”
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