I loved playing rec softball throughout school, and anyone who’s had their dad coach one of their teams can relate to these things. Shoutout to all of the coaches out there!

Thank you for not going easy on me.

When I messed up a play, had a ball go through my legs that definitely should’ve been an easy catch, or swung at an awful pitch, you made sure I knew that I needed to fix it next time. You made sure I knew that I still had room to improve in everything I did.

Also thank you for not being too hard on me.

You were never harsh, and you were always encouraging. Whether I said, "I can't get out of this slump today," "I just can't catch today," or "I'll be honest, I can't focus right now because I'm stressed about real life," you were always supportive of me. Thank you for being kind and approachable always.

Thank you for spending all of those evenings writing and rewriting field positions and batting orders.

You really did put a lot of time into those. I know you wanted everything to be perfect so that we could be successful. Those took a lot of time and sometimes even a lot of stress, so here’s to making sure it didn’t go unnoticed.

Thank you for keeping that first aid kit around.

Blood, sweat, and tears, amiright? We could get intense, and one of us pretty much always had something bleeding. So thank you for the Band-Aids and the slap on the back that accompanied “rub some dirt on it and get back out there.”

Thank you for letting me use your glove when mine was… elsewhere.

Now, I’m not claiming to be the most together person. Remember that time I left my glove on the top of my car and drove to the game? It ended up in an unknown elsewhere, and that was that. Any other coach probably would’ve given me a lecture (probably rightly so), but thanks for just giving me a blank stare of disbelief and handing over your glove for the next few games.

Thank you for letting us do silly things and just have fun.

You let our creative sides show and embraced the silliness. You let us pick the team name and the pose for team pictures. Because who wants to lose to a team named the Funshines? Definitely no one. Who wants to win when named something so funny? Definitely everyone. Who wants to treat the team picture as a photo shoot? Also definitely everyone.

Thank you for planning around everyone’s schedules.

Planning practices for high schoolers that all have jobs and other activities to go to was probably the worst thing ever. Thanks for working with everyone so that we could get in the most practice possible.

Thank you for not being super serious, but also for giving great pep talks.

You wanted us to win, but you didn’t act overly serious, either. Your pep talks were awesome, though. It’s almost like you took speech classes in school and trained to talk in front of people. I don’t know, but you are eloquent.

Thank you for watching me play for all of those years (and for taking me to see major league ball, too).

I played softball since kindergarten, and you helped me throughout all of those years. Thanks for sitting in countless sets of bleachers and watching me grow. It was unbelievable fun having you coach me during my last two years of the game we both love.

Thank you for caring so much about me and my teammates.

All in all, I know that you always dedicated your efforts to the success of our team. But beyond that, you really did care about your players feelings, lives, and personal accomplishments.

Thank you for being great.