Dad,
Thank you for pushing me. You tried to treat me as an equal on the team, but let’s be real — you were a little bit harder on me. To this day you’ll deny treating me any different, but I probably needed to be treated as such. It’s easy to slack off when you have no fear of your authoritative figure, so thanks for putting me out in right field and telling me to run laps so that I would shut up. It taught me something. It taught me that I’m not better than my peers just because I have the slight advantage of knowing the person in charge. I complained hard and was completely annoyed when you threw me out in right field, but you didn’t budge.
Although you were hard on me when I messed up, you taught me to learn from my mistakes. When I watched strike three go by or missed the easy pop up in the infield, I would get mad at myself to the point of not even caring about it anymore. You made me talk it out, though. You made me realize my mistake and how I could fix it, instead of just telling me yourself. You molded me into a problem solver, rather than someone who quits when they’ve messed up.
The car rides home after a bad game were the worst. I never wanted to hear how badly I did or how great the other team did. I never wanted to be reminded of my mistakes or the amazing double play the other team had and how they probably worked at it in practice.
No matter how badly I wanted you to keep your mouth shut, you never did. The coach in you never left, even after leaving the field. You would relentlessly talk about how I could fix my problems, how I could be the best player. I regret talking over you and saying “OK” a thousand times to shut you up. I never took into account what you were saying. You let me learn the hard way when I made the same mistake again — finally I realized that I needed to fix something. And when I wanted to talk about it you were full of advice. Even better, you would take me to the field and practice with me.
You weren’t one to go out of your way to praise every great play I made, but you definitely didn’t ignore them. You kept me humble. When I want to boast about the great things I’m doing, I keep you in the back of my head. You’re able to take the win as a coach and blame it on your players. You taught each and every one of those kids what they’re doing — and when they apply your lessons and achieve great things, you don’t expect the awards.
I wouldn’t be where I am today if you hadn’t been my coach. I probably would’ve never pursued softball as a hobby if it weren’t for you. So, thanks. Thanks for making sports enjoyable and for making them part of my identity, Thanks for pushing me to be the best I could be. Thanks for teaching me to learn from my mistakes. Thanks for keeping me humble. And thanks for putting all of your time, effort and money into my team and my pride.
