Baseball, Volleyball, and ALL it Does!
B4B is continuing our ‘every kid needs a coach‘ segment. Today’s post comes from Biking For Baseball friend and sporting enthusiast, Kaley Hagerman!
Team sports have always played a huge role in my life, all with important impacts in their wake. As a young child, I, myself, played baseball during elementary school. I was a little tomboy when I was younger, and couldn’t wait to play baseball, even though I was the only girl on my team all the years I played. But I loved the sport nonetheless. The first team sport I ever participated in was baseball. I received my first black eye from catching a pop fly with my gloved hand open-handed and pointing down. And I scored my first point for a team sport all during my baseball years in my youth .Baseball was the original foundation that taught me to be a team player, to get to know my teammates on and off the field, and to realize that participating in a team sport builds confidence, enhances skills (both athletic and life skills), and promotes social interaction.
Years later, I decided to try my luck in participating in another team-oriented atmosphere. After dancing ballet for 10 years, I was now 14 years old and ready to try something new. That something just so happened to be volleyball. I played volleyball year-round (varsity in the fall, club in the winter/spring, and camps in the summer) from the time I was 14 until I was 18. Volleyball was a saving grace in high school. It kept me out of too much trouble because I didn’t want to risk not being able to play my beloved sport.
Cause Every Kid Needs A Coach
Yet, volleyball did so much more for me than just pacifying my desire to be a rebellious high schooler. It taught me how to be patient with others. It taught me that every individual has their own strengths and weaknesses and both can be powerful tools on and off the court. It taught me that winning isn’t everything, but more importantly what matters is what you take away from the game and the experience and what you learn from it. And it taught me that the people you play a team sport with as a child can become friends for life. They are people you consistently depend on, people who are constantly pushing you to be stronger, faster, smarter, and people that will always support you, win or lose. I was fortunate to be surrounded by people like that while participating in v-ball throughout high school, along with an amazing coach who did all that and more. Some of the people who have most influenced me, and most profoundly impacted my life, have been the players and coaches I’ve interacted with over the years.
Now, as a young adult, newly graduated from college and finding my way in the world, I can look back on all the sports I’ve participated in and can trace the effects they have had on me: on my life decisions, my ability to cope in difficult situations, my sheer enjoyment of healthy competition, and my passion to strive to be the best at whatever I do and never give less than 100%. I have my team sports to thank for this mindset. I am thoroughly looking forward to witnessing Biking 4 Baseball‘s contribution to youth team sports and the tremendous positive impact B4B will have. Youth sports play such a vital role in our development as adolescents, and I’m happy to see that B4B is taking such an active role in promoting the countless benefits of youth sports!
-Kaley Hagerman