While my official career is residential contractor, my heart belongs to coaching baseball. Over the last 35 years, I’ve had 3 turns at coaching Little League baseball.
Before I had my own children, back in the 80’s, two friends and I coached kids from tee-ball age, 6 years old, to live pitching age, 12 years old. My focus was on teaching the fundamentals and making sure every kid could hit and catch. Eventually, we coached all-star teams in regional baseball tournaments.
In the 90’s, I had the distinct pleasure of coaching my own two sons in Little League from 7 to 12 years old. It was a wonderful opportunity to spend time with my sons and share my love of baseball with them. As a father/coach, with baseball as the venue, I was able to integrate important life lessons into the coaching of my sons. When my sons grew older, they found their own interests and playing baseball was no longer part of their lives. So, I put away my coach’s hat and went back to just being dad.
This spring, after a 15 year hiatus, I started coaching little league again with one of my old friends. Our team is the Bonita Springs Little League Cubs. We have boys from 7-10 years old, and one 12 year old girl on our team. I had forgotten how much fun it was to teach young kids the fundamentals of baseball. Without the stress of coaching my own sons on the team, I have been able to focus on truly enjoying the experience. We teach all the kids the basics, but we try to create opportunities for other life lessons as well. Besides baseball, we teach the kids about being good teammates, overcoming challenges, dealing with disappointment and about being good citizens. Just before each game, the kids stand in single file on the foul lines to stand at attention during the National Anthem. Then, we recite the Little League Pledge.
I trust in God
I love my country
And will respect its laws
I will play fair
And strive to win
But win or lose
I will always do my best
My time spent coaching is beyond rewarding. I spend time with my best friend coaching. I teach the game I love to young kids. I help each little leaguer learn various lessons that will serve them well as they grow up.
