Now that I’m in my mid-twenties, I’m seeing some things differently than I would have even a few years ago.
One of the things that means for me is I no longer think my friends who have children are lame for not wanting to hang out. I even catch myself getting excited when the kids get old enough that their parents introduce them to sports. “I can’t hang out because I have to take my son to his tee-ball game” is a good excuse in my book.
It’s kind of like my introduction to that chapter of life where the student becomes the teacher, though with no kids of my own I’m seeing it through my friends’ experiences. It’s cool seeing a kid get his first hit in a Little League game when you remember that, just a year or two ago, you were in the front yard shagging balls while his dad taught him how to swing a bat correctly.
For the record, I don’t come from a family with a history of coaching sports. My dad, probably the best athlete on either side, only coached me briefly when I decided to try wrestling as a kid. None of my siblings have kids that aren’t dogs and none of my biological cousins have coached their own kids. I never caught the bug to try coaching youth sports.
Now that my friends are gravitating toward that to further coach up their own kids, I can see how it would be a lot of fun.
It’s great to see so many Plant City Little League parents getting involved by going beyond the bleachers and joining the coaching ranks. Even when their kids move up and go to other coaches, some stick around because their love for the job grew beyond simply helping their own kids out. Having someone so passionate in your corner helps fuel your own desire to keep going.
Matt Cothren, manager of the 9-10 A Baseball All-Stars team, told me as he’s coaching his youngest of three sons now, he’s preparing for the end. The sense of satisfaction in his voice, even talking about something so simple as being there for his sons, was clear. I’m sure anyone just getting into Little League or other youth sports will one day want to be able to speak the same way about their own.
I keep thinking of LaVar Ball, whom anyone with an Internet connection and even a passing interest in basketball knows as America’s most outspoken sports parent. His star has risen astronomically since the world found out how good his three sons are at basketball, which he’s channeled into his Big Baller Brand line of clothing and overpriced shoes that look like fake Kobe Bryant Nikes. For the most part, I can’t stand the guy’s antics.
I’ll give him this, though: the man does love his kids. When Lonzo Ball got drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers — just as LaVar Ball had always said would happen — it somehow became a touching moment for father and son. The father finally made it to the NBA living vicariously through his son, who got drafted by his favorite NBA team and an executive, Magic Johnson, whom he’s long tried to emulate on the court. For all LaVar Ball’s faults, none of that happens without his commitment to his kids.
That commitment is what all young sports parents should have. When I see parents show love and commitment to their kids on the playing field, I know they’re in good hands.