Tag: Youth Sports

Tracy Tanguay – Time to Rethink Youth Sports

Tracy Tanguay – Time to Rethink Youth Sports

by | Apr 23, 2024 | , , , | 0 |

Tracy is also passionate about changing the current culture that has developed throughout youth sports.  This is something that really resonates with me because I saw firsthand how the approach to youth sports has changed over the 30 years that I had been involved.  Sadly, that culture shift has not been for the better.  We have shifted from a team mentality to an individual focus.  Sport specialization at a young age is becoming more and more prevalent, which is leading to more injuries at younger ages.  The increase in injuries early the current MLB season could arguably be attributed to early sport specialization, too many pitches on too little rest at a younger age, and max-effort performance.

Tracy is an expert in her field, so she is speaking from a professional perspective as well as a concerned mom.  Our shared opinion is that we need to focus more on teaching the fundamentals, letting the kids have fun playing the game, and falling in love the sport as opposed to chasing weekend trophies, and a win at all cost approach.  We also agree on the fact that kids should multiple sports for as long as they possibly can.

Sports have a wonderful way of teaching us life lessons, the key is that we have let the game teach those lessons.

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Vince Burruano – Coaching the Life Lessons

Vince Burruano – Coaching the Life Lessons

by | Jul 14, 2023 | , , , | 0 |

Vince is an avid reader and enjoys volunteering his time to his community.  He has served as a first responder and firefighter, a football and baseball coach, and as a board member for various professional associations and charitable organizations. He relishes his role as a father and grandfather, and lives in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina with wife, Elizabeth.

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Michael Huber – Making Mental Performance a Priority

Michael Huber – Making Mental Performance a Priority

by | Aug 29, 2022 | , , | 0 |

Michael Huber is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant® accredited by the Association of Applied Sport Psychology. He is also a father, experienced business advisor, athlete, and mentor.

The primary focus of Michael’s practice is serving young athletes and their families. All of his work is motivated by the desire for others to get the best out of the abilities and resources at their disposal. Michael believes that mental performance coaching is about becoming aware of mental emotional challenges, removing those roadblocks, and taking intentional action to improve as a person and performer.

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Dave Clark and Doug Cornfield – Pulling Each Other Along

Dave Clark and Doug Cornfield – Pulling Each Other Along

by | Nov 30, 2021 | , , , | 0 |

Pulling Each Other Along is more than just a feel-good book, it is a movement where not only our own personal achievements are recognized, but also take the opportunity to pay it forward and to recognize the person, people, or beliefs that pulled each of us along to our own relative greatness. Without this driving energy during our moments of trepidation, we would have been unlikely to achieve success.

It is too easy to let a sense of self-doubt, fear, and lack of confidence take over, and having the person or team in your corner to pull, push, get out of the way, or even drag you through those moments is absolutely invaluable.

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Joe Barth – Teaching Life Lessons through the Game

Joe Barth – Teaching Life Lessons through the Game

by | Nov 19, 2021 | , , , | 0 |

Joe and I have known each other since the early 2000’s.  For over twenty years, we were competitors on the field and friends off of the field.  Joe and I share the same coaching philosophy of teaching life lessons through the game of baseball.

Joe coached MLB All-Star, Mike Trout from the time that he was 13 years old throughout his high school career.  He not only remembers the quality of player that Mike was and his incredible work ethic, but more importantly, he remembers the quality human beings that he and his family were.

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Isaac Wenrich – Bigger than Baseball

Isaac Wenrich – Bigger than Baseball

by | Oct 29, 2021 | , , , | 0 |

Isaac played for me in the Berkshire Baseball organization when he was 15 and 16 years old.  He spent a total of five years in the Berkshire organization and came back as a guest speaker at the Berkshire Baseball and Softball Awards banquet in 2017.

We talk about his experience in the Berkshire organization and the impact that the organization had on his life both on and off of the baseball field.

One of the best things that Sandy and I have been able to do on this journey is reconnect to old friends and family.  However, when those connections are with my former players, I must admit, they are extremely special for me.

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It Might not have been Heaven, but it was Magical

It Might not have been Heaven, but it was Magical

by | Sep 2, 2021 | , , | 0 |

Anyone who knows me, knows that baseball is in my blood, so to get to visit the Field of Dreams site was pretty exciting for me to say the least.

Ever since I can remember, baseball has been a part of my life.  For me, it was always about more than just the game itself.  It was the entire experience.  From seeing a perfectly groomed field before the game begins, the smell of the fresh cut grass, the sight of the perfectly straight white lines which have been applied with mastery.  Those lines and their perfect 90-degree angles.  Their contrast on the brown infield dirt and bright green outfield grass.  It is truly about as perfect of a scene that a human could create.

The hustle and bustle of the crowd, the smell of the hot dogs, peanuts, and popcorn.  All of it combined makes it so much more than just a game for me.

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Jack Graham – An Attitude of Gratitude

Jack Graham – An Attitude of Gratitude

by | Aug 31, 2021 | , , | 0 |

Jack is now the General Manager of the Aberdeen Ironbirds minor league baseball team.

The Ironbirds are a division of Ripken Baseball.  Jack and I first met back in 2015 when he was fresh out of his professional baseball career and working in sales on the amateur side of Ripken Baseball.  His hard work and dedication moved him up through the ranks and he was promoted to General Manager of the Ironbirds in September of 2019.

Jack and I have stayed connected through social media.

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Rocky McCann – Reconnecting with another Silver Bullet

Rocky McCann – Reconnecting with another Silver Bullet

by | Aug 24, 2021 | , , | 0 |

This was the last podcast that I was able to do while Sandy and I were at the BFA Nationals in Aberdeen, Maryland.  She puts the explanation point on the ten amazing women that I was able to sit down with and talk to at that event.

Rocky is the third former Colorado Silver Bullet as well as the third member of Evolution Girl’s Baseball that I was able to sit down and talk with.

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Beth Greenwood – Wisdom Beyond Her Years

Beth Greenwood – Wisdom Beyond Her Years

by | Aug 20, 2021 | , , | 0 |

Beth and I first met back in 2018 when she was on a road trip from New England to Pittsburgh with mutual friends of ours, Erin Pappas and Jacque Reynolds to participate in an women’s baseball event that the Pirates were sponsoring.  On the way through, they stopped by the sports complex that I was managing at the time just outside of Reading, Pennsylvania.

It was a great visit, and Beth and I, who would have been 18 at the time and just out of high school, connected on Facebook.  Since then, I have been able to follow her journey as she became one of only seven young women to be rostered on an NCAA baseball team this past spring.

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