The Little League Coach

First Lt. Theresa Weihrich grimaces as she helps her 386th Expeditionary Communications Squadron teammates win a tug-of-war contest May 26 during the Iraqi Freedom Festival at a forward-deployed air base. Weihrich is deployed from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. The 386th Expeditionary Services Squadron sponsored the event that featured a variety of morale-boosting contests and activities for airmen, soldiers, sailors and Marines. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Dan Neely)

That Time of the Year

It is that time of the year! Wrapping up the seasons, cramming games into the end of the year and praying for no rain! (Though we really could use rain here, how about only rain after 10PM?). Every league is pretty much the same this time of the year and things really start to get fun.

Sit Back and Enjoy

This is the time where a coach gets to sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labors. I told a couple of people the other day that "you will see things you didn’t think possible over the next couple of weeks". The middle of the season starts to drag a bit, and the kids drop off here and there, but introduce tournaments, top teams, championships, and trophies and suddenly they focus! Not only do they focus, they actually implement what you have been teaching them all year! That’s the fun part!

The Inevitable Upset

Inevitably a team that hasn’t won very many games knocks someone off, a kid that hasn’t hit all year gets in a game winning situation and succeeds! A pitcher that a manager is forced into using strikes out a home run king. I kid that has never caught a fly ball in his life makes a diving catch. These times is fun!!!!!!!

My Schedule

Here is my schedule, I am sure you can relate:

Tuesday: Top Team Tournament Game
Wednesday: Minor Tournament Game
Thursday: Top Team Tournament Game
Friday: Practice
Saturday: 2 Practices
Sunday: Practice
Monday: Potential Minor Tournament Game/Potential Tournament of Champions Game
Tuesday: Potential Minor Tournament Game/Potential Tournament of Champions Game
Wednesday: Potential Minor Tournament Game/Potential Tournament of Champions Game
Thursday: Potential Minor Tournament Game/Potential Tournament of Champions Game

It doesn’t stop there, I am just not sure where it goes!

Play Ball

The great thing about this time of year, the kids know what they are doing today. Playing ball! Tomorrow? Playing ball!, the next day? Playing ball! They tend to stay very focused.

10 Minutes of Mourning

To all out there who are entering your busy time, good luck! But remember to look over at your kids 10 minutes after you lose or are eliminated, what are they doing? Running around playing w/ the other team w/ smiles on their faces of course!!!!

How busy is your schedule? Let’s hear it!