Just when I thought baseball season was over for my two young boys, something exciting happens. Allow me to explain; last year I shared with all of you on my blog what a rough baseball season our oldest, Sport, was having. He had a really hard coach that made baseball seem like it just wasn't fun anymore. His whole coaching approach was negative, which affected not just Sport but many other young boys on the team as well. As the protective Mother bear that I am towards my cubs, all I wanted to do was yank my son off the team. Luckily, my husband spoke some sense into me and we decided we would use that year as a valuable life lesson. We simply explained that coaches are just like kids; they are not all molded the same. Some may be encouraging while teaching the fundamentals of baseball and others can be like drill sergeants getting their team ready for battle out on the ball field.
We also explained to him that this is a great opportunity to learn some valuable coping skills in life because others in the workplace (in the future) may be just like these two styles or a combination of the two.
We then asked him what type of coach he would someday like to be and right away he chimed in that he would want to be an encourager. He had his chance to see this played out this year on the field in two ways. The first was being blessed with a Great coach this year. He is an encourager, but is never shy to point out what skills the kids to hone in on and he encourages them to do just that. The second, Sport was able to help my hubby with our youngest sons' T-ball team. It was great to see him warming up the kids with stretching, fielding balls for them, teaching them how to hold a bat and how to hold their glove when catching a ball. He made sure to encourage them too! During the season of being a coach for T-ball, he shared with me that when he gets a little older he wants to coach his own team at our church.
Baseball continues in our family for now as Sport's team made it through two playoff games. Last night they were pronounced National league champs for their division. (Sadly no trophy will be awarded for this) They were the underdogs. No one had expected them to come this far. I believe in my heart that it is due to the coaches style. It is far superior than the rest. The big championship game is this Saturday and my prayer is a two-fold one in that the boys go out and just have fun and that the encouraging coaching style shall be victorious both on the field and off.
Let's PLAY BALL!!!!!!!!!!!
