Team Philosophy
My team philosophy is built upon a single word: RESPECT. This word can take on different meanings depending on the context, but for my teams, respect can be defined using 3 key qualities every player and coach needs to have.
It is important to remember that all of these require ZERO talent OR athletic ability:
1. Attitude
2. Attention
3. Effort
ATTITUDE: This one is listed first - for a reason. Not only is a GOOD attitude one of the most important qualities one can possess (in sport and in life) but it is typically very obvious to those around you, so it can, and WILL, affect others in a positive way. In a team sport like baseball, having a GOOD attitude has a TON of positive effects, both for the individual and the team as a whole. Having a BAD attitude has the opposite effects, and can torpedo a whole game, and even an entire season, if left unchecked. We will ALWAYS strive to keep a positive attitude on AND off the baseball field. When other players, coaches, and even umpires talk about us, we want them to remember things like how hard we played, how professionally we carried ourselves, and how sportsmanlike our behavior was.
ATTENTION: This one is primarily geared toward the player, but coaches are responsible for this one too. For the player, paying attention means having your eyes AND ears on the coach who is speaking at any given time - immediately before, during, and immediately after every practice and every game. It means ACTIVELY listening when being given instructions, and verbally responding to the coach (Yes, Coach/No, Coach). It also means ALWAYS being "in the game," (e.g. knowing where to go with the ball before the pitch). For the coach, this means actively listening and verbally responding whenever a player has a valid question, provided it is raised at an appropriate time.
EFFORT: Every player is expected to give everything they have, every time they take the field. You should leave the field each day feeling completely spent, and satisfied that you could not have tried any harder, or pushed yourself any further than you did TODAY. A teammate with superior talent and average effort CAN make a team better, but ONLY a teammate with SUPERIOR effort, regardless of his talent, can make his TEAMMATES better. We will always strive to be the latter.