The other day as I was returning home from work, I passed by the park a block from my house as I do everyday on my way home, and as I glanced at the backstop in the middle of the grass covered storm basin, I noticed a girls recreation softball team practicing. Now this was nothing new, as this area is used by all types of recreation teams for practices during the year. But I stopped for a moment and watched the coach working with his players, and as is often the case, I became a little agitated.

For those who have been long time readers of my columns, you know how frustrated I become with coaches, mostly at the recreation level, that don’t have a clue how to teach skills, run drills or conduct a productive practice. And once again here was another example of a coach who didn’t have the slightest idea what he was doing, and was wasting valuable time in preparing his team to play. Now the younger not-so-patient Floyd would have blown a gasket at what I was watching, and spend a large portion of this column complaining about this coach.

But this is the new, kinder, gentler Floyd, so I’m not going to berate this individual and talk about how many resources are available to new coaches on the Internet, and how these coaches need to prepare themselves to teach their players the games skills and run productive practices. No, I’m not going there, and for a very good reason, that I, as a recreation professional should have realized and bought into a long time ago.

That realization came about just as I was going to walk to the field and give this coach some pointers, when I looked a little closer at the players and noticed that they all had a smile on their faces, were laughing and having a good time. It seems that some of us who have daughters that play on competitive travel teams really get caught up in the dismal abilities of some recreation coaches. I realized at that moment that I too was caught up in this perception that if you are not training these young players to become “travel” quality, then you have no place coaching.

But you know what? I doubt that more than one or two of the players on this team I was watching had any idea about travel ball, much less the athletic ability to play at that level. So what’s so bad about a coach that doesn’t know much about teaching skills, or how to run a practice, but who at the end of the day has made 13 young girls happy and got them off the couch and outdoors? In my new outlook, there is nothing wrong with this, and I applaud them for taking the time to be involved in these girls’ lives, and hopefully guiding them to a more productive and enjoyable life, with or without softball.

Great Expectations
It’s that time of year again; high school softball is winding down and qualifying for the various “national” championships is underway. I’ve mentioned many times in the past how this time of year is so exciting, the anxiety of what lays ahead, expectations for a successful season, and as a parent the desire to see your daughter perform at a competitive level. For those of you who have been through the “wars” a few times, you know what lays ahead and what to expect, but how many of us take the time to remember back on our first or early years in competitive softball and recall the uneasiness we felt.

In a few recent trainings I have attended on personal development, I have learned that I’m not unique in the fortunate or unfortunate capacity to actually re-live feelings when I think of a situation in my past. These experiences make us what we are today, so in the realm of competitive softball, we old timers are able to control our emotions and anxieties about the upcoming season. But I also think that if we take the time to remember how we felt back then, we can use our experiences to help those new to our sport deal with their feelings.

I felt that I have helped others in a mentoring sort of way. Sometimes as a direct response for advice, sometimes just offering encouragement and understanding to others who are going through similar experiences that I had when my daughter was young and I was trying to find my way. Newbie’s don’t always know how to act or respond to adversity or failure or just the overwhelming desire to see their child succeed. They need to know that win or lose, hit or make an out, everything will be fine. As the Irish Proverb says, a friend’s eye is a good mirror, we should become friends to those who are new to the world of travel softball.

Foul Tips
Got an opportunity to catch a little high school softball game action this past month. A local tournament with lots of quality teams. Nice and fun * * * * I also spent some time at a college softball tournament this past month. Although it has been two seasons since my daughter played, there were still several old friends that I had the pleasure to bump into. I wish I had more time to visit additional games, but my weekends have been swamped, so I’m grateful for those rare opportunities that I do have. Maybe later in life, I’ll turn into a softball bum * * * * I hope all of you take the time to attend one of the USA Softball National Team exhibition games as they “tour” America on their way to the Olympics. This may be your last opportunity to cheer on our team prior to them playing in Olympic competition * * * * As always, you can contact me at floydeunslip@yahoo.com * * * * and so the ball rolls.