Batter up!

Maybe it's a scam. Coach really wants a team but only two boys signed up so he starts calling classmates to "remind" them their first practice is next Saturday. Next thing you know they'll be telling you someone lost the check. Can you write another one? Seriously though, my son and daughter really liked playing baseball. They were so cute hitting that ball then running straight to third base. They eventually learned the counter clockwise system and that the reason you ran to first base was because it was 1st, hence the name.

For the last few years I've been the coach making that call. The association we play for gives me a wealth of information about the kids, but nothing about the parents. I don't know their names, whether or not they're married, or in one famous case, whether they're the parents or grandparents with custody.

I'm glad there are coaches out there who really give a shit. We did not have that experience with basketball. That was disappointing, especially since it was a CYO league. I thought being a christian organization, they would go the extra mile. I'm pretty sure our coach was pressured into doing it. He always seemed short on patience. Anyway, I'm hoping for a better experience with the baseball. Have fun with your teams and good luck this season.

Sounds like a good coach. As long as the kids are having fun, that's the important thing. There's plenty of time later for competition.

Cheers.

That's too bad that coaches let that go on with basketball. We have a very easygoing set of teams at our parish--which means we lose all the time, but oh well. Some of the other teams are intense. No fun. Mean.

That's too bad about the basketball experience--here's hoping baseball goes better. It certainly sounds like this coach has a better idea about how things should be run at age 7.

It reminds me of a story though. My future father-in-law coached basketball (among other things) for many years. At one point, he coached a team that couldn't have been older than 5th grade. The team they were playing ran a full-court press through the first half and completely shut down my f-i-l's team, while scoring at will. At halftime, the other team had some ridiculous lead... and continued to press throughout the second half. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with some people? There's playing to win and then there's just being a... let's say "jerk."

I would let my son be the guide to whether I would do this or not. If he's interested in experiencing this, then I would go ahead. Confidence comes from how much you enjoy working at being good, when you're not playing the sport. If you don't catch the ball well in the game, do you want to practice to get better? It's that feeling that builds confidence. The more experience you have at doing something, the more you tend to build your confidence in those settings.

By the way, Nutsey, did you notice that the four weeks I told you about were the worse of the winter?

Good coaches make all the difference, especially at a young age. My tow were lucky at when they were young to have had coaches that considered each child and theri feelings and was good at trying to build confidence and a sense of team play. Good luck. ohh and don't push your son if you find he decides he really doesn't like it.

The coach sounds like exactly what I'd be looking for in a coach for my boys when the time comes. I know my older son gets put off quickly when he doesn't succeed early and often at something new. Don't feel too bad about forgetting the signup, I've had a couple of things just completely slip my mind recently too. It makes you second guess yourself.