I coached boys, mainly from 9 to 12 years old, for years. I coached all sports but primarily basketball. In my 73 years on earth, I have watched the game go from a competition into a trophy for all back-to-competition. The biggest problem with little league play is coaches don’t know how to coach, and parents exspect their kids to shine. It is nice to volunteer your time as a coach to coach, but if you have no idea of the game, you’re not helping and the rewards won’t equal the time spent. Sporting events are designed to be competition; we must remember not all kids are equal and never will be. Learning how to play together and win is great but learning how to play and lose is just as important; guess what? We don’t win all the time. Shaking hands as a winner must equal shaking hands as a loser both are teaching the future.

Being a little league coach is a tough job; you have to know the players that will make the team work and the players that will fit into certain situations, some that are entirely lost. If a coach can make the team out of all the boys that work, then winning will come naturally. The idea that young boys don’t know if they are being coached right or wrong is wrong itself, they understand the difference.

My greatest gift i received from coaching is to take young boys that were uncontrollable and make them controllable. The idea that boys themselves would neutralize their parents for wanting them to be moved to a team of non-performance was breath taking. Boys want to win and given the opportunity will walk thoough a wall to do it.

Boys must be disciplined; the greatest teacher of discipline is sports, and the greatest teacher of sports, is great coaches.