My first Tee Ball team was built around three returning players who knew how to play the game and four coaches, counting me, who did not. We finished with 5 wins and 14 losses, five times better than most expected we would do. My third and last season saw us finish with 18 wins and 1 loss, finishing second to a great team that beat us in a best-of-three playoff. At the end of my second season, I managed our league's five and six year old all star team and we finished third in a field of 26 teams. At the end of my third season, I was a coach for our league's Tee Ball World Series all star team. We won the championship and were chosen for the tournament's sportsmanship award by the tournament umpires -- the first time a team had ever won both honors at once.
I learned a lot about Tee Ball during those three seasons and I learned them from some great people at the Youth Association of Northeast Pensacola (NEP) (Florida) ballpark. First of all, I'd like to acknowledge Billy Johnson and C. E. Mather, the park's Tee Ball Commissioners those three seasons who, while coaching teams of their own, adeptly organized the park's three Tee Ball leagues and 250 Tee Ball players. Their objectivity, fairness, and organizational skills were instrumental in our park's success during those three years. Billy and C. E. were very helpful to new managers and coaches and were great influences on me personally, and by extension, on my teams. Their influence was so positive that I later became President of the Park.
Parents play a huge role in the success that Tee Ball players and teams enjoy. From among a team's parents come the manager and coaches, sometimes the score keepers, team mothers, and always the fans. This game cannot be properly or effectively played unless the parents make it happen. I'd like to say thanks to those parents who made my teams successful: First, to the parents who helped me coach for their advice, help, and support during those three seasons:
Bill Parrish, Roy Stone, Bob Ulrich, Mark Fisher, Scott Smith, Lee Glaze, Paul Jones, and Michael Doss, and also to Willie Taylor who let me help him coach those Tee Ball World Series champions. A special thanks goes to my team's team mothers who skillfully kept us in business: Kim Ulrich and Toni Finger. Finally, I want to recognize the players who played for me and their parents for their cooperation and support during those seasons. The parents were the perfect fans and a coach's dream; their children were proof of good upbringing and were a pleasure to coach.
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