Originally Posted by Wabs:
I am the manager of my son's 11U travel team this fall. My son is one of the smaller kids on the team, but one of our best hitters (little power but can make consistent contact). He and another kid were dead even for the batting average lead for the team (.652). Going into the last game, my son and the other player were talking each other up about how they would beat the other for BA leader. My son really, really wanted it.
For 3 months, I have talked alot about the word TEAM. My son and the other player were both 2 for 2 going into the bottom of the last inning of a tie game. We had 1 out and a runner on 1B. My son came to the plate and I was expecting a good hit - I knew he was pressing to win the BA title. Low and behold, first pitch, he lays down a perfect bunt, moved the runner to 2B (he was thrown out at 1B). (I give my players permission to make their own decisions like this). The next batter? The other player in the BA race - he promptly knocked a gapper and the winning scored from second - and he ended up winning the BA title for the season. I had tears in my eyes when I saw my son join the dogpile. When we got home I asked why he bunted. He simply said, "because the team is more important than me - you taught me that Dad...."
Yup, great story.. you should be proud of your son.
Just for a minute, though, I'm going to turn this around and ask you to look at this from a different angle and maybe push you out of your comfort zone a bit.
So, you are coach/manager, you are in the middle of a close game and you are consciously aware that there are two players vying for the 11U season team "batting title" and both were 2 for 2 on the day and that your son was really pressing to win it.
As coaches, it is really important that we drive home the lesson that team IS most important. It is also very important at the youth levels that we emphasize and teach proper mechanics and that a hitter's objective should be to drive the ball hard and that this is the more important measuring stick than actual batting average. Yes, you want your players to be competitive and yes, they will usually be aware of their stats and wins and losses. But, we, as coaches, should be placing those things as secondary to the team concept and to execution and development of proper mechanics. It is a delicate balance.
Obviously, you preach the TEAM message regularly. But, in reading your post, your keen awareness of individual season stats during the course of a game leaves me to think you can still tip the scale in that delicate balance even further. It is evident that things like the BA title have been made important to this group. It is fine to use as one measuring stick. But the louder applause should go to those kids learning how to drive the ball, those showing most improvement on their game awareness, those putting the most effort into improving, those proving to be good teammates (as your son did), etc. In the long run, this is what will help your players most.
Sorry that my point may take away from your story, though. It is a good one.
Best wishes going forward.
