I am coaching my son’s baseball team.  He’s in 7th grade.  We have a few kids in 6th grade on our team but none in 8th grade.  I have wanted the opportunity to coach my son in the past.  I knew it would present challenges.  However, I thought it would not be too difficult.

In many ways it is not difficult but there are more parts to be aware of than I could have anticipated.  All of these parts are good and I rejoice that I have the gift of coaching and leading a bunch of young men in baseball and life.

This week frustration reared its head in the midst of our team.  Until this past Wednesday we had a very good record.  Then came three straight losses by slaughter rule.  The kids have been outplayed and it seems to be contagious.

There are three teams that are made up of older kids than we have.  We have not quit but we have made many mental mistakes.  None of these mishaps have cost us the game but they are in response to us losing the game(s).

As I tell my players, once a mistake has been made learn from it and let go of the frustration.  The alternative is to not learn, become bitter, and blame others on the team or others off the team.  Some of that has happened.  I cannot control what happens in another team or an ump’s call, or rain, or heat, or even how one of my player’s may react.  I can control what I do with it internally and externally, with what feelings I keep and what I let go and with what I choose to say and do.

I have learned much through this time of coaching.  I have learned how to pick at the draft more effectively.  I have learned to check out practice fields before I choose one.  I have learned that it is difficult to get everyone to the practice on a regular basis.  It is also difficult to get every player to games all the time.

I have also learned that parents can be a great resource but they too can be encountering their own levels of frustration due to nothing I can control.  I can control communication but I may not be able to control schedule.  I can control practice but maybe not its place or time.

So I started this blog with the title “Inspiration…”  It seems that I have listed nothing of inspiration yet, only frustration and loss.  That would be mostly an accurate observation.  However, I have learned a great deal and that is always something of thanks and inspiration.  Another area of inspiration is that I am learning how to not carry other people’s expectations.  I am also freed to be able to listen to another’s frustration without it negatively impacting me.  That allows the parent or child to be freed as well.

I hope you can begin to understand that this is inspiring!

Tonight begins the second half of our season.  I will talk with the kids and see if they are ready to re-ingage, to recommit as a team.  We have plenty of games to make a difference.  Yet, the decision is the team’s rather than mine.  That reality too is inspiring.

We may have lost three games in one week but I actually am pumped up and inspired.  I am looking forward to practice and inspiring the team.  Last week has passed!  This week has come.  It is time to learn, let go, and move forward.  Even if no one else is inspired, I am, and that is necessary for the entire team.

I’m looking forward to some baseball!