Coach Your Kids!

Steve Treacy is a sophomore Science-Business major at the University of Notre Dame.  Steve is a student in the Social Foundations of Coaching class taught by Play Like a Champion Founder and Director Clark Power and Program Director Kristin Sheehan, and is a photographer for the Notre Dame Athletic Department.  

As I went outside this morning, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and there was a cool breeze of air blowing across my face. My body was filled with joy and excitement, as this feeling brought me back to the days of playing baseball with my father as my coach.

From the age of four up to age of eighteen, I played baseball on my dad’s team in my town’s recreational league. Through those 14 seasons, my dad helped me evolve from a little kid who ran the wrong direction around the diamond after hitting the ball off the tee into an athlete who was hitting home runs and stealing bases. As I grew as a player, the relationship between my father and I grew stronger as we spent countless hours together out on the diamond. The stories of the memories that we created through baseball could fill the pages of a million blogs; however, there is one story in particular that I would like to share.

The author and his father at home plate.
Photo courtesy of the Treacy Family

In my junior year of high school, I decided that I wanted to try out for the high school varsity team. After playing in the recreational league for so long, I wanted to get the chance to prove that I belonged on the same field as the top players in my town as we competed against the top baseball players throughout the state. I trained all winter long--hitting in the cages daily, going to all the extra practices and workouts, and I even practiced staying in my catcher’s stance while I watched TV in order to continue improving my strength and my form. When tryouts came, I was in the best baseball shape of my life, and put everything I had into making the team. However, I was cut on the last day of tryouts, and told to “try again next year.” Needless to say, I was pretty bummed out. 

A few days later, I was in the cafeteria eating lunch with my buddies Ty and Jack, both of whom were on the varsity team. They were talking about their upcoming opening-day game. I told them that I wished that I could have been out there with them, playing for the varsity team. Jack looked back at me and replied that he was jealous of my position because I got to play baseball with my Dad as a coach. He said that his dad never had the time to coach a team, even when he was little. He had always wished that he could have gotten the chance to play with his dad.

I realized that what Jack said to me was 100% true. While maybe I had not gotten to play for varsity, getting cut meant that I got to play another season with my dad by my side. I realized how lucky I was to get a chance to go out there and spend hour after hour with the man who I look up to the most in this world. The next year, when my senior season rolled around and my dad asked if I was going to try out again, I responded “Why would I do that? That would mean 12 less games with you!” Looking back on it, being cut and getting the chance to keep playing with my dad was one of the greatest silver linings in my life.

In summation, this is my message to all parents reading this blog: Please, if you have the opportunity to coach your child, do not hesitate to take that opportunity. I know it sounds cheesy, but playing baseball with my dad was a part of my life that I will never forget, and I hope it will be the same for my future children. I would give anything to get the chance to go back and play another game with my dad coaching me from the dugout. By coaching your child, not only will you get a chance to share with them your love of the game, but it will also provide you and your child with fantastic lifelong memories, and will elevate the loving parent-child bond to a whole new level.