Today we’re bringing you an interesting youth sports story from Arizona that centers around not a child, but a 45 year-old. Some 25 years ago, a man only identified as Ron was cut from his high school baseball team. In 2015, that moment is still haunting him. Tom Kuyper, writer for The Republic, described Ron as a good but not great catcher — an athlete that understood the game at a deep level, but was unlikely to dominate a nine-inning frame. So, on the day of tryouts, Ron noticed that there were two other catchers going out for his school’s freshman-level team and, as a last second panic move, decided to try his luck as an outfielder. He did not make the team. Later on, he would find out that the starting catcher was moved to Junior Varsity and the backup broke his hand — so, if Ron had done the tryout at his natural position, he likely would’ve made the team. After that, Ron stopped playing the sport he so dearly loved and never talked about the scarring event:
“I have only just recently been able to talk about it with others,” he said. “After all these years, I am still embarrassed to let people know that I was cut from the ninth grade baseball team.”
At the end of the day, it’s important to realize that our decisions as coaches, leaders, and athletes have long-lasting effects no matter the outcome. So long as our community strives for positive enforcement, role models, and environments, we can make sure that our younger generation of athletes continue to have happy experiences in sports. Besides, you never know when one decision may hurt for an entire lifetime. AZCentral — Regrets from youth sports can have lasting impact
