I attended a softball game last weekend that had a final score
of 29-21
– 50 runs were scored in a game that didn’t take place on the
gridiron or on a basketball court.
I couldn’t believe it.
I attended a softball game last weekend that had a final score of 29-21 – 50 runs were scored in a game that didn’t take place on the gridiron or on a basketball court.
I couldn’t believe it.
Of course, it was a youth softball game – a much different game than the 2-0, 3-1 contests that are commonplace at the high school and college levels.
No this was a game for 10- to 12-year-old girls. And since I have a daughter who falls slightly under that age bracket, it was a good opportunity to expose her to another sport in addition to her current activities schedule, which includes soccer in the fall and a year-round commitment to pony club.
She was most interested in watching the game since one of her friends was playing and another was in the dugout nursing an ankle injury.
I watched the six-inning game for 2.5 hours wondering when it would end. It would still probably be going on had the nine-batter rule not been in place. Thank God for that or the city would have had to set aside budget money for lights on the field.
After a few trips to the snack bar, my idea for this week’s column came to life just as the flowers in your backyards have in recent weeks. I decided that something had to be written about the dedicated coaches that suck-it-up and go out there to teach our youth the fundamentals of the game.
They don’t get paid one cent for their hard work and effort. And it’s got to be frustrating when play after play results in error after error. There must have been 10 errors in the game in the first inning alone.
My daughter didn’t notice them. All she noticed was her friend getting a “two-run double” on a “hit” that should have been a routine groundout to the pitcher. It made her excited but it made me more amazed by the patience these coaches show. In fact, so many throwing errors were made that most innings ended via the nine-batter rule. I said to one coach after a play that involved a number of serious errors – both mental and throwing – that he might want to switch from eating sunflower seeds to Copenhagen.
He laughed and I grew more respect for the guys who are often the first people to expose our children to sports. These guys remain positive and upbeat teaching fundamentals to kids that appear to be lost on what to do on most plays.
Since it’s not the Major Leagues, these guys also have to arrive two hours before game time to stripe the fields, then they coach for another two-plus hours, while often dealing with ignorant, hostile parents to boot. Not to mention the three practices during the week after work and the trips to the local pizza parlor.
Coaches at the lower levels don’t get the credit that deserve yet they are the key factors behind our children’s’ development and future interest in the sports that moms and dads enroll their youngster in at such early ages.
It’s the high school and college coaches that often get all the credit. Yet none of those athletes would have chosen to play that long or had the ability to move up to the higher levels had they not perfected the basics at the lower levels.
So the next time a local high school team wins a Central Coast Section title and the high school coach is quoted or a boxing professional gives thanks to God or his trainer, remember the unheralded guys on the first rung of the sports ladder that played the most pivotal role in a child’s climb to the top of his or her sport without ever seeking the money, the praise or the glory.
Thank you.
