Discussion Group

No, it's not what you think, it's legit. The coach had absolutely no clue about what he was doing. How do I know this? Simple. I was that coach.

I'd taken my daughter down to the park to sign her up for girls' softball. The park's athletic coordinator introduced the coach, and then the next thing I knew, he was pointing at me and another dad, and asked us our names, and informed the girls and the other parents that we were the assistant coaches. News to me!

Then it turned out that the dad who was going to be the coach couldn't make the games, nor could the other erstwhile assistant. So I wound up as the coach of the Shadow Ranch Angels.

Me. A guy who had never played organized ball until a year earlier, when I became the part-time catcher for my synagogue team. And they put me there only because I couldn't field and I couldn't throw. And we'd gone 2-14 with one of those wins a forfeit. And now I'm the coach?

On top of that, it was a week away from our first game, and I was still getting players. I had at least three who I would swear had never touched a ball before. We got our last player the day before our first game.

So that last practice, I talked to the parents, and told them my philosophy (which was both my real feelings, and kind of born out of necessity at the same time): I'd like to win, but I'm more concerned that the girls have fun and play hard. Good thing too, because we didn't win.

We lost by big margins. We lost by small margins. We came close. I had trouble keeping a positive attitude, but I tried. One game we were down by about 8 going into the bottom of the last inning, and the girls came alive, and batted around. We had the tying run at the plate when we made the last out. I thought I couldn't have been prouder of the girls.

I was wrong. In our next to the last game of the season, we had only 8 players (the bare minimum allowed -- normally you field 10). And they played hard. They played their hearts out. They nearly won -- I think they lost by one.

There was one little girl who hadn't got a hit all season. It was the last game, and she socked one into the outfield. On top of that, we had another girl steal home, but to no avail, as we lost again.

I told them many times how proud of them I was, and I hope they realized I meant it. We didn't win a single game. 0-13. Me, I blame the coach, because it certainly wasn't the girls' fault -- they played their hearts out.