Realizations…
As we wound down our club ball experience for the high school year and transitioned to being football parents, I watched the kid change, too. It started with those summer sessions with a group that calls themselves the “Original 16.” Those kids that knew from day 1 they wanted to play high school football. The kids who showed up the day after middle school graduation to start their off-season training.
Those were the dedicated ones who believed, whether they knew it or not, in the power of the team. They were committing to each other to get better together. To work individually on their craft, on their fitness, but to spend those 3 hours together every day of the summer getting better as a team. They knew who was playing which position. They learned to move as a unit, knowing the tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses, and where they fit in to make the team stronger.
Thinking back on what I watched come together over the summer and throughout the season makes it so abundantly clear to me what was so very different about club baseball. It was about the individual. It was about the name on the back of the jersey, not the front. (Not the actual name on the back of the jersey because our uniforms were cheap dri fits with numbers only, not names. But you get what I’m saying.) It wasn’t about the team, knowing who was playing each position each game. There were definitely times when we needed more arms for a tournament, and some random kid from the organization in a different county showed up to save our chances. Or a kid played up an age level if we needed a catcher. Sure, we had 2 squads where there was some consistency week in and week out. But for the most part, we just tried to field a team of 12-14 kids each tournament, sometimes down to the game.
If we lost an early game on Saturday, we’d have kids dip out to play for their other team with a shot to win their tournament 45 minutes away. Inevitably, that would leave us at risk of not being able to field a team some games if we went 0-2 on a Saturday and still had a game or 2 on Sunday.
But at the high school level, it’s about the team. the school pride, the guys you are working with day-in and day-out, getting better through Spring Training, playing 6 or 7 games over Spring Break while the rest of the school is off traveling. You all want to be your best when wearing your school colors. You rely on consistency, routine, habit, and chemistry. You learn how to play with the team, lean into those strengths, sure up the weaknesses. You know from the nod of a head or the tip of the cap what the next move is. You put up with the shenanigans on the bus to away games because you know if that certain song comes on, or if everyone sits in a certain seat on the bus, you’re gonna get that win.
I’m looking forward to that consistency, too. Knowing the parents we’re going to see at each game. Working together to support the team, chip in on Gamechanger or score keeping, cheering each other’s players through a slump, or taking pics and yelling extra loud if someone can’t come to support their player.
Baseball is about the community. At the high school level, it’s about a bigger community - it’s baseball + school + family. Sure the individual stats count, especially as these kids get closer to being scouted for the next level. But I’m looking forward to those PG stats meaning a bit less than the colors we’re wearing. I’m looking forward to players wanting to lay down the bunt to move the player over for the win mattering just a little bit more than being the hero and trying to hit a 6-run homerun to win a meaningless consolation game on a Sunday at 7am.
I know my kid thrives in that team environment. If he brings half the energy and passion he brought during football season to this baseball team, it’s going to be a lot of fun! Go get ‘em kid!
