Words of wisdom from Kenny May

#1- Teach the game of baseball.
#2- Identify areas of weakness in your game and help you overcome them.
#3- Offer opportunities in the off season to improve your game. Strength and conditioning program, summer league etc.
#4-Work dilligently to find showcase teams , select teams etc that you can play on in order to be seen by college coaches.
#5- Be honest with the player and thell him where you think he can play. D-1 D-2 D-3 JUCO Community College. Then go out and work hard to find them a place to play if they have exibited the work ethic and desire required to play past HS.
#6- Encourage them to seek others to help them in areas of the game that you feel you are not qualified to help them in. Hitting instruction , pitching coaches etc. If this be the case. Put your pride aside for the players sake. Never let your ego hinder a kids opportunities to improve.
#7- Teach life lessons through the game of baseball. Players look up to coaches. Sometimes players will listen to the coach and not the parents even if they are saying the exact same thing. Mine included folks its just a fact of life.
#8- Let them know that you will be there for them no matter what the situation is. Yes there will be consequences for making bad decisions and yes I will be there for you no matter what.
#9- Preach Preach Preach and Preach some more the power of a good education. Preach Preach and Preach some more the importance of academics. And Preach Preach Preach the fact that the decisions you make today can impact the course of your life for years to come.
#10- Team. Team. Team. You are not an individual on the baseball field. You are part of a team. You will never accomplish anything in life as an individual that will hold the importance to you as what you accomplish as part of a team. I tell the story of the "Big Bass". Catch it by yourself and who do you share it with? Catch it with a buddy and its a life long memory!
#11- Off Season. What you do in the off season when no one is watching will determine what you are capable of doing during the season when everyone is watching. Be selfish in the off season , its all about you. What do YOU need to work on? Then work on it. What do YOU need to do to get better? Then work on it. I WILL BE SELFISH TODAY SO I CAN HELP MY TEAM WIN TOMORROW.
#12- Balance and Respect. Life is not baseball. You must have balance. Go ride a four wheeler, go fishing. Go hunting and sit in a deer stand and watch the squirrels play. Take the time to watch the birds at a bird feeder etc. Understand the big picture. Baseball should not define you as a person. Its not who you are , its just what you do. Respect. Respect is not given it is earned. You must respect yourself if you want others to respect you. You must respect the game or the game will not respect you.

 

Kenny May once had a thread on here about the things a coach should/could do to help ready a player for the next season...or the present season. It was a list of about 15 things to do. Anybody remember this or know what I'm talking about. Thought it was great for parents and coaches alike and I had printed it out, and somehow have now lost it. If anybody can figure this out, and knows what I'm talking about, could you please repost it?

 

Thanks! This is exactly what I was looking for! It is great.