I received a text message last night that brought up a well of emotion and tears to my eyes.
It’s High School baseball tournament time. This is the pinnacle for most baseball players in America. While one team goes on to the excitement of the next round of playoffs, one teams season ends, and with it, the baseball careers of many of the seniors on the team.
This is it…
A player that I coached for a couple of years when he was younger sent me a text after his last game. He thanked me for making those years fun and for teaching him things about life. Things like how to treat others, how to handle adversity, how to stay positive when everything is going wrong.
I thought it was interesting what he didn’t thank me for.
He didn’t thank me for helping him win tournaments, and we did that. He didn’t thank me for helping him vanquish the crosstown rivals, and we did that. He didn’t thank me for preparing him for the next level of baseball that he would play, and we did that.
He understood that SPORT WAS JUST THE VEHICLE WE USED TO LEARN ABOUT LIFE. The principles that we learned that made us better individual contributors and teammates will also make us better Men, better Husbands, Fathers, Citizens.
If you are lucky enough to be allowed to Coach/Teach a young person this Summer, make sure you have the right goals in mind. It is an incredibly rewarding experience.
I have trophies in my garage gathering dust. The text message I received will be printed off, framed, and hung in my office at work….