If you have ever coached a team in youth sports … then you have “been there” with some of what I am talking about here.
When you are initially picking your team, you obviously want the best players you can possibly choose to be on your team.
No good coach ever intentionally tries to lose games, right? You do want to win, right? A good coach does not intentionally choose less capable players, not when better ones are immediately available.
Striving to win (with grace and honor, yes, but still striving to win) is a such a big part of life … for us all. An “everyone gets a trophy mentality” does not help build the healthy competitive spirit all children need to do well and excel in life, at whatever it is they may do.
However, we all know that there are exceptions to virtually every rule. Some children have “special needs”. These children may not be physically or mentally capable of reaching the same skill level of most other children who do not have such disabilities.
Don’t ALL children deserve a chance to play team sports?
Which brings me to my greatest Little League adventure.
In February of 2017 a friend of mine asked me to help coach a couple of new teams in Bristol Virginia Little League … teams consisting entirely of children with special needs/disabilities. At first I respectfully declined, as I had so many irons in the fire already.
After “giving it a think” for a few days, I readily accepted, and remain forever after immensely glad that I did. I have never been more enthralled at any sporting event in my life. And, yes, I’ve seen major league baseball games and the Masters golf tournament.
Imagine coaching a game where every single player cheers as loudly for their opponent as they do for their own team.
Imagine no one ever screaming out to high heaven about an umpire’s call.
Imagine nothing buy joy on the faces of the players, no matter what happens during the game.
Imagine every player not so possessed with “winning” the game, but more concerned with doing their very best and having some fun along the way.
But you don’t really have to just imagine all of the above … for such a team is a reality. They are called Tri Cities Champions.
(These Tri Cities Champions kids not only play baseball … but also compete at basketball, golf, and bowling.)
Yesterday I played in a local fundraiser golf tournament to raise money and awareness for Tri Cities Champions. This wonderful organization, headed up by my friend, Eric Jenkins, provides competitive team sports opportunities for children (and young adults) with disabilities.
Below is a pic I took yesterday of a young man named Jamie, who sank a putt for our team on the par three 15th hole at Bristol Golf Club. Jamie only needed one try - and he made the putt. I never saw more joy on anyone’s face on a golf course. Ever. Anywhere. Not even Tiger Woods when winning the Masters.
(By the way, here is an amazing fact: Golf raises more money for charity in America than all other sports - football, baseball, basketball, hockey, etc. - combined.)
A society can measure itself in many ways. One of those ways is surely by the amount of meaningful opportunities it gives to people with disabilities.
And for any reader who has ever played a team sport (I would include band, choir, and cheerleading under the heading of “team sports”) … then you know full well the meaningful “real life” values gained from learning to participate as part of a “team”, as we must all eventually do … so many times in so many ways … throughout our adult lives.
Thank you, Tri Cities Champions, for helping to provide such an opportunity for ALL our children and young adults.