YOU , YOUR, YOU ’RE, YOURS – Own It!

Softball Mom looking back…..  It goes by FAST so sit down, cheer, enjoy the journey, have fun, count the positive things happening, make life long friends. 

So now the Travel Ball season begins and we reflect on High School and finish seeing some of the most amazing College Softball in NCAA and NAIA…(yes, google it… NAIA – athletic scholarships and an amazing level of play for Student Athletes)

The Chat boards are buzzing.  Everyone has their own opinion and expectations of the past and what tomorrow holds. 
Here’s a few words of wisdom! 

The opportunity to play the game is PRICELESS and a huge Privilege at any level. But YOU have to train, condition, eat right, practice manners and good behavior.  Not everyone is talented enough and not all parents make the right decisions to get there so RESPECT it when YOU do. 

Parents!  I heard someone say “YOUR kid isn’t good enough to cause all that trouble”!!  Think about it for a minute.  What are YOU really trying to accomplish when YOU hold the key, the answer, the solution to ALL the issues YOU’RE raising?  Teach YOUR athletes to work harder, do more, find out what it takes to be the coaches favorite, develop better skill, train with professionals, LISTEN, LEARN, and APPLY and oops, get along with other!  Please think about what YOU’RE saying because to many of us it sounds like Excuses and Blaming…  I’ve said it many times that the comments sound like excuses and they’ll say “no really” and I’ll say “yes really”.  Play that scenario in YOUR head before YOU complain. 

YOUR attitude and YOUR perspective is what YOUR athlete is going to develop so YOU ’RE the solution! 

Quitting, blaming, making excuses as it all turns out bad in the end because what didn’t happen was the necessary work, perspective, attitude, and approach to problem solving and YOU’VE created a culture of behaviors that will repeat itself over and over again.  It’s not the black cloud, it’s YOU! 

It’s easier to be a loser, a quitter and a complainer and YOU have lot’s of friends sitting with YOU in the corner, in the parking lot and on the sidelines when YOU’RE all commiserating instead of getting to work!  Misery loves company! 
 
Where ever YOU go YOU go with YOU so FIX YOU!!!

YOU choose the path for YOUR athlete every time YOU  make a decision to make it easier for them instead of providing the tools for them to “overcome” and grow past the challenges.  Moving teams, playing pick up player, playing on teams with only 12 or less all cause the end result of YOUR happiness when they get to college.  YOU have to teach them about the Bench and about working harder even when it doesn’t seem fair, they win in the end because they did more work and they OVERCAME and they were better athletes for it too! 

It happens the same at every layer all the way up to college.  YOU  picked the Tball team and Travel ball teams just like YOU picked the colleges and then YOU  complain about the schedule, the lineup and the Coaching.  Really???  I’m so confused, didn’t “YOU” do YOUR homework and ask the right questions and evaluate the situation?  I hear parents complaining about their schedule, well didn’t YOU know where YOU were going before YOU committed to the team?  We have all been down this road but YOU have to learn from it, grow and teach others to not make the same mistakes.  If it happens to YOU again, then YOU OWN IT!  Don’t blame someone else for YOUR mistakes. 

It cracks me up to see the movement at the college levels.  Didn’t YOU choose that program or did YOU  allow YOU r daughter to make that decision without proper knowledge, I doubt it.  Just like the College Coaches made the mistake picking YOU , YOU  must have been on YOU r best behavior every time they came to see YOU r daughter play because no College Coach wants a parent that doesn’t appreciate the opportunity to play at the highest level, that complains and criticizes and thinks they have better ideas or options.  It’s all the same because it is YOU !  

Well, we all know how this story ends.  Many don’t get the chance or opportunity because they weren’t taught how to overcome and work harder and earn it against all odds and all the bad coaching and playing favorites.  So REALLY don’t blow it while YOU ’RE there!  That’s YOUR opportunity NOT someone else’s fault.

Control what YOU control, YOUR athlete!  Fix it before it gets to college or its highly unlikely it won’t get there. 
Imagine a crowd of people going to YOUR office/workplace and yelling at YOU and watching every move YOU make and criticizing every decision and yelling and gossiping and complaining at the job YOU’RE doing?  They get to sit and eat and snack and watch YOU!  Then they go home and get on social media and hammer at the keyboard some more.  This is what the Coaches feel like each and every weekend at every level. And it is easier to be part of the complaining crowd then the positive parent that chooses to look at all the GREAT things this coach is providing.  Complaining about the coach only makes YOU look bad. 

YOU’RE going to miss it when it’s gone! 

Be part of the solution not the “know it all that has an opinion” crowd. Be thankful for what others are providing for YOUR athlete.  YOU picked them, remember… and don’t tell me YOU didn’t pick the high school coach because the last set of parents ran that good coach off YOUR roster! 

Pitcher parents!  YOU signed up for that role.  Embrace it, YOU control more of the outcome than YOU think.  It grinds my gears to hear the pitcher parents complain about the pitch calls or the umpire calls.  Be better, get to work, if YOUR athlete does the best job possible then everyone is better off.  Don’t complain if there is an error if YOUR pitcher isn’t planting every location and doesn’t make a fielding error too, come on….  It’s a team effort for sure so do YOUR part, get a more comfortable bucket because YOU can contribute positively if the work is done! 

I challenge YOU all this season, whatever age group to grab a note pad or note app and jot down all the GREAT things that this coach is doing for YOUR athlete.  Be APPRECIATIVE of the coaches 99.99% are NOT paid no matter how much ya’ll think they are.  A privileged few get their expenses reimbursed and still people think that is too much when these coaches take away from their family and give their vacation time to helping YOUR athletes!  Just a simple THANK YOU or we APPRECIATE YOU is the answer.  Then get to work and solve the playing time issues in YOUR own backyard, YOUR athletes wins! 

Have winning expectations, that match the winning work ethic and hang out with other winners not WHINNERS!