Parents need to be examples

I noticed the other day when I was at a baseball game between Lincoln and Ypsilanti how terrible parents could act. One of the players on the Ypsi side had his dad at the game and he was kicked out by the umpires.
He didn't want to leave and as the coach from the Ypsi team kept getting frustrated you could hear him say he would probably be joining him very soon. I thought that was a fine example for the youth.
I was not impressed with how this parent acted or the comments he made during the game. In fact, if it was my parent I would have felt bad.

Running away with spring sports

This season, besides the weather has been the busiest spring I have ever covered for Heritage Newspapers. I have been to countless baseball games, softball games, track meets, golf matches and even lacrosse this year.
If I missed any sports I am sorry but to this point it has been very active and exciting. I have done numerous player profiles (features) on my teams and a few others. What amazing me when talking to the student athletes is the different personalities and all the different answers I get to the same question.
My favorite question to ask at the end of the interview is: What would you tell someone who is younger than you and wants to be successful at the varsity level or at the next level in college? I get a who variety of answers to this one.
I like to cover games live because I get a chance to meet players and do some of these types of interviews. Recently I interviewed a pitcher from Ypsilanti softball, Megan Winkelseth, and she was perhaps one of the most interesting and intelligent interviews I have ever had at any level of sports (professional included).
Belleville's JaVaunte Mackson will have a feature in the paper soon. He is a great kid and I wish him luck in the future. There are not many athletes who I would want to go to their graduation parties but his in one of them I would definitely attend if I was invited.
Last week I made it out to Grass Lake to watched Manchester and do a couple of features. It was interesting and the weather was very nice. I even went with my former Heritage sports colleague Don Richter.
This past Monday I went out to Lincoln and watched the Splitters take two from Chelsea and coach Wayne Welton. It was cold, it was raining and by the end of the game I was froze. The worst thing about this kind of weather is not knowing how to dress for it. I was not dressed for it on Monday.
At least in football you know it will be cold. You expect it. I didn't expect it in the middle of May. My bad, I guess.
Hopefully summer will be here soon because the sport season is almost over and graduation is near.

Coaches are teachers of life lessons

I found out a long time ago that the people who coach and influence the children of the world also mould the athletes as much in arena of sports as by the teachers do in their classroom. This community has many people who coach that I would consider great life teachers.
Take for example, Wayne Welton over at Chelsea. This man has been such a great coach and mentor over the years to literally thousands of students. He will be missed by the Chelsea Community and by other coaches and athletic directors in the area. Good luck, Wayne and have a great retirement you deserve it!
There have been other great ones that I have had the honor to work with. Take for example Mike Colletta at Belleville. He was a great coach, mentor and administrator as well. Sid Wright at Lincoln had many years of success at Lincoln and was one of the leaders at that school.
I have had the pleasure to work with some great ones over the years and they all seem to have one thing in common it is more about the kids than it is about their own personal gain. Some of the best coaches I have covered have proven to be great people not only as coaches but in many regards as friends.
Just recently, I had the pleasure to meet and talk with Wes Gall over at Manchester. He is definitely one of those people who I would be in that category as a great administrator, coach and teacher. The man knows his stuff and from what I have seen over at Manchester High School these coaches for the winter and spring sports are awesome. They know how to coach and they are all very good at getting the information for the paper.
One of my favorite cities to cover is Belleville. I have known most of these coaches for years and many of them seem almost like friends or relatives. I look forward every year to covering Belleville baseball, track, football, softball and of course basketball.
But it isn't just those sports almost all of them are very easy to get in touch with and make the sport seem more about the kids than the records.
Track is big around here and Torin Moore at Ypsilanti, Derek Gonzales at Lincoln and even Karen Cook at Willow Run all do excellent jobs with their programs and are a pleasure to work with.
This time of year is fun because it is a big rush to the end of the school year. I remember cover such teams as Flat Rock (baseball), Gabriel Richard (softball) and my personal favorite Cabrini (softball) which won a couple of state titles under coach Debbie Norman.
In fact, one of my favorite athletes to cover of all time was Amanda Chidester who starred in three sports but now she is a star of the University of Michigan softball team. Who knows maybe more stars like her will be made.