Winning The Larger Game

To the Editor:

I have coached Newtown Babe Ruth for ten years. Through the years, I have had the privilege of coaching many great kids. This year, I had a very special lesson in life.

I had 12 great kids. During our first practice in April, I quickly found out that one of the children had special needs. I quickly realized this child was going to struggle a bit with baseball. I decided that we were going to treat him like every other player. We followed league rules by putting him in the infield for two, sometimes three, innings. He was hit in the face twice in the beginning of the season. After shaking off a little fear, he came ready to play every game. He would get up two or three times a game. His confidence began to grow. His confidence grew not because of my coaching but because every time he got up, the other 11 kids would cheer him on wanting him to be successful. They were never angry when he was not successful, but encouraging.

The last regular game of the season we asked the other coach if we could walk him so he could run the bases. The other coach agreed. We were losing 12-4. The child was walked and reached base on his own merits. The other 11 kids went wild. Four batters later, he scored. The kids all ran out onto the field in excitement. It was like he hit the winning home run. We also scored a couple of runs. One of the kids asked if we were winning, I responded No. The best player on our team looked at me and said, “Coach, I think we won the game.” I learned the most valuable lesson of my coaching life from a bunch of younger people.

In a time, when we worry about winning, 12 younger boys taught me a lesson that we need to rise above winning and losing. My team went 3-11. We won in so many aspects. First, children with special needs are children that bring so much content to our lives. They teach us how we should be living our lives. The other 11 children taught me so much on what is important in coaching. The scoreboard and season record is a quarter of the battle. The rest of the battle is to have children improve, work as a team, and build self-esteem. I just hope I could remember this the rest of my coaching life. I hope all other coaches, no matter what sport, learn a similar lesson.

Sean Kerins

28 Iris Trail, Sandy Hook                                                June 16, 2008