End of the Year Player Evaluations

After the season is over, coach Mike and I will be sitting down performing player evaluations. We will evaluate all areas of the game....

• Focus
• Attitude
• Commitment
• Defensive Awareness
• Arm strength and accuracy
• Fielding skills...ground balls and fly balls
• Baserunning
• Hitting

After this is done I would like to set up a time with all of you to discuss our thoughts. With 6 plus months before our next game I want to share with all of you what we see. Where things are going well and where there might be some room for improvement. All the kids do things well, but all have areas they need to improve upon. This is a good idea because it gives everyone a lot of time to work on some of those areas.

I think because we desire to stay together til they get to high school age, and maybe longer, that is very important.

We also need to talk about parent's expectations.....

• Is this just for fun?
• Is winning important?
• Can we have fun and win?
• Is tournament/travel ball of interest next year and beyond?
• Is your child being treated fairly by the coaches?
• Are there certain positions you or your son feel he would be better served playing?
• What do you want us to work on with your son that we are not already doing?

Pretty much, I just want to throw it on the table, level set, be honest and open and have good dialogue. This is a family. You are my friends and I will do anything for any of you. Teri and I moved here two years ago not knowing anyone and we are closer to all of you then anyone else in the area. I don't want to do anything to jeopardize that because it would be hard on Teri and I.

We love being with each and everyone of you and we will stay in contact with each one of you during the winter. In fact we are even considering starting a "Christian Based Small Group". Josh is probably saying, "Yeah I heard that before!" He is right. The Lord has really convicted me over this and shame on me for waiting to be a good soldier under God's command on this topic. This will happen. More on that later if you are interested.

The toughest part of coaching is dealing with parents. I am a parent and I don't coach my kids in football or soccer, so I know all the emotions believe me. But you are more than parents to me and I hope I am more than just a coach to most of you. The Big Stick Cardinal family is not unlike any other American Family. We all need to be there for each other, be open with each other and enjoy each other. If we can't do that then it becomes just a baseball team....boring and without purpose. I want us to have purpose. This is more than just baseball. We are teaching respect, honor, courage, resiliency, commitment, passion, love, compassion and empathy among many other things. This is a family. Please always remember that Teri and I feel that way.

See everyone on Saturday....

Coach Tom