Sunday, March 14 (Day 3): Today was our first practice for my little league baseball team. I coach my son Matthew and 13 other 6/7 year olds in a machine pitch league. I have so much fun coaching these little guys. Today was a hastily arranged hitting practice at a local indoor batting cage so only 5 of my players are able to make it. One of them is a little guy who I used to coach in soccer when he and my son were 4 years old. He has a brother who is 2 years younger and who plays teeball at the same little league where we play. As I am talking to my players inside the cage about hitting off of a machine, I notice that the little brother is standing outside the batting cage with a sad look on his face. He wants to come inside so he can play with the big kids. He used to give me that same look 2 years ago when we were on the soccer field. In soccer I was always afraid that he would get run over, but this is a more controlled environment. I decide that today he gets to play with the big kids. His mom says it is ok so I put a batting helmet on his head, bring him into the cage and with the other kids explain how hitting off a machine is different from hitting off of a tee. He has a huge smile on his face and for the next 30 minutes plays alongside the big kids in hitting, running the bases and sliding. At the end of our practice he and his brother both give me high fives and I don't think much more about it. Later that evening his mother sends me an email thanking me for being the coach and especially for including the little guy in the practice. She said that it made his day and he had been talking about it all afternoon to his dad and to all of his friends. Now she has made my day. This is why I love coaching kids!!
- Jeff Hamilton
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