Coaches

Riley’s comment during Owen’s Tuesday night t-ball practice, “Mom, Owen’s coaches are really nice. They keep saying ‘good job’ and ‘nice swing’. He has great coaches. I like his coaches.” Unlike Riley’s coaches, O’s are just happy when they are looking at the ball and not playing in the dirt or looking up at an airplane (something Owen did more than once Tuesday night).

But after last year especially, I really like Riley’s coaches too. His coaches don’t yell, unlike last year. I’ve never seen them yank their kid off the field for a ‘whippin’, unlike last year. They are just a little rougher around the edges than Owen’s but given the age they are coaching, that is probably reasonable.. Here are some comments heard this year from Riley’s coaches:
“Where were you looking? Not at the ball!”
“If you let another ball go by you without getting in front of the ball, you’re running a lap.” (This was said from coach to coach’s son)
“If that ball ever touches the fence, then you outfielders aren’t doing your job.”

But that is all balanced out by lots of these:
“Nice play.”
“Great throw!”
“Good snag.”

You get the idea. So although Riley noticed right away that Owen’s coaches are “really nice.” His are pretty good too. I’m looking forward to a good season for both of them. Another perk this year is that both teams have great sponsors. That means us parents won’t have to come out of pocket for uniforms, trophies, end of year parties or anything else. It also means this team Mom doesn’t have to worry about running a fundraising booth on opening day.

The season is shaping up to be a busy one. We have practice with one or the other (or both) every day this week except for Wednesday and Saturday. I don’t know how families who have more than one kid participating in more than one activity at time do it. I’ve met plenty who have that sort of schedule. Two at a time in the same sport is as busy as I care to be!