Focus on The Long Game

What is the “Long Game”? This is something that I really feel is missing in the game nowadays, especially at the youth levels. While travel ball has been great for the game, it has also hurt it in some ways! Because of travel ball, the best players can compete against each other. It’s the highest level of youth sports. This is a great thing! It has created more talented players and fostered competition that drives players to work hard!

But, at the same time, it has brought a lot of negativity. Because it's a high level, fans, parents, coaches, and players feel more pressure. Tempers flare up! Arguments between fans and coaches are a regular thing nowadays. Friendships are lost, and I feel the fun in the game gets lost as well. Players, parents, and coaches forget what this is all about. It's now become all about chasing that $5 ring rather than developing players to be their best in the long term.

When I was growing up, there were only a handful of travel teams in all of San Diego County. We would play our Little League or Pony season, make our All-Star run, and we enjoyed playing with each other so much that my dad and best friend made our first travel team. It wasn't an organization or anything, it was just a team of buddies who were good and had goals of making it to professional baseball one day. We would play our games, head to Boll Weevil, play some arcade games, and always end up playing a wiffle ball game in the area out front. If anyone hit a home run or threw a no-hitter, my best friend's dad would buy them a milkshake. It was the simplest thing, but you knew if you got a milkshake, you balled out that day!

Once we were done, it was back to my house to go swim in the community pool, and everyone would crash out on my parents' living room floor. We had a small house, but yet it was the place where everybody wanted to be. Looking back, I don't know how my parents managed to afford feeding our whole neighborhood, but they did, and that neighborhood will forever be a huge part of our childhood. We were just a blend of street kids from Southeast San Diego and Old Bonita areas who loved playing together and had goals to make it to the highest levels!

That's what Youth Sports is ALL About!!

We would have to travel all over to find the best competition: North County, Orange County, LA, Arizona, Vegas… wherever we could find the best competition, we would go. It was never about just winning; it was ALWAYS about playing the best because we knew, “To be the best, you have to beat the best!” I personally felt that if I was going to be in the big leagues one day, I better not be afraid to fail against someone who was older, bigger, and stronger than me.

I was always the youngest on my teams growing up. My cousin was known as the best hitter in town, and everywhere he went, he took me with him. To be honest, I probably didn't belong on some of the teams I was lucky enough to play on, but I can tell you that I honestly didn't know that. I believed it was all part of my road to the major leagues. I was focused on the “Long Game.”

It wasn't about a quick fix of winning something small; it was about getting battle-tested on the road to the pros! It was about training, lifting, and obsessing over my strength. God didn't bless me with natural ability and size, but I knew I had control over how strong I could get! So that is where I put my attention. Eventually, I wasn't the youngest anymore. I had developed skills through countless hours of training, and I was now physically and mentally as strong as anyone.

I look back at those crazy, weird middle school ages and think to myself, “Man, what if I had let those years define me? I would never have done anything in baseball.”

My point in these stories is to share with you all that there is always a bigger picture for an athlete making their way. Challenging years and adversities are a guarantee in everyone's life, and it is magnified in the life of an athlete. I have always said that baseball is such a great tool to prepare you for life. There are so many failures and obstacles along the way. If you lose belief in yourself, the road to being a ballplayer will come to an end. You have to keep your eyes and heart focused on the Long Game!

Believe in your heart that every challenge is all part of your story and it is meant for you. No bad game, bad season, or bad moment can define you. If you are fortunate enough to find an opponent who trains as hard as you, with the same goals, dreams, and even more talent, and this opponent beats you, that's OK. That is an opportunity to grow. Accept these challenges, learn from the defeats. It will make you stronger in the long run.

Focusing on the “Long Game” allows you to see past the adversity. It gives you the strength to knock down the walls that get put in front of you. When your ballplayers are young, remember this is a game. It is meant to be played. So many parents take the fun out of the game for their kids. They put so much emphasis on a single moment or game.

The life of a ballplayer is a journey. There are ups, downs, and everything in between. Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the friendships and memories. You will have them forever. I look back at my memories of growing up and it will always bring a smile to my face. I even look back at the memories of starting a travel ball team with my oldest son and think of all the fun road trips, amazing games and moments, and all the funny conversations in the dugout.

Everything changes as we get older, and we never get these times back. I wish I would have had someone guiding me along the way and sharing messages like this with me. I was so hard on my son when he was young, he almost quit the game. I had no idea that I was actually pushing him away—I thought I was pushing him to greatness!

Let’s be different! Let's lift our ballplayers up! Let's be their biggest fans!

For my athletes reading this blog: BELIEVE IN YOURSELF! Accept the challenges! Learn from your failures! And grow from everything!

The Long Game isn't just about making it to the big leagues. The Long Game is having success in life at whatever you do.