Coach Colin

Last night was the first practice of the Bermuda Rookie league baseball team that I am assistant coaching. It is the 6 to 9 age range and so can be quite an interesting and rewarding experience. I learned (or was reminded of) a couple of things in the process.

The first is that it has been a long time since I last coached baseball. I was trying to think of when it was and it was definitely at least ten years ago, maybe more like twelve or thirteen. I certainly wasn’t much older than the players at the time and was really just assistant coaching with my father. I also trained and received my umpire certification around that time as well. And I’ve come a long way in forgetting as many of those rules and techniques as I possibly could have. Or so I thought, but last night I was pleasantly surprised when much of it started coming back when I got back on the field.

Young children everywhere are very similar. At least the ones who are likely to sign up for a baseball league. Full of energy (way more than I have, or maybe ever had) which in turn translates into a loss of focus. Not all kids are like this, I wasn’t for example, but some of the kids on my team are and it is a double edged sword. Lots of energy can mean good hustle, good base running and even good fielding. On the other hand, lots of energy can mean distraction, bad base running and bad fielding. It really depends on how that energy is manifested.

And perhaps most telling for me, is that I definitely need to get out an do more on a regular basis. I really enjoyed the evening practice and hopefully the games will be the same. I do need to get a hold of some baseball clothes, as I really don’t have much that is appropriate for the ball diamond. And hopefully, after my brothers visit in May, I will have my own glove again. I will let you know how the season goes.