Passion and Drive

I just read that "Michael Jordan's son retires from college basketball" and it got me thinking about motivation, drive, passion and commitment to your sport, craft and life. I think all too often as a parent of an athlete, we can't see clearly through the haze at our own children who have their own passions and that those passions may not match our parental expectations.

I remember reading something Cal Ripken wrote about how as a child his father never asked him to practice - that he was motivated from somewhere deep inside himself. It's hard as a parent to lay off, and I'm as guity as the next person in perhaps pushing my kids too far too fast in certain areas, but this story is a good reminder that talent and genes aren't enough. The opportunities Jeff Jordan refers to in the article are I'm sure related to his own passions and desires - and it's those very passions that will drive his commitment towards success in his life.

Outside of that, can you imagine being MJ's kid and trying to live up to that hype?

Intensity and Defense

I'm thrilled to blog today that yesterday, my U12 team won the town championship by beating a really great team 11-4 in the finals.

We almost didn't make it, barely beating our semi-final opponents by scoring 3 runs on passed balls in the bottom of the 6th. Last night though, we played stellar defense and kept up an insane amount of intensity to simply overwhelm the other team.

After jumping out to a 4-2 lead, we got a huge hit from my daughter (Happy Father's Day!) to put us up for good 6-2. Even missing our best player and 3rd basemen, we locked down on defense overcoming a few silly errors (catch first, then tag!) and ran away with the trophy.

I learned (and was reminded of) a few lessons this year:

• Some kids respond to pressure, while others just lock up
• Practice, practice, practice - but enjoy it and play lots of games and competitions
• Girls are WOW, different than boys. Don't forget to adjust your expectations (i.e. don't expect a lot of diving after balls)
• Pick one or two kids as a special project and watch them bloom. One kid I've coached for 2 years now came alive in the final getting 2 hits and reaching a 3rd time on an error. She had previously had 1 hit through 11 games!
• Team chemistry really matters, especially for girls. Find ways to foster it by creating situations where they simply have to respond as a team, together.
• Intensity and focus are 2 terrific skills to develop on a softball field that will translate into life
  

It felt great to see these girls come together after so much hard work all season. I couldn't be happier or more proud of these kids.

Time to Turn It Up

I put this photo of the amazing Danielle Lawrie at the top of this post because she represents "turning it up" in a big, big way. Her performance at the Women's College World Series was nothing short of spectacular.

We're more than halfway through our U12 softball season and the team has progressed nicely in many ways - we're 7-1 and clearly the best team in the league when we're able to throw strikes and stay awake on defense.

At this point, I'm starting to lock in players to give them specific improvement at certain positions - the girls have earned their spots in the lineup and on the field by their performance, attendance and attitudes.

I'll start backing off quite a bit during games from here on out, minimizing my in-game coaching as much as possible to give them a chance to put what they have been learning into practice.

That said, there are 2 specific messages I'm delivering from here to the end of the season:

1. Errors... there is not much we can do at this point to avoid physical errors, but mental errors are not acceptable. This means girls need to pay attention to signals, be alert at the plate, work the count and know where they are going on defense both with the ball and with their bodies!
2. Of our 3 season goals (have fun, learn the game and compete), now's the time to compete their hardest. This does not mean that our focus is on winning, but that our effort in trying to be the best is important - more important than winning.

I believe however, that we are in fact the best team in the league this year and if we can minimize mental errors, execute on the field and focus on competing, we won't lose again this year.

Here's hoping!