1st Season

Monday night Ethan completed his first season of tee ball. Overall, it was a blast. Kari and I both had a lot of fun coaching. And, most importantly Ethan had a lot of fun as well. It seemed that just about every kid on the team had fun... even the day it was in the 30s with the wind chill. Some kids made some pretty big strides not only in their ability, but also in their level of comfortableness trying new things. It was fun to see at the end of the season kids running out to bat when at the beginning of the season their parents essentially had to drag them out there and run the bases with them as well. I learned a lot in my first season as a coach. Here are just a couple things I wasn't expecting.

• The pitcher is by far the busiest position in the game next to first base cause so many kids barely hit the ball and pitcher is obviously closest to home. So, every kid wanted to be the pitcher... including Ethan. He had more than one pouting session cause he wasn't pitcher every inning.
• And normally the 3rd base/shortstop side is the busiest side of the infield, but that is not the case in tee ball.
• I did not expect to find out the last game of the season that a kid who was batting right handed all season got there early for warm ups, just went to the left side of the plate by himself and crushed the ball... more than once. I blame the parents for that... definitely not the coach's fault for it taking that long to figure out.

One thing I was expecting, and did indeed come to fruition, was a total lack of focus in the field. Some kids were worse than others. There was a lot of twirling, lying down, grass picking, glove throwing, looking the wrong way, waving at parents, talking to friends... pretty much anything besides focusing on the game and getting ready for the ball to be hit. The Saturday morning games seemed a little more focused than the weeknight games. I think after a long day of daycare or being home the kids' attention spans were shot. Batting and running the bases were better.

On top of Ethan having a lot of fun, he really progressed well with his hitting. By the end of the season it was pretty effortless to him. And, he hit the ball consistently hard. His throwing still needs some work, but he's spot on with the hitting. I loved watching him swing, hit the ball and run to first with a big smile on his face. I'd volunteer a hundred times just to see that.

Despite my apprehension about getting stuck as the head coach before the season started , it was a really rewarding experience. I will admit there were times when I had to hide the fact I was losing my patience... It's one thing to lose my patience with Ethan cause he's lying in the field crying cause he didn't get to be pitcher. It's another thing to lose patience with someone else's kid... I may have pulled my hat over my face a few times in the field and rattled off a few cuss words to make it through, but it was so great to see all the smiles and laughs. I'm already looking forward to next year. I only wish this season wasn't so short.