So I coach a U19 hardball league this year and I love the game and the kids I coach but this year was a struggle, its the first year for this age group in the league we entered in. So we didn't get a large turn out for the team (only 12 on the roster) and these were not the cream of the crop kids but they wanted to play and they worked hard. Well last night was the last game of the year and we had a horrible season when I say horrible I don't mean just bad I mean we didn't win a single game all year. I addressed the kids last night and told them, they should be proud that it was hard to go through what they did all season getting beat sometimes by double digits, and still show up the next night and give it their all. They were down and out but some kids got it and held their heads up high. I just fell bad for them, I'm going to coach them again in the Fall and hope we can improve on our weakness and turn it around.... Just a little rant to say that I'm very proud to be their coach and look forward to another season soon.

Enjoy your day!
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It's an excellent character builder, Corey. So long as they know you were proud of them, they're happy. :-)
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I'm sending good juju your way for Fall Ball.....
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Once they start winning it'll mean that much more to the kids.
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Very cool, Corey, and here's to some wins next season. :-)
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we learn thru failure more than success... must fail first to achieve success second
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These days there is way too much emphasis on winning.

Sure. We all compete and play to win but as with most things in life, it's about the journey and not about the destination.
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To work in the heat and the dirt and to keep on going when they can never cheer a win
is hard, especially on them. On you it just makes you wonder if you can coach, lol.
But the best thing might actually BE that you only had 12. If there had been too many,
there might be kids from the same neighborhood that had to go to other teams, and it
could be harder to see their friends who might have had more success. They might have
had that smeared in their faces. I continue to believe that they are a mirror that reflects you.
As long as you say the right things, their mindset should stay on a good overall path and
they can feel some sparse fruit from all that hard labor. When you have an orange
tree that puts out three oranges while your neighbor's puts out bag after bag, YOUR
oranges are sweeter to you just for the fact that you were able to watch those three
blooms grow into green nubs then into big green orbs and then oranges, and you had to
give some thought to when you would eat each one, and each one was special.

What I would like to see is if they all show up for the same hard work next year,
and hopefully even more. What you had BEST with 12, is that they all got to play
a good amount of time, and even if they lost every game, they all lost together.
No one had to ride the pine and think, I am not even good enough to get in the
game and we're losing. Lose every game next year, who cares, if they all get to play,
believe me, they will all be on to other things soon enough. you made their baseball a
combined effort by every kid you had. You are lucky to have had that luxury.
Allow yourself the pride you deserve in mentoring kids in a world of parents that think
that that is X-Box's job.
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Keep at it Corey. You're making a difference in these young men's lives. Sometimes it's not about the wins (take it from a Mets fan). :-)
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It's a tough age group -- so many distractions these days.
The fact they came to play and worked hard, week after week, is greater win than anything registered on the score sheet.You should team should be proud.
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Corey, I did track in high school and never lettered or placed but I had a great time doing it. It was a way to get a little bit of a workout in for football and hang out with friends. I did it in college for 2 years also for the same reasons.

I had a similar discussion with my coach in high school, he told me he appreciated me coming out every day and not distracting from the team but adding to it. I just appreciated being part of the team at the time and looking back in retrospect I wouldn't have had it any other way.

I will say something that they may never tell you, Thanks for being a positive influence in their lives and giving them the opportunity.
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:-)
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Thanks a lot, to be honest these kids were really great with me being their coach and the fact that I'm only 34 and could relate to some of these kids I think helped. I have been coaching youth baseball for years from U8 all the way up to now U19 and I really enjoy it I hope to give the kids guidance, skills, and team work. I look forward to the fall and can't wait to get back on the ball field. :-)
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The ones that don't get it now, will at some point. I coached a beer league softball team and we were horrible; we won only one game (I think) in two seasons but we earned a rep as a scrappy-as-hell team. People respect that. I'd rather have your guys than guys that don't have to work so hard.
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Those boys will get more out of a losing year with a tough coach, than they would have with a winning year and an easy coach. You done good, coach.
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