For The Love Of The Game

I recently was given the opportunity to attend the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association State Clinic (quite a mouthful, I know) in Columbus, with Head Coach Jim Clark (NDCL). With over 300 high school baseball coaches in attendance, it was an awesome chance for me to able to interact with people who have a genuine love for the game of baseball (just as I do), and also a passion for teaching. Because in reality, what are coaches but not teachers too? Especially at the high school level, but that rings just as true at the collegiate level as well.

Some of the keynote speakers included:

• Greg Beals, Head Coach at The Ohio State University
• Rich Maloney, Head Coach at the University of Michigan
• Scott Stricklin, Head Coach at Kent State University
• Matt Palm, Head Coach at Heidelberg University
• Jason Stein, Head Coach at Eastern Kentucky University
• Butch Thompson, Assistant Coach at Mississippi State University
• Jay Alexander, Head Coach at Eastern Michigan University
• Cory Mee, Head Coach at the University of Toledo

Each segment addressed a different topic and provided various drills and philosophies, which I undoubtedly will be adding to my repertoire and begin to implement this season at NDCL. So a huge thank you goes out to the gentlemen listed above for sharing their knowledge of the game and also to a select few who took some time out to talk with me personally and bounce some ideas back and forth.

Needless to say I found myself listening to one distinguished coach after another, and began to imagine myself on that stage. The honor and privilege it would be to become a coach of such great knowledge and respect is something I am indeed striving for. Whether its on the collegiate or the high school level, great knowledge and great men/women receive a level of respect without ever having to pursue it, as do great teachers and educators.

If there's one thing I learned over the weekend, it's that no matter what level you teach at (notice I didn't say "coach") you can have an impact on the people around you that may not be visible to the naked eye. So I'd like to congratulate every single coach and teacher/educator out there who changes the lives of young people on a daily basis and seeks no thank you or recognition in return. They simply do it for the love of the game.


For an update on the NDCL offseason thus far, click here.