Don't Widen the Plate

Don’t Widen the Plate

In Nashville, Tennessee, during the first week of January, 1996, more than 4,000 baseball coaches descended upon the Opryland Hotel for the 52nd annual ABCA convention.

While I waited in line to register with the hotel staff, I heard other more veteran coaches rumbling about the lineup of speakers scheduled to present during the weekend. One name, in particular, kept resurfacing, always with the same sentiment — “John Scolinos is here? Oh man, worth every penny of my airfare.”

Who the heck is John Scolinos, I wondered. No matter, I was just happy to be there.

In 1996, Coach Scolinos was 78 years old and five years retired from a college coaching career that began in 1948. He shuffled to the stage to an impressive standing ovation, wearing dark polyester pants, a light blue shirt, and a string around his neck from which home plate hung — a full-sized, stark-white home plate.

Seriously, I wondered, who in the heck is this guy?

After speaking for twenty-five minutes, not once mentioning the prop hanging around his neck, Coach Scolinos appeared to notice the snickering among some of the coaches. Even those who knew Coach Scolinos had to wonder exactly where he was going with this, or if he had simply forgotten about home plate since he’d gotten on stage.

Then, finally …

“You’re probably all wondering why I’m wearing home plate around my neck. Or maybe you think I escaped from Camarillo State Hospital,” he said, his voice growing irascible. I laughed along with the others, acknowledging the possibility. “No,” he continued, “I may be old, but I’m not crazy. The reason I stand before you today is to share with you baseball people what I’ve learned in my life, what I’ve learned about home plate in my 78 years.”

Several hands went up when Scolinos asked how many Little League coaches were in the room. “Do you know how wide home plate is in Little League?” After a pause, someone offered, “Seventeen inches,” more question than answer.

“That’s right,” he said. “How about in Babe Ruth? Any Babe Ruth coaches in the house?”

Another long pause.

“Seventeen inches?”came a guess from another reluctant coach.

“That’s right,” said Scolinos. “Now, how many high school coaches do we have in the room?” Hundreds of hands shot up, as the pattern began to appear. “How wide is home plate in high school baseball?”

“Seventeen inches,” they said, sounding more confident.

“You’re right!” Scolinos barked. “And you college coaches, how wide is home plate in college?”

“Seventeen inches!” we said, in unison.

“Any Minor League coaches here? How wide is home plate in pro ball?”

“Seventeen inches!”

“RIGHT! And in the Major Leagues, how wide home plate is in the Major Leagues?”

“Seventeen inches!”

“SEV-EN-TEEN INCHES!” he confirmed, his voice bellowing off the walls. “And what do they do with a a Big League pitcher who can’t throw the ball over seventeen inches?” Pause. “They send him to Pocatello!” he hollered, drawing raucous laughter.

“What they don’t do is this: they don’t say, ‘Ah, that’s okay, Jimmy. You can’t hit a seventeen-inch target? We’ll make it eighteen inches, or nineteen inches. We’ll make it twenty inches so you have a better chance of hitting it. If you can’t hit that, let us know so we can make it wider still, say twenty-five inches.'”

Pause.

“Coaches …”

Pause.

” … what do we do when our best player shows up late to practice? When our team rules forbid facial hair and a guy shows up unshaven? What if he gets caught drinking? Do we hold him accountable? Or do we change the rules to fit him, do we widen home plate?

The chuckles gradually faded as four thousand coaches grew quiet, the fog lifting as the old coach’s message began to unfold. He turned the plate toward himself and, using a Sharpie, began to draw something. When he turned it toward the crowd, point up, a house was revealed, complete with a freshly drawn door and two windows. “This is the problem in our homes today. With our marriages, with the way we parent our kids. With our discipline. We don’t teach accountability to our kids, and there is no consequence for failing to meet standards. We widen the plate!”

Pause. Then, to the point at the top of the house he added a small American flag.

“This is the problem in our schools today. The quality of our education is going downhill fast and teachers have been stripped of the tools they need to be successful, and to educate and discipline our young people. We are allowing others to widen home plate! Where is that getting us?”

Silence. He replaced the flag with a Cross.

“And this is the problem in the Church, where powerful people in positions of authority have taken advantage of young children, only to have such an atrocity swept under the rug for years. Our church leaders are widening home plate!”

I was amazed. At a baseball convention where I expected to learn something about curveballs and bunting and how to run better practices, I had learned something far more valuable. From an old man with home plate strung around his neck, I had learned something about life, about myself, about my own weaknesses and about my responsibilities as a leader. I had to hold myself and others accountable to that which I knew to be right, lest our families, our faith, and our society continue down an undesirable path.

“If I am lucky,” Coach Scolinos concluded, “you will remember one thing from this old coach today. It is this: if we fail to hold ourselves to a higher standard, a standard of what we know to be right; if we fail to hold our spouses and our children to the same standards, if we are unwilling or unable to provide a consequence when they do not meet the standard; and if our schools and churches and our government fail to hold themselves accountable to those they serve, there is but one thing to look forward to …” With that, he held home plate in front of his chest, turned it around, and revealed its dark black backside.  “… dark days ahead.”

Coach Scolinos died in 2009 at the age of 91, but not before touching the lives of hundreds of players and coaches, including mine. Meeting him at my first ABCA convention kept me returning year after year, looking for similar wisdom and inspiration from other coaches. He is the best clinic speaker the ABCA has ever known because he was so much more than a baseball coach.

His message was clear: “Coaches, keep your players — no matter how good they are — your own children, and most of all, keep yourself at seventeen inches.

-  Will Lowrey

365 Day Challenge is complete...

Today marks the end of my 365 Day challenge to post scripture or a positive encouraging message on twitter...

Seems simple enough, but I found there to be days that I struggled with even wanting to put anything out.  An entire year of ups and downs, it really gave me a miniature glimpse of what we all go through, throughout our lives.

Even though I told myself that I would post these inspirational reminders for others, I believe it helped me as much or more.  I was able to see God's word come true over and over and also how His word is a constant teacher and reminder of His direction for our lives.

It also taught me the importance of staying in His word.  There would be so many times throughout the year that the same scripture that had helped me through certain times of the year, would help me with different insights later on.  It literally seemed that God used His word to tell me exactly what He needed me to hear.

And then there is that constant reminder:

I finished the year with the verse below, because even after He tells us this great commandment...we all read it and get sidetracked five minutes later.....

Day 365: "And He said unto them, Go ye into the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15

It demands that I keep focused on why I am here, why I exist, why I do what I do....this is really my only job in life and everything else falls in line.

It keeps everything in prospective for me even though it takes daily practice to remind myself of this.

Something so simple, but I have to realize how selfish our human flesh really is.  When I am having a bad day or mad about anything in my life, I have quite simply lost focus.

Take the 365 Day challenge...I hope it works as well for you as it has for me.

May He bless all of you and your families over the next 365!

- Will Lowrey

Youth Baseball: Sending all the wrong messages?

Youth Baseball: Sending all the wrong messages?

By: Will Lowrey

               As a kid, I remember the excitement of putting my one color blue t-shirt on with white lettering sponsored by the local soda company.  I remember my matching blue button in the back mesh “trucker” hat.  The field was a sandlot made with a broken chain-link fence surrounding with many holes in it.  The backstop was made from telephone poles with fencing put together.  We would play one or two games on Saturday and right after my dad and I would rush to a pond bank to get a little fishing in.  The next day, it was time for church and family.  We always took a step back and ate at the dinner table, while I told my grandparents how I had played the day before.  I think about our kids now and wonder which memories will stand out to them.  I imagine it will be similar in remembering times with family and friends rather than the thousands of games they played and the endless amount of trophies they received.  Youth baseball has transitioned into a generation of parents pushing for development and growth, while we are losing the ability for kids to be kids (Smith, 2014).

               The problem with youth baseball is what society has labeled as a “must-do” to get prepared for high school.  In the past ten years, we have seen Multi-Million dollar youth baseball complexes built in almost every community throughout the state.  The United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) started a business model that involved tournament ball for youth sports.  The structure offers parents and kids the ability to come to one sports complex on a weekend and the opportunity to play as many as four to six games.  Each weekend offers the opportunity to be the best.  Within that sports complex, it is not uncommon for as many as fifty to one hundred teams to be present on the many different fields appropriate for each age level. The allure of bringing that much economic development into communities was too much to pass on for government ran park and recreation departments. In the beginning, many parents resisted the temptation to get into this “travel world”, which would take such a huge financial and time commitment to be on a team (Riddle, 2014).  Over time, the feeling of getting left behind has made a huge majority leave the recreational world behind to suffer.

               Not only are travel teams competing on the field, they are competing to have the nicest jerseys, the loudest music, the best coach, etc.  Coaches are being paid as much as $5,000-$10,000 a year to coach all ages of youth teams.  The structure has this generation completely hooked…..hooked, line, and sinker.  You have the ability to play at different levels depending on how advanced your team is. Everyone is fighting to improve and recruit the best so they can call themselves a “Major Team”.  You can easily qualify in any number of World Series opportunities offered.  If you pay enough, you can even go to Disney World to play. 

               It has become so cut-throat that we are seeing teams that are competing at high levels and experiencing great success with their teams only to cut the weakest team members after the season to pick up better players.  There is no consideration into spending time with those kids to develop them and catch them up with the rest of the team. That would take too much time.  This happens in every age group.  Our parents and coaches make it okay, because they won’t be able to achieve that next level with those same kids so a business decision has to be made.  Make no bones about it, it is a business decision.  But don’t worry, those parents and kids pick up the pieces and jump right into the cyclical world with another high level program and go at it all over again.

               I have seen the competitive nature of our parents, not our kids, come out over the past ten years.  The parents that come into this world saying they aren’t sure they have the money or time to commit to these programs, are the very ones that are pushing to play additional games and travel to the best tournaments.  The immediate results of that trophy every weekend and winning is too much of an opportunity, or an appeal on our egos to walk away from.  Teams that commit to playing 4-6 per year eventually give into the pressure and play as many as sixty to one hundred games from Spring to Summer. A quick check on the USSSA website gave me the ability to sign up for over 250 tournaments from January 1 to December 31 in the state of Mississippi alone (USSSA.com, 2015).

               There is nothing wrong with creating opportunities for our youth to participate and to achieve high levels of greatness, but at what cost?  When will enough be enough?  There are problems arising from this dilemma. Kids, and I do mean kids, are making the decision not to continue playing, because they are picking up on how much it cost to play and the burden that it is putting on their families. There are families that have spent as much as $15,000-$20,000 dollars in one year to participate in hopes of a college scholarship (Riddle, 2014). Kids are playing all the way up to college and then quitting. 

There is no more balance in what kids can normally have the opportunities to do, because of the pressure they feel to keep up with their “competition”. There is no more emphasis on fun, but all about winning.  Kids are feeling like Youth Baseball has become a job (Wixon, 2014).  In contrast to their intentions, they are hurting their chances to be successful at the next level due to wear and tear on their shoulders and elbows.  These young bodies are not built to play this many games (Snyder, 2014).  It is very important to follow the guidelines that are available by the American Sports Medicine Institute regarding pitch counts and, on the whole, this is not being done (Campbell, 2015). 

Mark Hyman, author of Until It Hurts and sports management teacher at George Washington University, offers this insight when speaking of youth sports: “I think youth sports are an incredibly important part of a kids’ experience growing up.  There are so many valuable lessons to be learned there.  I want to do everything I can to encourage kids to play sports, but what I’m suggesting is that the system that is set up now is doing just the opposite.” (Smith, 2014).   There are many that will debate this view, because parents see everyone following this trend.  There are limits on pitching provided by the USSSA organization and many of the players rotate in pitching, so they see this as safe.

As many as ten players on a twelve man roster can pitch and offer relief to the players from abusing their arm.  The limits that are followed by the USSSA in tournaments are presented as what is needed to protect a young athletes’ arm.   There are also rules in place to keep players from pitching on back-to-back days and there are limits to how many innings they can pitch in a given tournament.  The only problem with this is there are no rules telling teams how many pitches a kid can throw in any term outside of that weekend.  The amount of games that teams are playing in the span of one year has become the problem.  You can play as many as 60 games in three months if you play every weekend.  Many are playing for 5-6 months out of the year or more, which allows for well over one hundred games.  In a 2002 study by the American Sports Medicine Institute, they suggest that an 11-12 year old athlete should not pitch more than 1,000 pitches in a season (Campbell, 2015).   Most top level pitchers will pitch twice in a weekend and throw a minimum of 75 pitches.  If a team plays 12 tournaments, that would equal 1,800 pitches, which can easily be played in 4-5 months. 

To add to this problem, the pitcher is not truly getting rest when he is not pitching.  Travel teams are not usually made up of more than twelve players on a roster, which means that pitcher is using his arm at another position all weekend and all season.  Keep in mind that the high level pitchers on a team may pitch two games per weekend, which would usually make up forty to fifty percent of the games played.  You do the math:  If a team plays 60 games per year, that high level pitcher would have the opportunity to pitch in a part of or all of 24-30 games per year.  That is simply not acceptable.  We are starting to see the negative results now of the past decades’ trend. 

It is time for parameters to be set on youth baseball and for our parents to see what our society is doing to our kids.  Enough is enough as it is also time to give our kids the opportunity to be a kid, while still giving them every opportunity to be prepared for the next level, without sacrificing our pocket books and our quality time with our families and experiences in other areas of our lives.  We need an opportunity to sit back down at the dinner table and play in the backyard.

Playing in six tournaments per year would mean six weekends from March to July.  There are twenty weekends in that time frame.  That would give ample opportunity for families to not over-extend themselves financially.  That would also equal about 24-30 games per season, and there is nothing wrong with staying local on five out of the six tournaments to save on travel expenses.  By adjusting to this structure, that is more than enough to develop a young athlete when you add practice time.  That might even allow for lower income families to participate.  This is greatly needed.   The current structure eliminates those that do not have the funds to be a part of something that could be great for everyone.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with splitting your travel team up and having everyone participate in your local recreational league during the week to wear that one color t-shirt and hat and make new friends and have FUN!  Youth sports should be about development and growth, not trophies (Pfeiffer, 2015).  Even though we have the best of everything with youth baseball facilities, jerseys, and opportunities in travel baseball, your kid will always remember the moments that were surrounded with acceptance, love, and fun more than any championship.  If you want to see what I’m talking about, let your kid call his friends and let them go play a game with no rules set by an adult.  The structured and organized games ran by adults are taking the kid out of your kid.

 (For the record:  I didn't start playing baseball until the 8th grade, 

and still received a college scholarship in baseball)  

References

1 Campbell, J.D. (2015). “Arm injuries a concern regarding youth baseball, too.” IU News room.  http://newsinfo.iu.edu/web/page/normal/10839.html.

2 Pfieffer, Alex (2015). “HBO’s Real Sports looks into America’s Trophy Culture”.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/07/20/hbos-real-sports-looks-into-americas-trophy-culture/

3 Riddle, Greg (2014). “Club Sports offer Exposure-but at a Steep Price”. Dallas Morning News.

4 Smith, Corbett (2014). “Time and Money: Parents Placing Kids in Specialized Sports do so at a Price”. Dallas Morning News.

5 Snyder, Matt (2014). “Dr. Andrews: Year-round baseball at young age is top TJ risk factor”.  CBSSports.com.

6 USSSA.com (2015). United States Specialty Sports Association. 

7 Wixon, Matt (2014). “Intensity of Specialization can lead to burnout: Club Sports bring increased competition, regimentation”. Dallas Morning News.

March 3: Lead for God's Sake - Todd Gongwer

Guys,

This is an event that we simply cannot miss.   We want all of our families and students present regardless if you play athletics....Who doesn't want a free meal?  Sandra Lyons is providing a Brisket Dinner with Vegetables. 

"This is a book I could not put down.  Every parent, coach, manager, and leader should read it.  I wish I had read it 30 years ago."  - Lou Holtz

A Journey into the Heart of Leadership...

Although he's one of the most successful high school basketball coaches in Kentucky's history, Steve Rocker, for the first time in his life, is falling short of expectations.  His players have lost their will to win, their love for their teammates, and their passion to play.  Coach Rocker's motivational methods that have always worked before - and have resulted in his success - are now failing, and he doesn't know why.

Struggling to understand what's happening, Coach seeks counsel of one of his most successful friends, CEO Grant Steffin, who, while fighting his own battles, offers advice based on his own leadership experiences.  Coach Rocker also stumbles upon some unexpected insight from - of all people - Joe Taylor, the high school janitor.

As Coach's season spirals downward, and as he continues to interact with these two intriguing men, the WHY questions become louder and louder in his head.  Why does he do what he does?  Or for that matter, why does he even exist?   These questions eventually push him to go deeper into his own heart than he ever imagined possible to determine his purpose not only in leadership but also in life.

March 3 will be, by definition, a fundraising night. 

The agenda will have a dinner for the first 250 to register.  Todd Gongwer, Author of Lead for God's Sake, will give his testimony and share a version of the book and then we will express a few of our athletic needs for each sport on a pledge card. (No sales pitch)

WE DO NOT WANT you to take one dollar out of your pocket unless you feel led.  The purpose of this night is THE MESSAGE.  If you don't give one dollar to this event, as long as you hear the message, it is more valuable than any dollar amount you may donate.  You may come and enjoy the fellowship with family. 

Please consider registering now:  http://form.jotform.co/form/33274016521849

"I could not put this book down.  It transcends culture, gender, economics...something that anyone can relate to.  What a message!"  Monty Williams - New Orleans Hornets, Head Coach

"A real life changer!  An incredible story packed with great leadership insights.   Coaches, parents, and business leaders alike will benefit from reading this book."  - Mark Merrill, President, Family First (All Pro Dad)

Focus!

Focus!

                                  

This is to all of the people that may be wondering what the journey is like (if you are waiting on your transplant)
It is fantastic!  There are continuous blessings!  But....it is extremely exhausting! 
As I look over the past three years, our God has held our hand every step of the way.  If it were not for OUR God, it would be impossible.
You would think by the appearance of Jennifer and her ability to breathe now, things are okay and we are looking any troubles we've had in the rearview mirror.
Not the case.  As a transplant patient, you are forced to stay on your toes.  Each day you wake up, it could be something new:
*Low on energy
*Medicine could be out of balance which could lead to rejection
*Constant going to get blood drawn
*Constant check on potential viruses that you could get from just about anything!
*Planning out your day and carefully diagnosing if it is safe to be somewhere without catching a sickness
*The effort of taking your 30 meds on time!  This sounds so easy....until you try it every day!  5 times a day!
*Driving 13 hours to Duke Medical....three to four days trip each time and driving 13 hours back at least four times per year.
*Each time you make the trip, you brace yourself for the potential of rejection.
Enough of the negativity...we live with this, knowing that the alternative would have been far worse!    We are thankful for this life and wouldn't trade these minor problems for anything.
It is extremely exhausting though.  There is mental, physical and even spiritual strain throughout most days.  It requires focus.
We keep our focus on God!  I completely want to fall to my knees as I type this.  It is beyond humbling.  I feel that there would be no way that an individual could successfully make it through this process without the LOVE of our Father. 
He has used so many of you in ways that you are not even aware of in support of us.  We are very aware and grateful for that love and support. 
God is real people.  Keep your focus......you too will hit your knees when you feel that love!  Please take time during this season to open your mind to seeing God's Glory.
Jennifer will have another surgery tomorrow.  We once again ask you to keep her in your prayers and please know that we are lifting you and yours up during this holiday season.

Bo Carter's Make-A-Wish Reveal Day..

http://youtu.be/AHqzUo84pVk


Click the link for more...

I don't believe in God....

That got your attention didn't it.

I have come across this statement a few times in the past few weeks.  It is very concerning, but something that is very real in the world we live in.  We often think that the kids that go to our church and go to our "Christian" school all believe in God.

That is not the case.  In some cases, it becomes even harder.  The kids at TCPS have heard about God and read about God all of their lives.  Then we have kids that start to develop through 9th-12th grade and they see so much of the world.  They start to think for themselves and so many things become so difficult for them.

I struggle so hard not to dominate a conversation and "prove" my God's existence.  After all, I have experienced God in such a personal way through my life and especially through Jennifer's journey.
I am reminded that I cannot save these kids.  I can only show them love and continue to listen for God's voice in guiding when to influence.

We can talk the talk, but the kids now are about looking at others walk.  They tune the talk out.  The walk makes sense to them.  So when they see people talk the talk and then walk in a different way...it becomes very confusing.  The challenge is on us as Christian leaders to step up.

I pray that we continue to love those that are confused in their faith as much as the kids that "get it".  We are called to tell others about God, but we can tell our story through patience, kindness, love, etc.
The kids that question God often get discarded...therefore never seeing the love and kindness or any attributes of God....therefore it becomes harder to believe in. 

Pray about someone that you are not sure that believes in God and begin to pray about how to minister to them.  It makes a difference.