As I walked into the lobby of my hotel yesterday morning, I saw about fifteen 12 year old kids in baseball uniforms. My first thought was: “What are these kids doing in a Marriott? We had to stay in Ramada Inns.” I then reflected to those Ramada Inns in Sarasota, Naples, Boca Raton, etc. All but one summer between 1982 and 87, my baseball team travelled somewhere in Florida for a district or state tournament. I remember breakfast was a few donuts and milk. We ate at places like Village Inn, Denny’s, and The Clock for lunch and dinner. Our coaches and parents did what they could to keep all 15 of us entertained and rested between games: putt-putt golf, walking around malls, playing in arcades, and movies – I remember seeing Poltergeist, Karate Kid, and Summer School with my teammates throughout those years. I’ve been lucky enough to have travelled all over the world and have enjoyed some amazing vacations, but those trips in the mid-80s are up there at the top of my list of vacation memories.
After walking through the breakfast buffet and sitting down, I saw the coaches – three of them. I thought of Tom Williams, Sal Carrillo, Ted Moore, and John Staples dedicating their summers to us. I thought of how much these men gave to us. I looked at the three coaches sitting across from me – all about 10 years younger than me even though their kids are 10 years older than my daughter – with a ton of respect and a tinge of regret. When I was thirteen or fourteen, I wanted to be them. I wanted to be the guy spending his vacations with a group of kids, teaching them the lessons of life that school or parents can’t teach.
Today I’m closer to 50 years old than 40, and I’ve never coached a kid’s team in baseball, football, or anything … and it bothers me a little. I’m enjoying a great life because of the lessons those games and coaches taught me, and I haven’t really given back. I tried once, but I felt a little weird being out there without having a kid on the team. (Also, I think that team had more coaches than players – which made it strange too.)
Like I stated above, it was just a tinge. It didn’t stick with me long because I’ve given back in other areas and have had a fortunate life. However, it made enough of an impact to make me realize that my daughter will be playing sports soon and I’ll be in a position to coach her teams. I need to start planning. I need to figure out how to get away from my business for days at a time, how to shift my work load around her practices, and how to leave the iphone in the car (I’m actually pretty good at this last one). I’m looking forward to hanging out with some guys 20 years younger than me, discussing strategy in a Hampton Inn in cities like Ocala, Macon, or Ft. Myers. I’m looking forward to driving six or seven of these kids for hours at a time to their destinations – know that these memories will last forever with them.
I’ll be doing all of this while my empty nest friends will be drinking pints in Europe, snorkeling in Hawaii, or fishing in Mexico. You know what? I can’t wait.
