Work Leads to Fun
The better you get, the more fun you have. I have said this countless times and I’ll never stop saying it. I have never met someone that didn’t enjoy something when they were very good at that ‘thing’.
When I was 12, I was the starting shortstop for our Little League tournament team. We won the districts but eventually lost in the Sectional finals. I thought I was good; actually I thought I was great, but that would soon change. As a 13-year-old I was playing on a Junior Legion team where teams consisted of kids ages 13-15. It was a serious wake-up call for me. I soon found myself on the bench and ended up with 16 at-bats over the course of a 35 game season. Not even close to what I was expecting.
After the season, I was so distraught I decided I didn’t want to play in the Fall (the concept of Fall baseball had just started back in the early 90s). Instead I would focus on soccer, which was a sport I very much enjoyed, and one I was excelling at for my middle school team.
When the Fall Soccer season ended, an opportunity arose to work out with a Strength & Conditioning coach while preparing for the following Spring Baseball season. That Winter I poured myself into the S&C program, as well as baseball training. Over the course of three months, I found myself getting stronger while also making strides in my baseball skills. I was having fun. I was having fun taking groundballs. I was having fun seeing myself throw and hit harder than ever. And the more I realized how much better I was getting, the more I wanted to work.
That realization of putting in more work, and seeing positive results would stay with me for the next eight years. If I began to slump at the plate; or if I just didn’t feel comfortable on defense, I knew that putting in more time (and focused time) would be the answer. And in all cases, it was the answer. Putting in more time yielded more fun. Making a great play in the field; getting a big hit in a game; being a consistent starter on a Top 25 College Baseball team was fun. Actually, it was A LOT OF FUN.
Too many youth coaches believe that fun is created by doing ‘fun’ drills; or allowing kids to fool around. I cannot argue that certain drills and allowing kids to goof around won’t be fun for kids, I can make a case for those things preventing them from getting better. And coaches that conduct those drills or allow kids to goof around find it difficult to then try and run kids through drills they know are good for them. The ‘fun’ drills and goofing around stunt growth.
Too many coaches are against what they perceive as a ‘militaristic’ approach to coaching where a demand is placed upon kids to pay attention and work hard for the entirety of the practice. But what they fail to realize is that the kids actually want that approach. Kids want to get better. Kids want to know that they are being pushed. They want to know when they do something right versus when they do something wrong. And in the end, they will eventually get things right. It might take some longer than others; but they will eventually get it. And when they do, they will give off the biggest smile. And then the fun begins.
So, if you truly want your kids to have fun, get them involved with a program that has a genuine focus on development. Your kids, and probably you, may think that the coaches are too tough; but its what your kid needs if you want them to have fun. It’s what your kid needs too if you want to know if baseball is a sport for them. getting them involved in a development program is the fastest way to see if your kid will enjoy, and be good at the game.
We all want our kids to have fun playing the game. It’s just unfortunate that so many are going about it the wrong way.