These moments of learning abound—as do funny ones (I’m remembering one game when a boy called a time out when he got to second base because he had to pee so badly he couldn’t hold it anymore. He ran off the field, did his thing and was back just as his designated runner stole third base!). Win or lose, there is always a positive message shared at the end of each game.
But the greatest reward is this: the boys are taking these lessons out of the ballpark and into their lives. Parents come up to me and gush about the coaches (though sometimes they forget which one is my boyfriend!). Not only do they tell me how happy they are that their boy is on the team and how thankful they are that the coaches volunteer their time—they also tell me stories about their boys’ improved behavior, and how impressed they are when their kids talk about an insight imparted by one of the coaches at practice.
I blush and smile proudly, knowing that Scott, like his dad before him, is a part of the cycle of learning, helping to teach life’s most important lessons one player at a time.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Wolfson
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