Silver Cloud in Dark Cloud Season

I have been managing youth baseball with my kids for over 7 years now. From the lower minors of little league on up to Jr. league (13-14YO) I am managing now. In all that time I have never had a losing season. As a matter of fact looking back on it 4th place was the lowest I ever ended up. It seems my team was always in the running. To say this year has been different would be the under statement of the year.

Lets start with draft day. I drafted what I thought was a very strong team. This is what happened within two weeks after my draft.

The dad of my first round pick felt his son should be playing seniors (15 and 16 YO, and the better 14YO play) with his best friend. Made a big stink about it and the board granted his request. I would be the first to admit he was good enough, that is why he was my first round pick.

My 2nd and 5th round picks were discovered now lived outside the league boundaries since they were redrawn before the season and they did not catch it until after the draft. They were given the option to stay or move to the other league. They both opted to leave since the other league was 30 bucks cheaper then us.

My 4th round pick decided to quite to play roller hockey instead.

My 6th round pick just plain quite.

So outside of my 3rd round pick which is where I had to take my own son. I had only my 7th round pick on down plus was simple given all the late signups.

This coupled with the fact I got zero volunteers to help me coach from the parents has made for a disaster year. So far with only 3 weeks left in the season we have only recorded one win. The first couple of weeks of the season we were getting blown out but now we are standing toe to toe with the other teams but simple do not have enough to but us over the top on the winning side. Losing a lot of games by two and three runs.

However, it just came to me the other day. It really doesn't matter. I always thought I would die if I ever had a season like this. However I must say it is very different not having the pressure of the stretch run to worry about. I simple told the kids to keep playing hard, and for the better players on the team I reminded them that there is always All Stars. With that I simple play the kids where I feel like playing them. One kid on our team who had an attitude like we should not even bother taking the field unless his great talent was in the lineup. The other night I played him the minimum league requirement (6 defensive outs and 1 at bat) and then showed him a spot on the bench with his name on it. Geez that felt great!! I think some of the other players enjoyed it also. A week or so ago when I was approached by a couple of parents that thought I wasn't playing their son enough in the "right" position for them. I simple took off my ball cap and offered it to them and said any time they want just let me know and I will hand over total control of the team to them and then they can play their son whenever and where ever they want. They backed off very quickly.

I can't believe I am saying this but I can almost feel like I am actually still having fun at this. It's different, but I feel I may come out a better coach for this experience.