by Mark Clark

When Connie Watson of Phoenix, Ariz., jumped into the ESPN camera pit at the Little League World Series and had a few choice words for Columbus Manager Randy Morris, he had to ask the question himself. “Why?”

Why does a man do this? Why coach Little League baseball? Why suffer through the abuse without reward? Wait, that is why he, and so many others in the Chattahoochee Valley area, coach. It is the reward.

In Morris’ case, the reward was watching his team of 11- and 12-year-olds win a Little League World Series championship. Only 27 other Little League coaches in the United States have done that. Only 60 coaches in the World have done that.

“I don’t know who she was, but she’s questioning if I’m a Christian man, saying I’d sinned in the game. Then she started hollering at our parents. This is Little League,” Morris told reporters after the game.

Wilson, the mother of a player from the Ahwatukee American of Arizona All-Star team, representing the West, accused Morris of having his team lose to Lemont Little League from Illinois, which represented the Great Lakes region, in order to eliminate her son’s team from the series. Columbus lost the game 2-0, leaving a three-way tie in pool-play between the Southeast, Great Lakes and West regions. Ahwatukee was the odd team out under Little League’s tiebreaker.

The minor scuffle became a forgotten event four days later when Northern Little League’s All-Star team, representing the United States, defeated Kawaguchi City, Japan, 2-1, to win the title. Now Morris is thinking about next year, even though after the game, he said it was his last.

“That lady didn’t bother me. The majority of my experiences in Little League have been positive. They far outweigh the bad ones,” said Morris upon his team’s return to Columbus. “I’m ready to take some time off to watch some Georgia football. I’ll be involved in whatever plans they have for this team. I’ll be ready to go when signups start in January. I just love it.”

Morris became involved with Little League “10 to 12 years ago” because of a nephew.

“The team my nephew was on had been struggling and I don’t think their manager was going to come back. I started coaching his team. I coached the 10-year-old All- Stars to the state title and just stayed after that,” said Morris. “I want to stay as long as I can. My family comes to watch me coach and to support the team. Without them, I would not be as successful. And, Little League is a good place to hang out and meet people.”

Some people coach because their kids are players. Some coach because no one else will do it. Some coach for the love of the game. Some do it for all three reasons. The last is where Morris fits in.

“I just love being around the kids. Some people coach for their own glory, and those are the coaches that are not successful. I like winning, but if I can just make a difference in the lives of the kids and help them as they go into the future, it’s great. If I can make a difference with only two or three of them, I’m satisfied to help them become better people,” said Morris.

“Being with these kids this year was a great experience for them and for me. It was pretty awesome. It was great watching the kids interact with kids from other states and other countries. They made friends for life.

“You don’t go into a season with winning the Little League World Series as the goal. You go in wanting to teach the kids as much as you can to help them win. You want to win during the regular season and then worry about winning All-Star games later.”

Lamar Weaver coaches at St. Luke and has coached in Columbus American Little League’s softball program for several years. He started coaching because he felt obligated to “pass the torch along.”

“I was raised by a dad who coached and my wife was raised by a dad who coached. We both realize the importance of being involved. I guess I’m just passing the torch along. Different people have different ways of giving back to society. Coaching is my way of giving back,” said Weaver.

Most people, he says, coach for the right reasons.

“Most people coach to help kids, but there’s always going to be some people out there that it’s all about them coaching. It’s not. It’s about the kids. I don’t really try to coach winning. I try to teach preparation. It’s not all about winning. It’s more gratifying to see a team that’s not expected to win, go out and be successful, than it is to see a team that is supposed to win, go out and win,” said Weaver.

The people who volunteer to coach at the Little League level are not alone. Little League Baseball is played in 75 countries around the world — 176,000 teams with 2.7 million participants from 5-18 years old. The need for volunteer coaches is great.

Phenix City began Little League play in the 1950s, but the program faded in the 1960s and was replaced by Dixie Youth Baseball. Little League reemerged in the 1990s, and in 1999 Phenix City, like Columbus’ Northern team, found itself on the world stage. The 1999 Phenix City National League All-Stars won the United States Championship, but lost the World Championship 5-0 to Japan.

Lamar Tyner coached for the Dixie Youth program and the Phenix City Little League program when it came back into existence. He stepped into coaching long before he had a son playing in the league. Tyner coached over 20 years before stepping aside.

“My brothers and I grew up poor. All we had was ball. We played all the time. I loved being around the game as a coach for the kids, but the most important thing was being there for the kids. I remember what some folks did for me when I was playing. When I felt I was getting too old to keep playing, I started coaching and started trying to repay those kind things that were done for me and my brothers,” said Tyner.

“Being out there coaching ball gives you a lot of opportunities to help some kids. Coaching to me was a lot more fun than playing. I got to be around the game and the kids. I got satisfaction from being able to help little boys become responsible young men. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no philosopher or saint, but there is a lot more importance to being a coach than winning.

Helping build character and confidence in the kids is the important part. Winning is good, but it comes and goes. When the kids understand the life lessons that you try to teach and show that character and confidence you try to help them build, that’s what is going to help them be successful in life. That’s why you coach.”

Fortunately for the Chattahoochee Valley area, there are a lot more volunteer coaches who fit in the category with Morris, Weaver and Tyner than there are out to serve themselves. For that, we can all be proud and know our area children are learning the lessons that may bring them back to the sport as coaches in the future. It will be their turn to “pass the torch along.”