I was at a basketball clinic in Seattle back in the late 70’s and there were some great coaches there to teach us how to coach the game, as well as teach young men how to compete. I was looking for lunch or breakfast, not sure which, when I heard a voice yell “Hey coach!” I look over and it was one of the speakers. He asked me to join him for the meal and I said, “Sure.” We talked about coaching and playing. He asked me why I wanted to coach and not just basketball, but baseball and football. I said, “I enjoy seeing young kids develop and get better in the sport they played. To compete and win.” Some of my answer was not what he was looking for. He told me, “Success is more than just winning; its how you develop the young player’s ability to understand what he is doing on the court or the field. It’s the preparation before the game or the season and the attitude to want to be a team player; to help other teammates and how to compete.” Practice was something he felt you needed to show young men; how you practice is how you will play. Now you hear this all the time. I was 19 years old and all I knew was what this coach was telling me was something I wanted to build on. He said “With failure comes learning and you can use this in everyday life.” He had written in his note book a statement “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” At that time I did not know what it even meant. Now I look back and can see what he was talking about. There was a lot more conversation, but as I look back at it this is why I love coaching. The man who invited me to eat was John Wooden. Back then he was just a coach who gave me a chance to talk about coaching. I have said it before; I have coached with some of the best and took the advice of many a great coach motivators Bruce Brown, Keith Baker, Rolly Rollins, Ernie Woods. THEY ALL WOULD SAY BE TRUE TO YOURSELF AND Don’t WAIST A OPERTUNITY TO SCORE OR HIT OR MAKE THE BIG PLAY. In his book, They Call Me Coach, John Wooden says, “It is amazing how much can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit.” Today, players do not always here that message. Another great one is “Ability may get you to the top but it takes character to keep you there.” This is so true with the man I coach with, Robert Reese, who won his three hundredth baseball game in high school baseball. Some of his players may think they were so great, that’s why we won. Some think they never learned a thing under are coaching staff, but it’s what we taught them to be true to them self, to be good teammates and to be fundamentally sound when it was game time to understand situations. But it was the character of the player us coaches wanted them to learn. Lots of great players come into our program as well as average and you would be surprised how many that are the average are willing to be coached that come out as the best players and the great ones in the end become the average. But the main ingredient to stardom is the rest of the team. As I watch my son Mario coach and listen to his message to the kids, you can hear the same message he learned for the 4 years he was in the program, to get better every day and build on even the little things. On that day in Seattle way back when I stood up and ask Coach Wooden a question about how to make kids compete harder in practice, he remembered my question and saw me that day and ask me to sit down. He remembered the kid in the clinic who ask a silly question and on that day gave me more than just the answer. He said, “Heart, desire and the willing to work hard and get better every day the way you practice is the way you will play.” That was a message 35 years ago and Coach Rob Reese is still delivering it today. They call him coach and he has won 300; Rob Reese #25. For me this year is a bigger challenge than ever. We have a young team and the challenge is to try and make each kid a better player by putting in the extra hitting and fielding. Coach Mario Sanelli won won a state title in 2007 and was in the final four in 2008 tells the kids they need to become a family; when one falls down, help them up. When one does something great pick them up with a great job or a high five. But become a family. There will be failures, but we will have success.we have alot of baseball left this year and there will be ups and downs all year but I will we will get them better by years end.So in closing your the best coach rob lets win 300 more.