Balancing Work & Life: To be a head coach or not?

It's funny?how we are all so laser focused on our careers after we get out of college and settle into the workforce.? ?Besides the weekend get-togethers (and sometimes mid-week) with friends and family, work is the singular focus in terms of responsibility.?

Then if we're lucky enough to find our soulmate and get married, priorities?start to shift and resettle.? Then comes parenthood which is a whole new ballgame of juggling demands on our time and energy. Priorities shift and resettle even more. Then the kids grow and youth sports become a thing.?

Back story.? As someone who grew up constantly playing sports year round, mainly baseball, football, and wrestling, I appreciate the impact sports has had on me as a person.? Sports instilled in me vital life lessons like learning how to win, learning how to lose or fail, the value of working hard towards a goal, how to be a good teammate, how to manage emotions in moments it matters to perform at my best, how to deal with a bad?break or bad call by an umpire/referee, how to bounce back from a loss or disappointment and so much more.? ?I certainly had my fair share of triumphs, celebrations, championships, and successes in big moments to elevate my team.? I also had many failures, disappointments, close calls, and big losses along the way that stung?incredibly?in?the moment.? I know?all of it undoubtedly made me more conditioned to thrive in a world full of uncertainty, good breaks, bad breaks, and constant change.? Attributes like perseverance, determination, strong work ethic, focus, confidence, optimism, self-belief, self-awareness, and grit come to mind.? ?To me, sports nurtured and accelerated the growth and development of those attributes.?

Last winter,?around mid-February, I received a call from a gentleman who helps run the youth softball program in Basking Ridge, NJ where I live.? I wasn't sure why he was calling me at first, and then I quickly found out.? He asked me to be the head coach of my daughter Grace's 8U travel softball team.? Given my love of sports, I had volunteered in helping assist Grace's t-ball team a couple years back, as well as her rec teams and fall team the last couple years.? ?I enjoyed it, and made it to practices when I was able to help out and certainly assisted as needed on game days.? That said, there was no responsibility?or real commitment needed.? I knew head coaching would be different.? I would have to do all the administrative work, communicate with parents daily, plan all the practices, coordinate the fields and umpires, choose and register for tournaments, and prepare for game days in a myriad of ways. . .and of course, always be there.? I also know myself well enough to know, if I was going to take this responsibility?on, I would be ALL IN.? ?That's the part that worried me.? I wasn't sure it would be the best idea for me, my family, or for work to be honest.?

I hemmed and hawed for a couple weeks, dodging a few texts & calls, as I thought long and hard about it.? I spoke to my wife Julie quite a bit.? I spoke to my bosses at Audacy, Inc. , Brian Rooney and Kristina Schoenbeck , a couple times as well.? I eventually called back to tell him I would do it.? I'll be the head coach of the 8U White Travel softball team.?

That turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made.? This entire travel softball season from Spring through Summer was such an incredibly rewarding journey with a great group of young girls and their parents.? They bonded together, they learned so much, their skills blossomed, and they took me and all of us on a wonderful ride that I'll never forget.? ?Was it a lot of work?? It sure was - even more than I initially realized.? Was it worth it?? Absolutely.? It was one of the most fun and fulfilling experiences of my life.? Having a good number of great coaches growing up, I took the responsibility of being the?"Head Coach" very seriously.? As a first time head coach, I think I delivered on what the girls deserved...and man oh man we had a lot of fun along the way, while also building a great foundation for them to build on in the seasons and years to come, both in softball and in life.??

To anyone out there considering if you should coach or not -? DO IT!? The window of time that our kids are young is short.? Clients I have worked?with for over a decade now have kids going to college already.? They were just little ones like yesterday it seems.? Lean into these years . . hard.? You'll figure out how to balance family and work with the demands of coaching.? As all of us who grew up playing sports know, a good coach can have a profound and lasting impact on you.? Pay it forward and impact this next generation while you can.? You owe it to your?kids, your community, and yourself.? You won't regret it, and you'll get even more out of it than you put into it, if you can believe that.?

Special thanks and shout out to my wife Julie, and my bosses at Audacy (Brian?+ Kristina) for supporting me and pushing me to take this responsibility on.? I'm so very thankful.?

And now the new Fall Travel season starts in a couple weeks. . .?

#CoachLife #YouthSports #GirlDad #Softball #WorkLifeBalance?#Sports