The Boys of Summer

School is over and summer is here, at last. 

From a baseball standpoint, it's going to be different for the boys and, of course, for me.  For the the first time in a decade, I'm not coaching summer baseball.  JP and Joe are playing but I'm not coaching.  And you know what?  I think I'm okay with that.

Joe is going to play on a 10U all star team, along with Ram from the Diamondbacks.  Much like I did with JP's Dodgers back in the day, the Braves - the same team we knocked out of the WNSL end of season tournament - are taking their team to all stars but adding a few players.  Joe is one of the add-ons.  Having been down this road - taking one league team to all stars rather than taking the best players from various teams - I suspect it won't go well in terms of wins and losses.  Still, I'm glad Joe is playing postseason baseball nevertheless.

I want Joe to be coached by someone else.  Someone he doesn't know.  I also want Joe to play with boys he doesn't know, so he has to establish himself all over again.  I think that's good for him.  In my view, growth - as an athlete and a person - comes when you get out of your comfort zone.  Putting yourself in positions in which you're uncomfortable is how growth happens.  

I'm curious to see how Joe performs in unfamiliar territory.  I want to see if he's nervous; if he makes friends; if he earns playing time on an established team; if he makes a positive impression on coaches I've never said more than hello to.  It's all new.  It's challenging and it's interesting.  

JP is the in very much the same boat.  He's playing for the Nashville Dawgs, a team that's an interesting mixture of private school boys that were Dodgers w/JP - Wes, Benton, JK, Cyrus, and Elijah - a few JT Moore boys and several inner city boys who played high school baseball this spring, as freshmen, for Hillsboro and East Nashville.  My friend, Connor, a teacher at JT Moore, is coaching the boys with help from two fo my former coached, Randy Kleinstick and Chris Taylor.  

I'm more than a little interested to see how JP's team plays out.  It's a big roster, so I'm not sure how evenly playing will be distributed, particularly since the boys are playing 15U tournaments.  JP and all of the Dodgers are 14, so the step up in competition is real.  We'll see how it goes.  

Really, it's the same with JP as it is with Joe.  I want JP to get out of his comfort zone and to be coached by someone he doesn't know.  I want him to have to earn playing time.  I also want him to be around boys that he doesn't know and, hopefully, to make new friends.  I want to see growth.

So, here we go.  Tomorrow night, Joe has all star practice and JP has a doubleheader.  I'll take the boys to baseball camp at CPA tomorrow morning.  Jude's mom will drop Joe and JP off at Joe's practice at 4:30 p.m., then I'll pick up JP and take him to his Charlotte Park for his games.

This weekend, Joe has a tournament in Donelson and JP plays in Hendersonville.  Divide and conquer.

Baseball, baseball, and more baseball.  I wouldn't have it any other way.