What this world needs is more T-ball coaches.

You can’t be a good T-ball coach if you don’t have a sense of humor.

When the ball rolls between the legs of a player into the outfield past a youngster playing in the grass and ends up being fought over by a pack of 4 year olds in the outfield as the other team runs the bases, coaches have two choices — they can either cry or laugh. The best coaches, in my opinion, choose to laugh.

How can you not laugh when the simplest of plays devolves into complete chaos?

T-ball is not for the coach who hates to see mistakes. Mistakes are made nearly every play. In fact, many mistakes are commonly committed in a matter of seconds.

Watching 4, 5 and 6 year olds struggle to the learn a game with which high school and even college players grapple, must take a lot of fortitude and antacids for any T-ball coach.

So when a player completely fouls up a play and parents pull their hair out by the handfuls, what do the best T-ball coaches do?

They enthusiastically clap their hands and say, “Good effort. Good job.”

I must admit that my mouth dropped the first time I heard my son’s coach respond with such positive words when Gibson threw the ball to the wrong player or was tagged out because he didn’t stay on the base.

“How can you say such a thing when Gibson made such a bone-headed mistake,” I remember thinking.

Two years later, I am beginning to understand that unlike the parents and even the players who look to the next swing or the next out, the best T-ball coaches take a longer view of the game.

The best coaches look at each mistake not as an error but as an opportunity to teach the game and invest in a player’s future. Instead of berating a player for not paying attention, the best coaches use each mistake to show their players how they can improve when they are faced with similar circumstances. The focus is always on the future, never on the past.

The focus is always on fostering the love of the game. After all, there will always be another play at first or slide into second, and there will always be room for improvement as long as the players continue to love the game.

To be clear, such an attitude doesn’t mean there will not be hard work and long hours of practice, but the work is harder and the practices are longer if you do not like the sport.

My son is fortunate to have had some wonderful coaches in his short career. I have been amazed at what he has learned about the game, about himself and about sportsmanship.

Can the lessons learned on the T-ball diamond be applied to our daily lives?

I think so.

Imagine what the world would look like if we all had T-ball coaches enthusiastically clapping and offering encouraging words when we made mistakes in our daily lives.

Unlike children who go through life living in the present and focused on the what is next, adults tend to stay mired in past mistakes, worried about how such mistakes affect their future.

What T-ball teaches is that there will always be mistakes. T-ball coaches remind us that mistakes aren’t errors. They are opportunities to learn and grow.

 

Ben Hillyer is the news editor of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3540 or by email at ben.hillyer@natchezdemocrat.com.