Last night my first season as a head coach for the Atlanta Braves (albeit PeeWee 7-8 year olds) came to an end as we lost in the first round of the playoffs. We had a great group of coaches who made this season one of the best. And we had an incredible team made up of 11 boys & 1 girl who played with a lot of heart. And I’m proud of them. After going 1-11-1 I’m thinking my future may not be in baseball. Ha. But our team had a ton of fun. I think the kids learned a lot. I know I learned a lot. And most of all they learned to play like champions. To keep their chin up even when things didn’t go our way. I’m probably most proud of that. Because in life you don’t always win. The ball doesn’t always bounce your way & you don’t always get the call. And maybe just as important as learning how to win well is learning how to lose well. It’s remembering there’s always another at bat. Another game. Another chance. A second chance. And a third. And a forth… to get it right.
Of course I couldn’t be more proud of this kid. Last night as we were getting ready for bed I reminded how proud I was of him, how proud I was that for this season I got to be his coach. Watching him grow, play, become a leader among his peers, succeed, fail, learn, & have fun in this game called baseball is a tremendous joy for me. And even though we didn’t win much — we got to play for the Braves. How cool is that? For an 8 year old boy… very.
Till next time… Go Braves!
