National Coaches Week: A Thank You to Some of the Coaches I've Shared the Field With

National Coaches Week wrapped up yesterday across Canada, and it got me thinking about some of the coaches I've had the opportunity to work with or coach alongside during my years in baseball.

When coaches receive recognition, it is often the most visible names we hear about. They may run programs, coach prominent teams, work showcases, give private instruction or simply have a larger presence within the baseball community.

But they represent only a small part of the people who make baseball possible.

There are coaches throughout Ontario who have spent years teaching players and contributing to the game without receiving much attention for it. Some have coached at very high levels. Others have spent most of their time in association baseball. Some started coaching because their own son was playing and ended up spending years helping countless other players along the way.

Some are still coaching today. Others aren't as active as they once were.

That doesn't change what they have contributed.

This Is a Personal List

This isn't about identifying the best coaches in Ontario. It isn't a ranking, and it certainly isn't intended to be a complete list of everyone who deserves recognition.

It's personal.

I've spent a lot of years around baseball, and during that time I've coached with and alongside a lot of different people. Some were on the same staff as me. Others were in the opposite dugout. Our paths crossed through different teams, organizations, tournaments and levels of the game.

When I started thinking about National Coaches Week, certain names came to mind.

Tim Orr. Peter Budziak. Michael Dodaro. Mike Cecchetto. Mike Bignall. Geoff Whent. Len Gardiner. Dave Flumerfelt. Jim Carey-Hill. Dennis Dei Baning. Brodie Jeffery. Geoff Allen. Scott Hillman. Neal Matte. Richard Alay Perez. Darrell Rait. Kyle McKay.

This isn't supposed to represent Ontario baseball. It represents a small part of my own experience within it. Someone who has spent years coaching in another organization, city or league would probably come up with an entirely different group of names.

That's really the point.

The Coaches We Don't Always Talk About

Every baseball community has these coaches. They're not necessarily trying to make coaching a career. They might not own a facility, operate an academy or have a large social media presence.

They just coach.

They arrive early to prepare the field. They organize practices after working all day. They throw batting practice, hit ground balls, spend winter evenings inside batting cages and give up summer weekends for tournaments.

Most people will never see all the work that goes into it.

A player might spend only one or two seasons with a particular coach, but that coach could spend 10, 15 or 20 years doing the same thing for generation after generation of players.

By the time one group moves on, another arrives.

That's how amateur baseball has always survived.

The Parent Coach Still Matters

The term "parent coach" sometimes gets used almost dismissively in today's baseball environment, particularly as private programs, academies and professional instruction have become a larger part of the game.

But amateur baseball has always depended heavily on parents who were willing to volunteer.

Some started because their child needed a coach. Then they learned. They attended clinics. They earned certifications. They studied the game. They listened to other coaches and became better teachers.

For some, coaching ended when their own child finished playing. Others discovered a passion for it and continued long after.

Neither path makes their contribution any less important.

You don't have to make a living from baseball to understand the game. You don't need an academy attached to your name to be a good teacher. And you certainly don't need everyone in Ontario baseball to know who you are to have an impact on players.

Sometimes the coach who quietly spent a decade working with kids in one local association had as much influence on those players as anyone they encountered later in their careers.

Coaches Develop Coaches Too

I've learned something from everyone I've coached with or alongside.

Sometimes it was something technical about hitting, pitching or defence. Sometimes it was strategy or game management. Other times it was simply watching how another coach communicated with a player or handled a difficult situation.

I didn't always agree with everything another coach did, nor would I expect everyone I've worked with to agree with me.

That's part of coaching too.

Being exposed to different ideas makes you think about your own. You keep what makes sense, question what doesn't and continue learning.

Coaches develop coaches.

The longer I've been involved in baseball, the more I've realized how many people have contributed something to the coach I've eventually become.

That's part of why these particular names came to mind.

It isn't about the championships they've won, the organizations they've coached for or the highest level they've reached. Some have impressive coaching résumés. Others might simply consider themselves someone who helped coach baseball.

For this piece, none of that matters.

I've shared a baseball field with them.

I've seen them coach.

And years later, I remember them.

The Coaches Players Remember

There are thousands of coaches like this throughout Canadian baseball. Every former player probably has a coach whose name means very little to the wider baseball world but means something to them.

It might be the coach who taught them how to throw a baseball. The person who finally helped something click at the plate. The coach who gave them an opportunity when they needed one. The person who challenged them when they needed it. Or simply someone who made them look forward to going to the ballpark.

Those things don't appear in standings or on coaching résumés.

But they're a huge part of why coaching matters.

Years later, players might not remember the score of a game or where their team finished in the standings.

They remember people.

And sometimes a coach doesn't find out until years later that something they said or did had an impact on a player.

A Thank You

We spend plenty of time talking about players, teams, organizations, leagues, championships and development pathways.

National Coaches Week is a good reminder to spend some time recognizing the people who make all of those things possible.

So to Tim Orr, Peter Budziak, Michael Dodaro, Mike Cecchetto, Mike Bignall, Frank Salerno, Geoff Whent, Len Gardiner, Dave Flumerfelt, Jim Carey-Hill, Dennis Dei Baning, Brodie Jeffery, Geoff Allen, Scott Hillman, Neal Matte and Richard Alay Perez, Darrell Rait, Kyle McKay — thank you.

Thank you for the time you've given to the game, for the players you've helped along the way and for the contributions you've made to baseball. And on a personal level, thank you for the conversations, the experiences and the things I've been able to learn simply from sharing a baseball field with you.

These are some of the coaches from my baseball journey who came to mind.

And if you've spent enough time around this game, I'm sure you have your own list too.

#ThanksCoach