Coaching

I grew up playing football, basketball, baseball and soccer as a kid. Then I ran cross country and track. You might have noticed you didn't see softball anywhere in that statement. Not really a sport (if you want to call it one) that I know much about. Jokes, but fa real I don't know much about softball. I was a pick up player for an adult softball league for about a minute and a half. That is the extent of my experience with softball. Now I find myself as the MOR for my daughter's 8U team. Let me translate for those of you who have not had the oppurtunity to immerse yourself in this beautifal game that the little one's love to partake. MOR means Manager on Record and 8U means 8 and under. So I am managing a group of girls who are in or around the second grade, a sport I know nothing about. Well that is not totally true, I've been coaching my little one since 6U in some shape form or fashion. You may be asking me where I am going with this, because I just asked myself the same. Being a coach for children is an amazing experience. Real Talk. I may be deficient in my knowledge of softball but these kids don't know that. They just want to have fun playing a sport regardless of which one. I've coached cross country, soccer and now softball. Softball is a different animal but I will speak on that later (lots of expectations). I LOVE being called Coach George. These kids that you are instructing have placed their complete trust in you as a coach. You tell them to go that way, they go that way, you tell them to run for a mistake, they run. They believe in you and trust that as their coach you are telling them the right thing to do without question. That is an amazing feeling. One of my favorites when coaching youth softball: I'm yelling at one my players from the sidline and they turn and look at me, glove and hands on knees, we lock eyes and I deliver my instruction. She knods her head and says "yes coach". THEY DO IT even know I barely know what I am doing! It's a beautifal thing to be a part of. Obvioulsy as they get older things will undoubtebtly change. The fun department will start closing it's doors and the competitive department will start putting a Walmart on every corner. I get it, its inevetible. The fun of the sport will eventually be overtaken by select teams, high school ball, eventual scholarships etc. That is the way of the world. However, not every girl is going to, or strive to make a select team, or play on thier high school varsity team, earn a scholarship. Some girls just want to have fun and learn the game of Softball and I am grateful that I can be a part in making that happen. I get asked to coach every season and I make a big deal about how I'm not going to do it. I end up doing it everytime, "GLOVES DOWN, PLAYS AT 2! YES COACH". I don't have to convinvce them the play is at 2, they simply believe that as their Coach, I am telling them the correct thing to do. And that's the beauty of coaching any sport. Peices and Creases TBN Out