Little League Time

Little League tryouts started today and as usual it was cold and windy. I guess that's better than rain or snow which is what we had last year. It's at this time, as a coach, that I have a personal debate within myself. Normally I want to at least have a competitive team. This year I'm trying (and I mean trying) to focus much more on the kids themselves. I want each kid to have a memorable season. The dilemma is this..... When coaching minors which is ages 9-11 year olds. Each team has a wide array of ages as well as talent. I believe as a coach, you owe it to those kids who love the game of baseball and work their tails off to be good at, to at least attempt winning. I think Vince Lombardi said it best, "if winning or losing doesn't matter, why do they keep score?" But this is Little League. Will these kids remember winning or losing or will they remember having a good time and hopefully learn a little baseball at the same time.

Now this is all easy to say and write on a blog but when the time comes I question my ability to stay focused on what's important.

The frustrating part about being a coach is coaching the kids who really don't give a crap about even being there. These kids are there because their parents think it is a good idea. These are the typical parents who think it is the coaches job to teach EVERYTHING (including discipline). These are the parents who never play catch with their sons yet expect them to have the same playing time as all the other kids who do practice on their own time.

I'm hoping and praying that I can find a happy medium. Living in a small town, its easy to upset some parents when your coaching their kids. This will be my 8th year coaching and hopefully I'm getting better at it, but it's the same every year, trying to coach 12 kids while also trying to make 12 pairs of parents happy. Wish me luck.

Thanks for Reading.