I've told you that I serve as the assistant varsity coach in my community of Swartz Creek.  It's a very busy time of year, which is why I have not posted an article lately.  Today however I had to write about one of the most emotional and beautiful moments I've ever experienced in softball.  The thing is that it really had very little to do with softball.

You've just gone through High School tryouts where one of three things occurred:

1. You made Varsity
2. You didn't make Varsity, but were offered a spot on the JV or Freshman team
3. You were cut

Here's a little advice on how to handle these three possible outcomes.

If you didn't care about it, it wouldn't hurt.

It's that time of year again.  Softball tryouts are taking place across the country and with them many aspiring players are experiencing serious anxieties.  It’s perfectly normal, but can be debilitating and lead to markedly underperforming.  Tryouts would not be a good time for this. 

As parents you may not know who Eric Thomas is, but a couple years ago you likely heard his voice in a video that went viral.  It was titled, How Bad Do You Want It?  I recently read his book, The Secret To Success, at the request of my daughter who was reading it at college.  She's a big fan and he is going to be on campus to give a speech to the all of the athletes shortly.  

I've read a lot of these types of books over the years and although his message was familiar, I can see how he gets through to the younger generations.  I did enjoy the book.  It was an easy quick read.  He grew up in Detroit, was homeless for awhile and overcame many obstacles in his life including the worst kinds of peer pressure and bad influences you can imagine before achieving success.  One of my favorite quotes from his book is:

Don't make a habit out of choosing what feels good over what's actually good for you.