Even before I read Trevor Sherman’s story last week about Central Baptist Church’s planned renovations and the return of former pastor Don Mathis to preach the Oct. 13 service, I had actually been thinking about Brother Don recently.
While most around here know him as Central Baptist Church’s Pastor between 1979 and 1992, I knew him as coach.
Back then after you aged out of T-ball there were two options. Little League as it was referred to was a kid pitch league for the older, better kids. Then there was Minor League, which used a pitching machine and was primarily for the younger kids and the older kids, who weren’t very good like me…LOL.
I played on some pretty good teams and some really bad ones.
The year Brother Don was my coach, I think I was about eight years old and I played for the Minor League Braves, if memory serves me correctly.
The season started out well enough as we won our first game, which would prove to be our only win of the season. To say that we were pretty bad is putting it mildly.
We stunk, and would have stunk even if a Major League Baseball Hall of Famer had been coaching us. Sometimes you get a team like that.
I can’t help but wonder whether God was trying to teach Brother Don patience that summer. Something tells me that Brother Don probably pondered that thought a few times himself…LOL.
Despite our record, I feel fortunate to have had Brother Don as a coach. I don’t recall him ever getting down or yelling and screaming or anything like that. The same can’t be said for every coach that I ever played for.
Many people criticize sports, and argue that sports is given way too much emphasis in our society.
I agree that sports is given way too much emphasis, but, when done right with good coaches, sports offers young people some very good life lessons, such as putting forth your best effort, learning how to be part of a team, learning how to be a good loser and perhaps, more importantly, learning how to be a good winner.
Mind you that our team the summer Brother Don coached us didn’t have much of a chance to learn that last lesson…LOL.
I am thankful for Brother Don and all of the other people out there past and present, who volunteer to coach young people. The News Journal’s own Timothy Wyatt and Melissa Hudson coached this past summer, and seemed to enjoy the experience.
There are a lot of kids out there, who don’t have good role models in their lives. Sometimes just being there coaching and leading by example can make a difference in the lives of children, whether your teams win or lose.
Also, let me give a big thank you to all of our sporting officials out there because the games couldn’t happen without you.
These days, it is getting harder and harder to find sports officials at all levels due in large part to the verbal abuse they are getting from a lot of Momzillas and Dadzillas out there. Sometimes it is even turning into physical abuse.
These parents need to give it a rest, particularly at games involving young children.
Parents, please remember the following every time you are going to a game, particularly one involving younger children.
This is a game. It is for the children. It is meant to be fun. There are no professional or college scouts out there in the stands. No scholarships are on the line. Your child and other children are paying attention to what you do and how you conduct yourselves so please behave accordingly.
Thank you to all of our sporting officials and coaches for giving children the chance to enjoy sports, and remember that the kids couldn’t do it without you.
