Towards the end of every season, I like to take a little time to reflect...so here goes.  

To my lesson students: Thank you for your effort all season long.  Each of you came to the cage with a desire to work hard, a willingness to try new things, and a commitment to the process.   And no matter what "success" meant to you individually - you can catch the ball now when you couldn't in January, you can throw strikes now when you couldn't in January, you can hit the outside pitch now when you couldn't in January, you hit your first home run (!!!) when you couldn't in January - every single one of you improved this season.  I hope that you had fun doing it and just as importantly, I hope you realize that nothing comes easily - reaching a goal takes hard work and discipline - but that if you put in the effort you'll get there.  I'm so proud of you all and thanks for letting me part of the process!

To my lesson parents: I know how much of a time commitment the Little League season is and I appreciate so much how difficult it can be to make another trip to the field each week for lessons, in addition to regular practices, games, and team batting practices.  You all know how every lesson ends, "Be sure to thank you Mom/Dad for the lesson."   They probably don't realize that most kids who play Little League in the world don't get the opportunity to have private instruction, but they will someday, and it's important to me (especially now that I'm a Little League Dad myself) that they recognize the effort that you give in order to allow them to put their effort into baseball.

To my arm: You made it through another season, you magnificent Son of a Gun!!!!!  Despite all medical science saying you should have probably fallen off about 1 million pitches ago, you're somehow still attached and firing 99% strikes.  I love you. But don't get too comfortable with this little pump up and think I'm going to go easy on you now; you've got another 1 million pitches to go before you get to call it a career.

All kidding aside, a coach is only coach if he has players who show up to play and I'm incredibly grateful to have an amazing local baseball community that has been so supportive of my coaching style and philosophy over these past 15 years.  All I ever wanted out of life was to be able to go to a baseball field every day and don't think for one second that I don't realize, at age 38, how fortunate I am to still be living out my childhood dream on a daily basis.  

Here's to the next 15 years...See you at Summer Camp!