Birthdays

Coach Mandy, before she was Coach Mandy!  This was taken during the construction of our dugouts during her senior year.  I thought I would give her a shout out since today is her birthday!

When I started my second semester at Mary Baldwin as a freshman, spending my 19th birthday away from my family was one of the things that I was dreading.  Both my sister and I are February babies.  On February 4, 1996 I turned 3 and on February 9th, I became a big sister!  February was always filled with presents and birthday cakes, using my great grandma’s homemade chocolate icing recipe that is to die for!

So turning 19 didn’t sound too appealing… especially since on my 19th birthday cadets from the Virginia Military Institute were coming to help our team assemble our new dugouts. I knew that I was going to spend that Saturday freezing as we spent the day outside.  In case you can’t tell, construction is NOT my idea of a good time so I knew it was going to be a long cold day.  Don’t get me wrong, I was ecstatic about the new dugouts, just not about putting them together!

While it was a long, cold day I had fun.  It was fabulous watching our dugouts come together and to see how nice they looked. 

Our dugouts were put together with wooden pegs rather than nails.  For a donation, you could decorate one of the pegs.  I am fairly certain that Coach Mandy, an art major, was responsible for the lovely decoration of this peg.  I, however, take all the credit for the photo!

One of the things that I had figured out already is that Coach Shelton always celebrates birthdays.  Now, with a big softball team, it seems as if we are sometimes celebrating birthdays every week or two.  I knew we were having lunch with everyone after our construction, but I did not expect Coach to come out with a huge birthday cake to feed everyone.  It was the biggest birthday cake I have ever gotten in my life.  Not quite my great grandma’s chocolate icing, but it was just as special!

The infamous cake!

The past three years, someone from home has come to visit me for my birthday so I have gotten to taste that delicious chocolate icing.  Instead of losing the traditions that I once had for birthdays, new ones have been formed.  Sometimes, it is the small things—or a huge cake—that makes the day special.

Group photo from construction!

The Coaching Minor

One of the things that attracted me to Mary Baldwin was the new coaching minor.  During one of my first visits here, I had an interview with a couple of professors and while we were talking they asked me about my hobbies.  I told them that I played softball, but also that I helped coach the 10 & under and 13 & under teams in my area.  

The local recreation association where I helped coach when I was in high school always had games on Mother's Day.  One of the teams bought roses to give to all of the players' moms and I was given one because I was the "Team Mama".  Another fun fact--Mother's Day was created by a Mary Baldwin graduate!

With great excitement, one of the professors launched into the spiel that he had heard about the new minor that would launch the following year, my freshmen year at Mary Baldwin.  I knew coming to Mary Baldwin College that I wanted to major in English, but I had never put much thought into minoring in Coaching because I did not even know that it was an option.  With that conversation, I was sold and I couldn’t wait to get into my first coaching class.

One summer I was assisting with the 10 & under All Stars team.  The kids had a long break between games at the tournament and someone had packed temporary tattoos to help keep them busy.  Of course, Coach Amanda got a couple as well.  And yes, I did end up with a suntan line around this.

Even though I had already served as both an assistant coach and head coach for a couple of teams before I came to Mary Baldwin, the coaching minor opened new doors for me.  As part of my coaching minor, I had to do an internship with a team.  I decided to seek out a travel softball team, the Southampton Storm of Courtland, VA, and spent the summer traveling with the 18 & under team, working camps, and interacting with the all of the teams in the organization.  Through the coaching minor, I got some of the education that I need to back up some of the things that I had learned through experience as both a player and a coach.  People who previously viewed me as just a kid who was obsessed with softball saw that the minor was adding credibility and practical sport knowledge to my repertoire of tools and tricks to teach players softball at any level.

Hitting infield!

In my coaching classes, we frequently discussed how much of an impact good coaching can have on players and teams. I am extremely thankful that I had many wonderful coaches who encouraged, supported, and did everything in their power to help our team to win, but most importantly to learn about the game and to improve.  Coaches such as those have inspired me to give back to my community and to continue to teach girls some of the life lessons that softball has taught me.

For anyone who has played a sport and thinks they might want to coach at any level one day, I strongly recommend the coaching minor.  I thought that I was a good coach before I came here, but through the work that I put into my classes, my internship, and building my coaching portfolio I can see the rewards of completing this minor.

For more information about the Coaching & Exercise Leadership minor, please see http://www.mbc.edu/coaching_and_exercise_leadership/.

Requirements and projected course offerings for the coaching minor are as follows:

Requirements for the Minor in Coaching and Exercise Leadership20 semester hours
BIOL 151 – LO1 (N)
CEL 220 Spring 2016
CEL 245 Spring 2015
CHEM 120–LO1 (N) Spring 2015
INT 287
PHE 221 Every May Term
PHE 251 Spring 2016
SGS/WS 245 – LO2 (G)

I couldn't end this post without sharing a picture of me with one of my favorite coaches, my daddy!