This blog is a little self-indulgent but as Spring Training enters its 20th year, I've been thinking a lot about the past 2 decades and felt like sharing a little bit about my journey as coach, where Spring Training started, how it's evolved, and where it's going.
To this day, I still pinch myself every time I get to the go baseball field! I loved playing all sports growing up - 4 years of Varsity Soccer, 2 years of Varsity Basketball, and 3 year of Varsity Baseball in High School - but baseball was always the one I loved the most. Year after year, my only motivation on the diamond was to just to keep playing. I was fortunate to have coaches from Little League all the way through High School who inspired me and made the game fun. It wasn't until I got to college that I had a coach who sucked the joy out of the game, but overall I definitely had far more great coaches than poor ones. Each season that I got to be on the team was a gift and while I did use baseball to help me get into Brown, I even looked at that experience as just another opportunity to continue playing ball.
Same with pro ball; another chance to keep playing.
When I retired from baseball in August of 2004, I had no clue what I wanted to do professionally but after a few months away from the game, I started to get "the itch" and realized pretty quickly I wanted (needed?) to do something with my life that kept me connected to baseball. I honestly don't feel like I chose baseball; it chose me.
After packing up our cars and driving from DC across the country looking for a little post-college "California Adventure," my now wife and I landed in Hermosa Beach with $83 in our bank accounts and no real plans, other than to live as close to the ocean as possible. We were young and in love (still are...well at least still in love😁), found a 300 sq ft apartment behind Sharkees where the living room was also the kitchen, which was also the bathroom, which was also the bedroom, with no plans and no jobs other than "we'll just figure it out."
A few months after arriving, I was introduced to the President of RHLL, a great guy name Dan Post who still puts a "Post Insurance" banner on fence at RHLL and is someone I still stay in touch with (I coached all 3 of his boys; 2 of whom went on to play college baseball!). I started volunteering at a few RHLL practices, just helping out however the coach needed me to, and it wasn't long before I got my first lesson request. Then another. And another.
With a few months, I was giving maybe 15-20 private lessons a week and those families started asking if I would run a camp over the Summer.
I had coached at the local baseball camp in Washington, DC since I was 13 so despite being only 23 year olds at the time, I felt completely prepared and was excited to start my own program, so in the Summer of 2005 I ran 2 weeks of camp at RHLL. I recently found a copy of the first camp flyer!
After the first camp, more lessons started to roll in and in 2006 I ran 4 weeks of Summer Camp. Then 6 weeks in 2007. While that was happening, I was asked to start a Fall Ball program that would keep Little Leaguers engage in the game during the offseason. That Fall Ball program is still going strong! Then I did 8 weeks of camp in 2008.
And now, in Year 20, Spring Training has 10 weeks of camp at RHLL, 6 weeks of camp in Redondo, Spring Break Camps, Winter Break Camps, Coach Trey giving lessons, and we'll have 1 or 2 weeks of camp in Manhattan Beach this Summer. I've also added Lacrosse Camp and Soccer Camp to the schedule in 2024! More opportunities for kids to PLAY HARD and HAVE FUN!
After my first few years of being a full-time coach, my goals started to shift. Of course I still loved coaching kids, but as I got more experience and started to do more research on childhood physical, emotional, and psychological development, I quickly realized that my job as a coach was much more important than simply improving the baseball skills of my students/campers.
I saw how youth sports, when done right, could be an incredible tool for teaching many of life's most important lessons - character traits that will stick with kids long past when their playing days end. I had a new mission; the programs I ran sought outcomes that were "bigger than baseball."
To this day, nothing that happens at a Spring Training camp is by accident; everything we do on the field, from the drills to the stories to trivia to the way the coaches speak to the kids, is by design and supported by decades of research and data.
And then a few years ago, as the youth sports world started to get much more competitive and serious at younger and younger ages, my mission further evolved to make sure that kids were still having FUN on the field. I noticed that kids were having the JOY of playing robbed from them (almost always by adults with ulterior motives) and I was determined to do whatever I could to change the culture back to the kid-centric, fun-first, development-focused environment that youth sports was supposed to be.
In light of the changing youth sports landscape, I'm more motivated than ever to continue to make Spring Training a beacon of positivity, respect, development, and fun so that all kids can find the joy in sports and reap its benefits.
I'm eternally grateful for the incredible support of the thousands and thousands of local families who have entrusted me with their child's sports experience over the last 20 years, and I'm as committed as ever to continue to bring Spring Training's philosophy to as many kids as possible.
The benefits of well-run youth sports programs on a child's development as a human being are far too important to get lost in the chase for off-season weekend tournament rings, jockeying for position on the High School team, worrying about who's going to make the 9 year old All-Star Team, or thinking about college scholarships.
Giving kids a meaningful, rewarding, and impactful sports experience is my life's work, and I can't wait for the next 20 years! Thanks for being on this journey with me!
PLAY HARD, HAVE FUN!