Thanks Coach

It's hard to know that the kids you have coached since they were eight years old are playing baseball and you're not coaching them. In a way, you start to view them as your kids, but like any relationship they grow up and have to find their way without you. At that point, you hope you have taught them enough to help them through their next steps in their baseball career.

Ever since I started writing these blogs, I've tried to have the big picture approach in mind. I focused on preparing these kids for high school, and being the unwanted for voice of reality for some players and families. Everything we did from the time these kids were eight until now focused on them being able to walk onto the field of their high school baseball program and have an advantage over the majority of kids in their program because of what they have been taught and experienced.

As a youth coach, that should be your focus. The wins will take care of themselves with talent and skill development. If you do things right, kids and families will have an idea along the way of just how good their kid is compared to others. It doesn't do much for the kid or your reputation if they have a bunch of plastic trophies but don't know how to do a lot of basic things on a high school baseball field.

High school coaches begin their winter workouts about three months before they start playing games. In that time, they are focused on building up arms and getting kids as many reps as possible to prepare for the season. They are more focused on evaluating, rather than teaching. A youth coach has anywhere from 9-12 kids on their roster, while a high school coach has anywhere from 30-75 kids showing up for winter workouts. The opportunity for those coaches to work with and teach kids specific skills is much more limited than your own. If a coach has 50 kids at workouts, the kids that do not know what they're doing will quickly be cast aside. Conversely, if a young kid comes in and can do the things that the upperclassmen already know and have been taught, it will help them catch the eye of those coaches even more quickly. Anybody who has coached knows there is nothing more frustrating than a kid who keeps slowing down a drill or messing up because they don't know what they're doing.

During my years of coaching youth baseball, I have been blessed with a number of very talented kids and families that are invested in the sport. These past couple of weeks where kids have been officially trying out and placed onto high school rosters has been very interesting. I have received a lot of feedback from both players and parents that have been with us. That feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. My favorite message I received from a player of mine was a thank you for preparing me to do so well with my program.

Most of the parents and kids have thanked us coaches for preparing them to standout and do well in their high school programs. They are doing a lot of the same things we have done for years. They are experiencing the growing pains of kids who are not as skilled or knowledgeable as them, but they are trying to be patient and help those kids along. Playing against top level competition has not made them feel intimidated by competing with and against upperclassmen in their programs. Hearing these things from kids and parents is the best compliment a youth coach can get.

The wins and memories are fun when you're coaching a youth sport, but I promise you the 'thank you' received from parents and players in high school is the biggest reward you can receive. From holding runners, to backing up bases, to bunt coverages, to field maintenance, our kids have done it all. They have been blessed with talent, and I have been blessed to coach them and prepare them for this next phase. I can't wait to see them compete AGAINST each other in a couple of weeks, and while I'm watching I'll be thinking of all those countless boring things we did to get them ready for these moments. What these kids are already accomplishing in their high school programs is the greatest reward any youth coach can ask for.