By Jim Coffman
Whatever you do, don’t cheer. The kid has two strikes on him with two outs and runners on second and third. We are clinging to a small lead and if he strikes out, we have a real good chance to turn that lead into a win, our first of the season. But nobody is truly happy when coaches strike out the kids on their teams at this level. It is so much better when they hit it and we make a play on defense. So coach, don’t cheer. In fact, don’t move a muscle as the umpire cries out “Strike three!” But don’t be too tough on yourself for feeling so relieved. It can’t be helped.
Deciding just how much your T-Ball/coach-pitch team plays to win is one of the biggest challenges facing a coach at this level. It infuses every part of my son Noah’s junior division games. Of course I’m not trying to win at all costs (Congratulations coach, your team just won the T-Ball championship! Thank you, thank you very much. I’m so pleased to accept this honor because it so clearly validates my entire life . . . I’d like to thank the grounds crews, the umpires, the bottled water distributors . . . ). But the “Can’t we all just rise above this petty competition stuff?” approach doesn’t work either.
Posted on May 31, 2007