When the St. Louis Cardinals selected ex-catcher Mike Matheny as their new manager when Tony La Russa retired in 2012, people were perplexed because he had never managed before and had just retired from the game in 2006.
People knew he was an intelligent baseball man who had led many great pitching staffs as a defensive minded catcher. Players had tremendous respect for him as a ball player and as a man. Then news started to leak out about what he had done since he retired.
In his words, Matheny stated that he had coached youth baseball. What a jump from the dirt fields of youth baseball to the manicured diamond of St. Louis.
The quote below by Matheny symbolizes his direction and mantra as a youth coach.
“”Sports should be about kids and their passion, not about parents and their goals.”
Too often, as parents we get our priorities mixed up because we want the best for everyone involved including ourselves. But sometimes, what is best for us as a parent is not the best for our son or daughter. It is a perplexing situation where we have to put our goals and passions to the side to allow our child’s passions to shine through.
We cannot argue with the success of Mike Matheny and the Cardinals over the last four years. They are going through an interesting time right now, but one thing is for certain. When the St. Louis Cardinals decided to replace the Hall of Fame coach Tony La Russa with Mike Matheny, they had their priorities correct.
The Cardinal Way might have some holes but their manager has always had his priorities in the right place. Allow your kid to choose their passion. They will shine much brighter if you allow them to shine.