I keep trying to remind myself that he is only 6 and that winning a baseball game at this age is not the most important thing in the world… then the game starts and my blood pressure must go up a couple of dozen points. I think I might need to pray before I get to the ball fields.
Is winning the most important thing in little league sports?
When I was 18 and 19, I coached my little sisters softball team and the team was really good. So good that during the final game of the season, they had beaten everyone (by a lot) and had wrapped up the best record. So I decided it would be fun to let the players choose the line up and the positions for the game. We had girls that never pitched before, pitching (and walking a lot of people) and everyone played out of their regular positions, but they all seemed to be having a fun time. The team ended up losing by 1 run.
At the post game meeting the girls seemed really sad, so I went into my best “It’s not if you win or lose, it’s about having fun, learning the game, playing hard and competing” speech. As I was wrapping up what I believed to be an excellent motivational speech (for an 18 year old), a hand shot up. I will never forget the wisdom of skinny little 4th grade girl.
“Coach, we know all of that stuff about playing hard and having fun and we know that winning is not the most important thing…It’s just a lot better than losing”.
She had me there.
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