My Life as a Coach

For anyone who doesn't know, I am a softball coach. I've been doing private pitching and hitting instruction for the better part of the last 4 years. And just this year I have take to coaching a team as well. I love working with the girls. I love spending time on the field, sharing the game I love with girls who want to learn about it (well, atleast those who aren't there by sheer force of their fathers who never quite made it in baseball).

This week, I had a fantastic moment. A 13 year old who I have been working with for the last month or two finally got her first chance to pitch in a game. And she KILLED it! 3 innings pitched, 5 strikeouts, and the thing that excited her the most? No hit batters :) I was so excited for her and so very proud of her, I knew she was ready.

So I got to thinking about myself as a coach and the contrast between "Coach Synthia" and "Everyday Synthia". There is a bit of a discrepency. "Coach Synthia" is a confident, aggressive...well, hard-ass, for lack of a better term. I expect nothing less than 120% out of my players and students, I don't take excuses, and I want my girls to believe in themselves and work hard. "Everyday Synthia" does not approach the world in the same way. She's a little more tentative and content to float around, take her time, and maybe she'll get there, maybe she won't. She worries a lot. This version of Synthia also has her moments of brilliance but just not quite the same fire.

How does one of these derive from the other? Which game first, and which is real? It seems as though there should be more of a congruence between my two selves. I like the "Coach" in me, the passion, the confidence. Perhaps I should spend a week channeling my inner coach. Maybe she can push me the last 5 minutes of my runs when my legs aren't quite burning, but my breath is running short and I am ready to slow my pace. Maybe she can get me up out of bed 30 minutes earlier to do my hair and have time to play with Mickey. And maybe, just maybe, she can even get me up off my butt, down 3 flights of stairs, and into my car to clean it out...Ok, she's good, but let's not push our luck!