Mike's playing now in coach-pitch.

Game 1: Win. 0-2, 2xK

Game 2: Loss, 0-2, 2xK   ...and we got a lighter bat for him to swing now!

Game 3: Loss, 0-2, 2xK...but made contact, and made two great throws from the outfield

Game 4: Loss, 0-3, 2xK...but made contact every time and grounded out once!

Game 5: Loss, 0-2, 2xK...great throw from LF to the pitcher.

Game 6: Loss, 0-2, 2xK...got to field one ball in LF though

Game 7, 8: Each lost, 0-2, 2xK each.

**** 

Brigitte is playing 'real' softball (but not baseball :() this year:

Game 1: Loss* 3-3, 1xR, 1xRBI. 2IP, 0ER, 5xK, 4xBB *= Ump was a kid--it was cold and he wanted to be done...last two batters struck out on pitches that were over the tops of their bats above their heads...three pitches to each. Game wound up 11-12.

Game 2: Loss. 2-3, 1xRBI.  2/3 IP, K, 2xBB

Game 3: Loss (19-6), 3-3, 2xRBI, 1xR, 1x2B...1/3 IP, 3xBB ---Brigitte has decided that relief pitching and being asked to come in with the bases loaded is WAY too stressful.

Game 4: Win (8-7), 1-1, 2xBB, 1xRBI, 3xR...  1IP, 1xBB, 1xK, 3xAST, 9xPO   Fielding MACHINE between first and second!

 Game 5: Loss (6-14) 2-3, 1x3b, 2xRBI, 1xR... 2xAST, 8xPO --caught EVERY throw that came to her at first base.

Game 6:  Win (12-5) 3-3, 1xBB, 3xR, 2xRBI, 9xPO--didn't pitch, coach said 'she's too valuable at first'.  :)

Game 7: Loss (9-14) 1-1, 3xBB, 2xR, 5xPO,   1/3 IP, 4R, 0 ER, 2xH, 2xBB

Game 8: Loss in extra innings (4-6)  2-2, 1x2b, 2xRBI, 1xR,  5xPO.   WOuld've been more but several throws were higher than even I could reach!

Game 9: Loss (1-9), 0-2, 2xBB, 2xK,  3IP, 0ER(!),2xK, 2xBB, 3xAST...the 9 runs came after Brigitte was done pitching.

Game 10: Absent

Game 11: Win (12-7), 1-2, 1xBB, 1xR, 1x RBI, 5ip, 5xK, 3xBB, 2xH, 3xAST, 4R, 0ER...got the win

B's Softball Game 1: 3-3, 2xR, 3xRBI, 2xast, 1xE W7-6

B's Softball Game 2: 3-3, 2xR, 2xRBI, 4xast, L6-7

B's Softball Game 3: 2-3, 1xR, 2xRBI, 2xE, 1xunassisted DP (on a line drive while bases were loaded!), 2xAST (including game ender), W9-7 

B's Softball Game 4: 1-3, 1x2b, 1xK, 2xPO, L1-5

B's Softball Game 5: 1-3, 1xPO, 2xAST (caught a popup and two throws--no bounces--to first from short!), W9-1

B's Softball Game 6: 1-3, 1xPO, 2xAST, W7-3

B's Softball Game 7: 1-3, 3xAST, L6-8

B's Softball Game 8: 1-3, 1xAST, L7-12 

B's Softball Game 9: 3-3, 2xR, 2x2b, W23-6

B's Softball Game (Semifinal): 3-3, 2xR, 1xgreat catch/DP, W9-6

B's Softball Game (Championship): 2-3, 1xR, 1xRBI, 1xAST, W6-4  **The run started the 5-run rally in the 4th.  The RBI was the icing on the cake that ALMOST proved necessary in the 6th.

B's Baseball Game 1: 0-2, 2xk, L2-6

B's Baseball Game 2: 0-0, 2xBB, 2xR, 1xSB, W19-16

B's Baseball Game 3: 0-0, 2xBB, 1xR, W18-17

B's Baseball Game 4: 0-1, 1xR, 1xK, L12-18 **And a great throw from left-center to hold a runner to a double.

B's Baseball Game 5: 0-2, 2xK, 1xBB, L7-16 **A good throw from left-center in to a cutoff who dropped the ball.

B's Baseball Game 6: 0-1, 1xK, 1xHBP, W6-4 **A FABULOUS throw from the outfield fence to the infield--saved 2 runs in the 2nd inning...in the end, critical for winning the game.

B's Baseball Game 7: 0-1, 1xK, 2xBB, 1xR, 1XSB, W10-7

B's Baseball Game 8: 0-1, 1xK, 2xBB, 2xR, W25-5

B's Baseball Game 9: 0-2, 2xK, L7-25

B's Baseball Game 10: 0-0, 3xBB, 1xHBP, 2xR, W21-9

B's Baseball Game 11: 0-1, 1xK, L8-18

B's Baseball Game 12: 0-2, 2xK, W10-9, good throw from CF, kept a runner from advancing

B's Baseball Championship: 0-2, 1xK, 1xBB, L8-15

E's Baseball Game 1: 0-0, 3xBB, 1xSB, 1xAst, 1xPO, 2xE, W18-17

E's Baseball Game 2: 0-0, 2xBB, 1xHBP, 2xR, L12-18

E's Baseball Game 3: 2-3, 1xK, 1xR, 1xBB, L7-16

E's Baseball Game 4: 0-1, 1xBB, 1xHBP, 1xSB, 1xR, W6-4

E's Baseball Game 5: 0-1, 1xK, 2xBB, 1xR, W10-7

E's Baseball Game 6: 0-1, 1xK, 2xBB, 1xHBP, 2xAST, 1xPO, W25-5

E's Baseball Game 7: 0-0, 3xBB, L7-25   **It is discouraging that everyone else gets to pitch except Erick.  When you walk 10 men in an inning--why not give others the chance rather than the same ol-same ol...

E's Baseball Game 8: 0-0, 3xBB, 1xHBP, 2xR, W21-9

E's Baseball Game 9: 0-0, 1xR, 1xHBP, 1xBB, L8-18

E's Baseball Game 10: 2-2, 2xR, 1x2b, 1xBB, 2xRBI, W10-9

E's Baseball Championship: 1-3, 1xK, 1x2b, L8-15

Erick's Baseball Totals:  5-11, 4xK, 18xBB, 5xHBP, 10xR, 2x2b, 2xSB, 3xAST, 3xPO, 3xE  AVG: .456 OBP: .718

Brigitte's Baseball Totals: 0-15, 12xK, 13xBB, 6xR, 1xSB, 2xHBP  AVG: .000  OBP: .500

Brigitte's Softball Totals: 24-30, 10xR, 8xRBI, 3x2B, 4xPO, 17xAST, 3xE, 2xDP--AVG: .800

I wish I had it in me to keep this more up to date than I do. I don't--mainly because of a lack of time.

 Today is Erick's birthday--#12.  He's got a friend from Neoga over though we'll see how friendships hold up, etc once he starts up at Uni High next week.  It's taking some adjustment to get used to the fact that he'll graduate from high school at age 16 and that he'll also be through with Algebra and Statistics at the end of THIS year already. 

 Brigitte is charming as ever though I guess we'll see how that holds up as she starts to physically mature--if it is like Debbie was as a sister, this will be an interesting period of time.

 Mike is far more physical than the other two still--and more coordinated as well.  Now to just get him interested in reading books--he's a stubborn cuss and doesn't like reading often.

And now back to writing other stuff and then playing games with Erick and his friend Daniel--what a horrible way to have to spend a Sunday :)

* * *
In other news, the train wreck that remains where I worked two jobs ago is as big as ever.  Here we are two weeks from the start of school and three faculty/staff members resigned this past week.  When you have a faculty of 18-20 people and you fire (wrongfully in both cases) two and then three more resign--what does it say about management that the turnover is 20%+ for a year?   As a one-time occurrence, that can happen.  But in six years, six principals, four biology teachers, two chem teachers, five Spanish teachers, four music instructors, five English instructors, three US History instructors, etc.   --This raises the question-->why?  What allows such continuing incompetence?  Anywhere else (other than the current President's administration which is sadly equally incompetent), heads of management would roll.  

Erick's baseball stats for this year:

GAME 1: 2-3, 2xR, 1xRBI

GAME 2: 0-1, 1xBB, 1xCS, 1xPO, 1xAST

GAME 3: 1-2, 1xHBP, 1xRBI, 2xR, 1xPO

GAME 4: 0-2, 2xBB, 2xK, 1xSB, 1xCS, 1xR

GAME 5: 2-3, 1x2B, 1xSB, 1xPO, 1xE

ALL-STAR GAME: 0-1, 3xBB, 1xK, 2xR, 4xAST, 1xPO

GAME 6: 0-1, 2xBB, 2xR, 1xK, 1xSB, 1xPO

GAME 7: Foot Surgery / DNP

GAME 8: 0-0, 2xBB, 1xHBP (on the foot!!), 3xR, 2xAST, 1xPO 

GAME 9: 1-2, 1x2B, 1xRBI, 1xR, 1xSB, 1xBB, 1xK

Brigitte Baseball

Game 1: 0-2, 2xK (including the traditional 'it's 10pm and I want out called strike three on a pitch that hit the plate) --she did have a great throw from LF to the cutoff man that prevented a double from being a triple.

Game 2: 0-2, 2xK, 1xBB  Not bad actually given it's 40 degrees out and drizzling. 

Game 3: 0-1, 1xK, 2xBB

Game 4: 0-2, 2xK (though one was by league rules--no walks were allowed so it took SIXTEEN PITCHES for three strikes to be missed)

Game 5: 0-2, 2xK

Game 6: 0-0, 2xBB, 1xR (and one good throw in to the infield from the outfield)

Game 7: 0-3, 3xK, 1xBB

Game 8: 0-1, 1xK, 1xBB, 1xR

Game 9: 0-2, 2xK, 2xBB, 2xR

Game 10: 0-1, 1xK, 2xBB, 1xSB, 1xR

SEASON TOTAL: 0-17, 16xK, 11xBB, 5xR, 1xSB

* * *

SOFTBALL

GAME 1: 2-3, 2xR, 1xRBI

GAME 2: 1-3, 1xR, 1xRBI, 5xPO, 1xE

GAME 3: 3-3, 3xR, 2xRBI, 1xPO

GAME 4: 1-2, 1xRBI, 1x2B, 5xPO (No one throws to a base...they all just run to tag the runners...)

GAME 5: 2-2, 1x2B

GAME 6: DNP - at Grandma's.  Unfortunately, it was the last game of the year.

TOTAL: 9-13, 6xR, 5xRBI, 1x2B, 11xPO, 1xE

This year I get to keep track of a couple different sets of stats--not to mention adding another sport in (softball) Erick is playing ball in Neoga this year--and doing well. It's amazing how you get better with encouragement AND allowing kids to grow and don't make presumptions about their ability at age 11 based on their coordination at age 9. He's improved to the point he can throw from deep center to home accurately and can even pitch. Brigitte is playing baseball in Effingham and softball in Neoga. Effingham was a pain as the league organization said "Girls don't play baseball, baseball is for boys only." Pity they didn't put that in writing--I'd have loved to retire after the lawsuit was finished. They even insinated that coaches would throw at her because she was a girl--unbelievable. There is still a long way to go for many people.

The season here is over.  Actually it ended a few weeks ago, but the Big Dance is now past.  The team that eliminated us in the District Final (Johnson County) wound up national champions.  The cool thing is that during the season, we were the only team in the district to even take a game from them.  To me, that shows things are improving.  ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS need to take steps gradually and not rush them.  Last year (first year here) we got beat in the playoffs, this year we get to the district playoff.  Now the next step is at least the Regional Final.

Recruiting is going well.  Two are signed already, and all seven of the freshmen have returned their letters of intent, so we already have as many people for next season as we had for this year--and the heart of recruiting season is still not here!

* *
It is still amusing to see how things are back home and how credit is taken by my replacement.  Better still is telling other coaches that your own players are weaknesses behind the player's back and nice to the player in person.  Grow up! (This coming from a man writing about something 400+ miles away)  It was amusing over Thanksgiving to see how the team awards were handled there.  The awards are no longer based on numbers or stats--instead, it's last names.  One award went to the school secretary's daughter, another went to the daughter of the wealthy donor who got me fired, and another went to another wealthy doctor/parish member.  Absolutely amazing and convenient.*

*The doctor's daughter did actually deserve the award though for spirit and work ethic, but sometimes you have to wonder if that or the name got her the award (I know what the answer SHOULD be to that).  After all, if it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck...it is most probably a duck.

* * *

Big recruiting weeks here before Christmas.  Got a great athlete coming in tomorrow and another flying in next Friday.  We finish that off with another visit/recruit coming in the last day of finals.  Wow...we could be at 12 people before we've even hit 2006!  Woohoo!

It dawned on me that there are musical styles mentally associated with the major US sports.

Basketball lends itself well to rap music and the game seems to fit that style (especially since the NCAA theme of "One Shining Moment" is annoying).

Football seems to be best with the background music being the epic-sounding classical music pieces.  Is it even possible to see NFL highlights without hearing songs like Round Up or "The Lineman"?

And baseball?  Baseball songs seem to always tell stories--refletive or giving a sense of longing in some way, perhaps an idealism or naivete that seems more distant daily though I admit--I liked the song "Tessie" by the Dropkick Murphys on the MLB 2005 XBox game enough that I downloaded it off of Itunes as well.

Well,

Erick's baseball season begins today.  It started 90 minutes ago back in Effingham.  I'm waiting for the Mrs. to call and tell me how things went--actually, I hope it will be Erick that calls.

Well, it's amazing how marketing can work.  Over the past couple months I wound up winning two free songs via Pepsi for iMusic by Apple.  Then I noticed on the laptop here that the iMusic software was free.  Okay, what the heck--might as well double-click.  So I did.

I wound up listening to the radio selection and then my Luddite-self dared to try and figure out how to download my two free songs.  I was incredibly surprised to find it painless and easy.  So now I've actually downloaded several songs.  I think the next project is to burn them to CD.

And I am firmly convinced that the most underrated Rolling Stones song of all-time is "Waiting On A Friend".  How this goes unnoticed--heck, it's been that way for twenty years--I have no clue.

For the record, the first download was "Godzilla"--the live version by Blue Oyster Cult.

Here in the office as always.

I guess the bright side is that the volleyball team here has a setter for next season now signed, so we've got that taken care of.  Just as good we have been interviewing/checking resumes for coaching vacancies here and all of the candidates have been good.  It's a lot easier/less pressure when everyone is qualified!!

The next Jolly Roger product is proceeding slowly.  The pieces have been approved and all that is left is for the art to be finished.  Looks like it will miss Origins though which is a bit of a bummer, but I learned that lesson several years back--better to wait and get it right rather than rush a game through production and screw it up.  Patience is a virtue.

Of course, I'm antsy to get to the next games ready to go.  JRG is on a pretty good streak with quality games now...

Ultimately, the question is how to improve the situation.  There are concrete and tangible ideas that can be followed on a practical level rather than impossible to implement ideas.  These actions can be carried out by teachers, parents, and coaches with each of these providing reinforcement of the proper goals youth athletics aims to achieve.

The teacher’s role is most difficult because the teacher is not the authority figure in athletics.  That doesn’t mean a teacher isn’t vital.  Most teachers make an effort to stay up-to-date on students’ activities during the school year, and in many cases, the summer as well.  The teacher can make comments to the young athlete complimenting the player on his hustle, his sportsmanship, and demeanor.  Rather than ask if the player won or lost, the teacher can ask if the athlete had fun or gave 100% effort during the game.  For players that start or are “heroes”, a teacher can ask that player what teammates did during the game that helped create the opportunity to score more than the opponent.  Each of these reinforces issues like participation and sportsmanship.  Best of all, this isn’t done by lecturing, but by getting the young person to think for himself on the ideas and reflect on what happened and why—a skill that down the road in high school and beyond becomes invaluable when studying homework or analyzing tough equations.

For a parent, the solution is simple, but difficult to implement for a variety of reasons.  In the end, the solution is to love your children unconditionally.  This doesn’t mean a parent should throw his influence, money, or name around to overrule a coach’s decision—that isn’t parenting, nor is it good behavior to model for children.

Parents want to see their children on the court or field rather than the bench.  Most parents though if presented with the argument “Do you want your daughter to be a success in a high school sport or successful in life?” would choose the latter alternative.

Yet rather than sit back and let the child have the experience of being on a team (and everything good and bad that goes with that), many parents intervene and confront the coach about playing time and “winning”, and if the coach doesn’t do as the parent demands, that parent then moves up the ladder to speak with the A.D. or principal or a park commissioner about the “bad” coach.  The coach is now in a no-win situation as are the players.  If the parent’s child is improving and getting more playing time, now the athlete receives no credit—it was the parent’s doing.  Worse still, other parents will now change their attitudes and more readily confront coaches.

Rather than take such negative actions, parents need to be positive.  Congratulate all of the players, praise them for cheering on the bench and staying focused on the game or for little things such as hitting a cut-off man or passing a basketball rather than taking a shot while covered.  Parents should take the time to explain the role of bench and role players, and how everyone plays these roles as an adult.

Coaches can improve the athletic experience for young people with planning.  Create a roster and chart out playing time so it is balanced.  During a game, this means you won’t accidentally forget a player at the end of the bench.  A coach can also write notes for each player.  This will let the coach track how a player is improving and what still needs work; many players accept harsher written criticism on paper, and in many cases, if written down, they will keep the paper and focus on improving themselves, especially if the coach provides concrete areas for improvement.

Coaches can also help during games.  Rather than use famous coaches such as Bobby Knight or Tony LaRussa as examples, youth coaches should look at their peers.  Which coaches have teams having fun?  Which coaches in grade schools have twenty or thirty players when others only have ten or twelve?  During games, the coach can talk with players on the bench and explain what he is doing or what they can watch on the court that will help them when they do go in or to help them improve so they can increase playing time as well.  A coach doesn’t have to ignore what goes wrong, but by emphasizing the positive creates a better experience, better memories, and the criticism is taken better and not tuned out when paired with positive comments.

The issue of sports and its central purposes is important in helping young people.  Adolescence and puberty are rough stages to get through and often, sports is a release from other pressures such as physical change, emotional turmoil, or family issues.  Rather than add to the pressure, adults should strive to help children learn the lessons necessary to survive and grow rather than succumb to the problems stereotypically associated with today’s young people.

*This is the first part of an article I am writing.  Thoughts are welcome.

WINNING, LOSING, PARENTS, and JUNIOR HIGH SPORTS

For many people, the love of sports, indeed the passion for sports begins at an early age.  As a boy, I counted down the days until the start of baseball season and then to the first Little League practice of the year and then the games that followed.   Even now, well over twenty years later, I could probably name at least five or six of the other boys I played with but never saw at any other time of year.  Perhaps it is the romanticist in me, but I would like to think that the other boys on that team remember me as well.

Yet today in most states, a cursory glance at a newspaper’s sports page will show the schedules for five and six year old soccer, the standings at the YMCA or for Park District basketball as well as notices of tryouts for traveling softball, club volleyball, junior football, and other assorted “opportunities” for kids coached by parents or even the local school’s high school coaches.

When I started as a head coach almost a decade ago, I received some advice for a pretty good man, the newly hired athletic director where I was coaching.  He said he had few rules and if it was necessary to question a coaching decision or policy, he would only ask: “Is your decision in the best interests of the young people?”

From that point on, with every decision I made that affected the team, I asked myself that question: “Is it in the best interest of the kids?”  If I could tell myself “yes,” I proceeded without hesitation, and if I couldn’t, I rethought the answer and decision until I was sure that the decision benefited the kids.

Since then, I have moved on to coach at the college level, but I spend a great deal of time staying in touch with friends who continue to serve as athletic directors, coaches, and teachers of adolescents, especially in the Midwest (Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas), and I am concerned at changes within youth sports whether it be summer baseball or high school basketball.  I am not naïve; many of these problems were around when I was a child, but I believe the problems are growing worse, and we as coaches, parents, and teachers are missing precious opportunities to impart valuable life skills and lessons in the coming generations.

Ultimately, the first question must be what are the primary purposes of youth athletics?

Thinking mainly of elementary and middle school aged kids, I believe there is a short list of the true purposes:

Fun    & nbsp;   &n bsp;   &nb sp;   &nbs p;     ;         & nbsp;   &n bsp;   &nb sp;   &nbs p;     ;         Sportsmanship

Teamwork    & nbsp;   &n bsp;   &nb sp;   &nbs p;     ;         & nbsp;   &n bsp;   &nb sp;   &nbs p; Learning Diversity

Leadership    & nbsp;   &n bsp;   &nb sp;   &nbs p;     ;         & nbsp;   &n bsp;   &nb sp;    Exercise

These are self-explanatory except for “learning diversity.”  Diversity in this sense means realizing that some people are superior to others at specific skills as well as learning how to accept being a role-player on a team rather than always being the central focus; this doesn’t mean the child does nothing bit sits the bench.  This is the toughest of the six to master since being 10-14 years old carries so many other problems with it (the joy of puberty!).

Adults have three central roles that let them help children learn these skills: coach, parent, and classroom teacher.  Children look to these three archetypes as adult role-models, people they will imitate and emulate.  Being children, they are not always able to understand the difference between right and wrong, so the behavior of adults and their attitudes towards athletics and participation in sports is absolutely critical for better or worse.  Unfortunately, many adults don’t realize or consider the damage they can do due to improper behavior while being involved with sports.

I guess it is natural in any game to want to divide players up into “winners” and “losers”.  This is natural, and every game we play, from checkers to Madden Football to P.E. dodgeball.   Here’s the nub.  How do we define “winning” and “losing”?  For me, being uncomfortable with doing that for several years, rather than define winning and losing, I chose to change how I asked the question.  Usually when I ask, “How did you do?” the reply comes, “Oh, we won.”  But that wasn’t my meaning so I always followed this with, “No, did you play well, did you have fun?”

So do you “win” if your team outscores the volleyball opponent 25-12, but no substitutions are made and the starters play the entire match?  Are those bench players “winners?”  How about a basketball game where a coach uses all of his players equally, but the team is outscored 43-42?  Are all of those kids “losers?”  When we look at questions like this, it becomes much harder to give clear-cut yes or no answers, thus what are the definitions of winning and losing?

Winning really has two definitions.  The most common is on a scoreboard.  Whoever has the higher point total has achieved victory and therefore has won.  But the other definition that applies is “Winning is defined as success in achieving an objective or goal.”  These are not synonymous.   You can clearly achieve one definition without succeeding in the other definition.  Indeed, they may even be at cross-purposes!

So what about the definition of losing?    There are many more definitions for losing in dictionaries, but the key ones for sports are that losing is defined as an ineffectual squandering of resources, to deprive someone of achieving an objective, or to be in the process of being destroyed.  Nuances between these definitions exist, but they are clearly similar in application towards sports and clearly they are the opposite of the definitions of winning.

So now back to the initial issue: Are youth athletics serving their purpose?  Are the youth of today “winning”?   Although there are exceptions to every generality, the answer is no, and the responsibility for this belongs with adults; likewise, the means to fix the problem is also within the power of adults!

First, the issue can be examined within the key aspects of winning in youth sports mentioned above.  In addition, the issue can be seen through the actions of adults in their roles as teachers, parents, and coaches.

Children like to have fun, and really, there are few things better than seeing an eight or nine year old doubled over in hysterical laughter or high-fiving after a play in a pick-up basketball game.  This fun though has no formal organization—it’s play, and adults strive to enforce discipline and impose order, so leagues and rules are created with strict practice schedules, games with trained officials and so on.  This creates a framework in many communities where “fun” becomes a synonym with victory, so that children on poorer teams are discouraged from continuing to play that specific sport.

A year ago, my son had a great time playing youth baseball even though most of the players on his team were superior in skills.  Why?  Because his coach, Coach Dean, spent time teaching and providing constructive criticism as well as praise when a skill improved.  There were high fives all the time, and the first question after the game to the players was almost always, “Did you have fun?”   Other than pitcher and catcher, my son played every other position at least once during the season.

In contrast, one of the other teams in the league had a coach that yelled at players, constantly stamping his foot when something went wrong, and making his son pitch every game because no one else on the team was able to.  Of course they weren’t!  None were ever given the opportunity; the coach’s son pitched every inning the league allowed.  The players played one position and bench players never came into a game if the score was close.  Are you, the reader, surprised to hear that the coach also used the post-game time to chew out players for mistakes during the game?

All of the boys on my son’s team eligible (due to age) to be back are back this year while the other team had several boys quit, no longer playing ball.  Three to five boys, not yet teenagers, no longer have a desire to play baseball.  Is a 12-0 record worth that price?

Sportsmanship is no different.  As a coach, the team I am most proud of is a team I coached and lost a chance to go the State Tournament because of an absolutely horrible official’s call (one of only three times in fifteen years of coaching I’ve seen that happen).  Winning the match, the other team piled up, jumping and shouting and that team’s fans shouted obscenities and taunts at my team.  Rather than retreat to the locker room, my players waited patiently and shook hands and even applauded while the Sectional plaque was awarded, even as they were ripped up inside.  Have I mentioned my pride?  Those young women were more mature than most adults.  Their coaches in youth and travel softball and club volleyball emphasized proper sportsmanship.

In contrast, recently at a state tournament game in one state, adult supporters of the school that finished second displayed a banner saying “2xxx Public School State Champs” because they were upset a private school won the game.  The game was close, a matchup between two balanced teams that also featured outstanding officiating and a huge crowd.  Yet as the trophies were presented, this banner was unfurled.  Why?  It cheapens a happy moment for both teams, young people who were enjoying a moment hundreds of teams dream about and never experience—and then adults put an asterisk on the happiness.

Three of the other goals of youth athletics are related or integrated with one another.  Teamwork, diversity (or perhaps more accurately “learning to play different roles”), and leadership are necessary skills for children and adolescents to learn if they are to succeed in high school, college, and especially as an adult member of society.    I wanted to come up with a great reference or illustration of this point and thought of a few things I have done in this fashion, and then it dawned on me that I had taken many of the suggestions from a book titled Coaching 101: Guiding the High School Athlete & Building Team Success written by Don Schnake, a man who played for the first real Illinois coaching legend, Centralia’s Arthur Trout.

Trout won at every level in every sport he coached, but he coached junior high athletes differently than high schoolers.  He wanted to instill the values of teamwork and leadership, figuring there was time enough once his boys were more mature to worry about winning and losing.  Trout sometimes chose starters by drawing names out of a hat, sometimes he rotated the starters.  He made sure each boy got to start at least one game so he could hear his name announced before the game, knowing it may be the only time it ever happened or may be a bright spot for a boy with problems at home.  At one point, he let the boys decide their own starters as well, but just as importantly Schnake recollects, Trout explained why he was doing these things.  As a coach, Schnake did these things as well and created successful programs of his own—not just success in terms of wins, but in the maturity and personal growth of his players.

In contrast, how is a young person supposed to learn how to perform under pressure if they only play in blowout situations?  How does the person learn if every time it’s close, the coach is yelling that Bobby has to take the shot since he is the team’s best player?  Bobby may want to pass the ball or not want the pressure, and there may be other players wanting the ball at crunch-time like a Michael Jordan for North Carolina in 1982.  What leadership skills are developed if the same person is “captain” every game or a coach doesn’t let players communicate their thoughts or provide feedback?

Indeed, there’s a sexist divide in how leadership is perceived.  A boy who takes charge is a little general or a natural born leader while a girl doing the exact same thing is bossy or an expletive.  How can this be overcome if adults don’t give young people, girls in this case, the chance to practice leadership.  It’s easy to say someone is a “born leader,” but show me that leader and I’ll show you someone who has had practice in leadership throughout their life.

The final area for success is exercise.  Many practices have the starters on the court or in the field while the non-starters stand around and watch.  As an aside, from observations, this seems to happen most often with basketball and girl’s volleyball.  Standing around does nothing for these young people whereas giving them a skill to practice or making sure to rotate all players through a drill gives them a sense of participation, exercise, and in the case of boys and girls growing rapidly, a chance to practice motor skills and learn to cope with their growing bodies.

The old Chinese proverb is again in my mind--"May you live in interesting times".

Jolly Roger has again changed production locations, and as always I tried to use U.S. companies first and when those prices were WAY WAY WAY off, looked at Germany, and when those were too high this time, I had to decide to have a product assembled in China--the price couldn't be beat.

Of course, there was little room for thought.  The prices:

US - $7.62/unit, minimum run of 5,000 copies (~$38,000), retail price would need to be roughly $35-38.00.

EUR - $5.28/unit, run of 2000 copies (~$12,000 including shipping), retail price would wind up roughly $25-28.00

PRC - $4.11/unit, run of 2000 copies (~$10,000 including shipping), retail price will wind up around $20-21.00.

How in the world can the same work have such a difference? I understand cost of living, etc, but how can a business be expected to use local suppliers with such a discrepancy in price--because there's no way a game buyer will pay $35 for a game that really should be in the $20 price range.  And if they won't buy it, then JRG is out tens of thousands of dollars.  Much better to have a price 50% lower, sell copies AND make a profit.

In the end, the question is how much people really do want the benefits of the open market.  It's great to complain about jobs and work heading overseas, but how many people are willing to pay 200% of current prices in those situations?