Nice game Coach!
The most telling single statement to describe the boy's first T-ball game is when Shannen (remember her? The unbelievably hyper-critical ex-wife?) said, after the game...
"You did a great job. Our team looked professional, they were well behaved, the all knew what to do, not a single one of them threw a bat, they played hard, played MUCH better than the other team and had fun. What more could a parent ask for from a coach?"
The coach from the other team (and this guy is an obvious jock) told me that I'd done a great job with the boys, that they looked like real ball players then asked if I was coaching this team for my boy or if I did this every season. What a compliment! While I am proud & thrilled that I've done a good job, it doesn't touch the pride I feel in either the boys or their parents.
The boys are truly a team. They support one another, they make (or at least attempt) the plays as we've taught them instead of wrestling for the ball and playing in the sand, they high-five & cheer for one another, they tell the other team "good job" and "nice hit", they hustle, they smile, they laugh, they love making me chase the ball and making my hat fall off, they love learning how to throw by playing "try to hit coach in the nose with the ball". Just a few weeks ago, some of them didn't even know which hand to put the glove on and NONE of them had ever been on a team of any sort.
The parents are active, involved, supportive and full of praise for ALL of the boys. They step up to assist whenever and however they can. They have even set up a rotation among themselves to provide post game snacks & drinks for the boys. Last night was Cole's birthday, so his Mom brought cupcakes for the team. What a beautiful thing... after the game all the boys high fived and happy birthday'd Cole and had cupcakes behind the dugout while they bragged to one another and their parents about their shining moments of glory. I have never seen such universal parental encouragement before.
Oh, and in case anyone may be wondering how Nicholas did... Shannen was in the stands with the parents who mostly know one another, but don't know her. It seems that there was a lot of "he's REALLY good" comments in the stands in reference to Nicholas. On top of that, my adorable little "know-it-all, ball hog, sometimes forgets that I'm the coach and not him" son was a perfect team player. He hustled to back up the other players when he wasn't involved in a play, led much of the cheering and encouraged like a team captain. He and Garret have evolved into the "de-facto" team captains on their own by simply (or not so simply) being good players, good sports, hard workers and unselfish team members.
Oh yeah, one more thing, yesterday was Report Card day. Nicholas brought home perfect marks.
And as for Taylor you ask?? He watched, cheered for both Dada and "Nik-lolas" got away from Mom twice to run onto the field to try to play, and after the game when Shannen told Taylor that it was time to go, Taylor said "Bye-bye Coatsh!"
Could a father possibly be any more proud?
"You did a great job. Our team looked professional, they were well behaved, the all knew what to do, not a single one of them threw a bat, they played hard, played MUCH better than the other team and had fun. What more could a parent ask for from a coach?"
The coach from the other team (and this guy is an obvious jock) told me that I'd done a great job with the boys, that they looked like real ball players then asked if I was coaching this team for my boy or if I did this every season. What a compliment! While I am proud & thrilled that I've done a good job, it doesn't touch the pride I feel in either the boys or their parents.
The boys are truly a team. They support one another, they make (or at least attempt) the plays as we've taught them instead of wrestling for the ball and playing in the sand, they high-five & cheer for one another, they tell the other team "good job" and "nice hit", they hustle, they smile, they laugh, they love making me chase the ball and making my hat fall off, they love learning how to throw by playing "try to hit coach in the nose with the ball". Just a few weeks ago, some of them didn't even know which hand to put the glove on and NONE of them had ever been on a team of any sort.
The parents are active, involved, supportive and full of praise for ALL of the boys. They step up to assist whenever and however they can. They have even set up a rotation among themselves to provide post game snacks & drinks for the boys. Last night was Cole's birthday, so his Mom brought cupcakes for the team. What a beautiful thing... after the game all the boys high fived and happy birthday'd Cole and had cupcakes behind the dugout while they bragged to one another and their parents about their shining moments of glory. I have never seen such universal parental encouragement before.
Oh, and in case anyone may be wondering how Nicholas did... Shannen was in the stands with the parents who mostly know one another, but don't know her. It seems that there was a lot of "he's REALLY good" comments in the stands in reference to Nicholas. On top of that, my adorable little "know-it-all, ball hog, sometimes forgets that I'm the coach and not him" son was a perfect team player. He hustled to back up the other players when he wasn't involved in a play, led much of the cheering and encouraged like a team captain. He and Garret have evolved into the "de-facto" team captains on their own by simply (or not so simply) being good players, good sports, hard workers and unselfish team members.
Oh yeah, one more thing, yesterday was Report Card day. Nicholas brought home perfect marks.
And as for Taylor you ask?? He watched, cheered for both Dada and "Nik-lolas" got away from Mom twice to run onto the field to try to play, and after the game when Shannen told Taylor that it was time to go, Taylor said "Bye-bye Coatsh!"
Could a father possibly be any more proud?