I helped coach my son D’s little league team this spring. This was his first year away from t-ball and now he’s hitting against pitches- some by coaches and some by fellow players. He’s 6 years old right now.
I wasn’t too thrilled by the behavior of the players this year. It seems 6-8 year olds have different behavior problems than 5-6 year old t-ballers. I won’t bore you with the details. It’s making me thing twice about coaching next year, but I probably will.
D and I had a particularly poignant moment that I’ll cherish for some time. An 8 year old boy was teasing another boy about whether he’s had sex with his girlfriend. I was nearby and so was D, and we gave each other such a meaningful look. It’s hard to describe. D and I have already talked about sex. Yeah, you may think it’s too early for him, but I felt he was mature enough and I wanted to beat his playmates to it, so he’d have a Biblical view of it. I did the same thing with his sister. It turned out to be a great time for both of us. He’s not embarrassed to ask questions and I’m not embarrassed to bring up the topic. Anyway, he gave me a look that said, “What they’re talking about isn’t appropriate, right Dad?” And my look said, “you’re right, buddy.” One of the team tattle tales told the other coach who told the ‘offender’ to not talk about that stuff, it wasn’t appropriate.
Later, I approached the dad of the kid that was talking about sexual stuff in the dugout. I approached him humbly, after prayer. It went very well- he was very appreciative that I told him. He thanked me! I encouraged him that this wasn’t an opportunity to punish him, but an opportunity to guide him. And he better take that opportunity before his friends at school take the opportunity away from him. He agreed.
Coaching has it’s ups and downs- more downs, unfortunately, but I would’ve missed that moment with D if I wasn’t in the dugout with him. Thank you, God, for helping me get through that season, and for great moments with my son!
