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kynleec · 2 years
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What is your why?
What is your why? What makes you do what you do? This has been the question asked to me on every team I’ve ever been on. Without a why, there is no reason to do whatever it is that you are doing. This is what I try to instill in my players. Keep doing what you are doing. But, have reason for it. Because without a why, you aren’t able to have any passion or be able to push yourself farther then you can imagine. Without a why, there is no athleticism or learning curves.  
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kynleec · 2 years
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Miracles Can Happen Anywhere
If anyone would have told me six months ago that God had such bigger plans for me then I could imagine at the moment, I would have called you a liar. But, as I sit in the present, I can’t describe the satisfaction and content I have with my life. This past Thursday the Instructional League that I have been coaching played their first game. What we saw was truly what I deem as a miracle. We made a team out of nothing. We had girls who had never hit the ball, or held a bat, knocking in doubles. We had girls who had never played softball dominating in their positions on the field and making outs. There is truly something great about what we have done. I have never been so proud in a group of girls. I can’t wait to see how we end the season and what these girls will be doing. I felt like we have truly done something and created this wonderful thing that is going to last forever.
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kynleec · 2 years
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What Would a Coach Do?
In the past two weeks as my team has grown closer, I have had several girls come to me in confidence. But, one of them tasked me with this big secret about them. I’m conflicted on the depths of this secret and the fact that her parents don’t know. My dad is helping me coach as my assistant coach and after I spoke with him on what was told to me. He gave me the perspective of the parents and how as a parent, if that was my brothers or I, he would want to know. It is hard as well because they trusted me with this secret and as a coach I want to be there for my players. I want them to know they can come to me for anything. But, I feel like there is a line there that can be crossed and I am unsure on what the line is exactly. I wish coaching came with a manual because the stuff I have had to deal with I never thought would come up coaching a 13-18 Instructional League for softball. But, we are learning and hopefully I can come to peace with my decision to keep their secret safe with me. 
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kynleec · 2 years
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Rec ball vs. Travel ball
One of the main questions I get as a recreational employee along with being a softball coach is which is better to play, rec ball or travel ball? My question back to them is what are you trying to accomplish? As a former college softball player who played rec ball growing up, more so than travel ball, you can make it to the next level without the needs of travel ball. But the talent level through travel ball and rec ball is a very drastic difference. Rec ball is good for kids who are only playing for fun and to explore options in other sports. Travel ball is a very structured league that you have to devote time to. You can expect to have practices once a week in the off season for travel ball while in rec ball you have no practices in the regular season usually, you just play games. But, I find both useful and needed in the world of softball, I think they address many different needs in different athletes. But I can tell you my experience in travel ball was not a good one. It is very political and most teams are structured around who’s parents offer to pay the most and what they can give to the team financially speaking. But, travel ball gets more exposure college wise. 
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kynleec · 2 years
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Coaching Requires Heart
I always wondered if I could be a better coach then the ones I had before. But, I think I wasn’t putting into account would I be a better coach off the field. Would I be able to help kids and steer them in a direction that meets their needs. Recently with my 13-18 Instructional League I am coaching I met this issue face on. I had a little girl come up to me, broken. It was after practice had ended and she came up to me crying, pleading to be a better ball player. I had to instill confidence in her and ensure her that she was doing good. I felt like I hadn’t done a good enough job of consoling her and that there was more I could have done with her. Then it hit me. I obvioulsy should not be to hard on myself and should have a better view on it since she had enough confidence to come to me. She wanted my help and knew I could help her unlike coaches I have had in the past. She trusted me with problems in her home life, school and talent. So I must be doing something right to gain the trust of 13 year old girls. I’ve never been more proud of myself and happy to know I am making a difference. 
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kynleec · 2 years
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Pal Baseball
Pal baseball is the special needs baseball league that plays right here in Kershaw County. It is a league designed for kids with disabilities and kids who are interested in competing in non-competitive baseball. We have kids that range from autism, paraplegic, blind, down syndrome and many more. But, these kids every single one of them no doubt help to make my day better. They are the most geuinine form of sweetness and purity. They have the greatest personality’s and honestly are so fun to be around. We have some that require assistance all the time and others like my brother who hits home runs. It is the best atmosphere I have ever experienced on the ballfield. I can’t imagine not having them in my life. I have been helping out since I could walk and now have the honor of coaching one of the teams. 
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kynleec · 2 years
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How playing softball led to my goal of coaching
Toward the end of my athletic career with softball I kept wondering why do I keep going back. i dreaded going to practice and most of that was having to deal with my teammates and coaches at the time. I felt out of place and burnt out. But, I couldn’t quit. I keep dealing with softball until finally I felt as though I was called in another direction and at the time it had no future of softball in it. Then I was offered the opportunity to coach a 13-18 year old league in my hometown. I coach a league of 30 players. Some have played before and others have never caught a softball in their life. I have never felt so fulfilled in what I was doing. It truly makes me so happy and I could not imagine not having these girls in my life. At the end of the day the journey was so hard to get here but the reward is truly one of the best things to ever happen to me. 
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kynleec · 2 years
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What my players have taught me as a coach
Everyone always assumes that coaches know everything and that they are the ones teaching on the field. That is 90% true. But the other 10% is filled with learning opportunities that my players have taught me. From their eagerness to learn new things and how confidence comes in so many different forms. I’ve been able to watch girls who have never played before reach out and do something new. It has been such a blessing to watch them go into something so blind and still have optimism to get better. It has made me look at softball with a different light, that it can just be fun. That being the best only does so much for you. 
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kynleec · 2 years
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Confidence in young female athletes
Recently I have found the task of coaching a 13-18 Instructional league for Kershaw County Recreation Department and it has been one of the biggest blessings in my life. But something I have noticed very prevalent in the girls is the fact that most of them, not all, have such low self-esteem. It truly is sad that some of these girls have never played before, and they are already beat down about playing. They have such lack of confidence in themselves, and I feel as a coach it’s my task to find a way to build them up and to be quite frank it is so hard. I wish low self-esteem wasn’t so prevalent in female athletes and we could end the stigmas of standards we hold women to that are absolutely bogus. 
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kynleec · 2 years
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Finding Myself
Usually, I write blogs on softball and baseball and sort of a negative view on the impact it had on me. But, I have in the past two weeks sorts of found myself again. I realized I have worth off the field and I’m learning how to be healthy and work out and enjoy it! I don’t view my body as injured and incapable anymore. It is still a learning process but now I truely understand what people mean when they say, “find something that works for you”. I have a new outlook on my health and eating which was one of my biggest struggles. I hope I can stay like this, but I know things take time. But learning how to be a regular person from being a dual sport college athlete is not easy. But, I have so much hope for this journey and what I can do in the future. 
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kynleec · 2 years
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How did playing sports effect my physical health
In a past blog post went into how playing sports specifically softball affected me mentally, emotionally and physically. I stated how I now struggle with eating disorders and being healthy in general. I just “retired” from softball in January. Since then, I can already see a decline in my body. I have gained weight and lost muscle tone. I struggle with eating too much with not burning the calories I was once burning in a day. I also struggle with working out on my own without the instruction from a coach or the atmosphere of a team. I feel as though there should be tools taught to players on how to overcome these things. I feel as though if we invest so much in athletes why would we not do it for retired athletes. 
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kynleec · 2 years
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Softball in the South
I would argue that dads with their little girls in softball is just as bad as men with sons with football in the south. There is this stigma from every dad and mom about how their little girl should be a college softball player. Especially in these small towns. It is like life or death for them to give them every opportunity. That is why there is such backwards deceiving acts that come with it. Such as illegal trades within schools, bullying, under the table money, politics and the list goes on and on. If only action could take place to stop it but as the south lives on so does the crooked traditions set in place.
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kynleec · 2 years
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Baseball in Foreign Countries
It’s so crazy how baseball is viewed in other countries. I remember the first time I learned of Dominican Countries and what emphasizes they put on baseball. It is viewed as their only way for guys to get out and make a living for their families. I think the weirdest and honestly saddest thing I have ever seen on it was the documentary filmed there. In the documentary it shows these multi-million-dollar American MLB training facilities that are placed in these severely poverished places. The kids they have out there are not even teenagers yet. It makes you wonder why we feel as though that is legal in other countries but in places in America it is illegal for a kid to be committed in middle school. And, that is just the rules for college. 
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kynleec · 2 years
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My Last Injury
The worst feeling I've encountered in the seventeen years I played sports is the second to last soccer game I played. I remember shifting my weight to track down a girl. I was playing defense. I remember my ankle feeling like someone snipped me from far away. Instant tears came to my eyes from the pain. I tried to get back up ad immediately feel again. I cried as they helped me walk across the field. I knew no matter what the injury was I couldn't do it anymore. I was tired of hurting and adding something new to the already existent pain was too much. I played my last soccer game that following week and I knew I was done. I had such an inner peace about it. But it was also wanted one the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life.
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kynleec · 2 years
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What Softball did to my Health
Softball has been such a great thing I’ve been able to place in my life for 17 years. I started when I was just three years old and played up until my sophomore spring season. I have injuries from head to toe, literally. I have had over 8 major concussions which affect my vision, memory, and causes me pain on the daily. I have arthritis which inflames in my shoulders, elbows and knees. I’ve had multiple eating disorders from binge eating to bulimia. I have suffered from the bulimia and stress stomach ulcers that get worst in softball season. I have knees that require cortisone shots in them. I have ankles that possess no cartlidge and have several crooked fingers from breaks that never healed right. Some of these injuries seem silly but other are injuries that I now have to deal with on a daily basis. I’m in pain just waking up from the 17 years of year-round playing. The worst thing is that I didn’t even include the mental problems and emotional issues I no possess from all those years of being scructunized. So why did I say all of this because something that is never brought to light much is how truly hard on the body it is to be an athlete.  
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kynleec · 2 years
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Staff Needed for a Good Athletics Program
I believe that the reason so many athletic programs fail is due to the lack of staff that is on and also the lack of diversity. I think especially college staffs should have multiple trainers, female and male, so that everyone feels comfortable. They should have trainers that stay at the school all day long as well. They should also have coaches designate for certain things such as in softball there should be hitting, pitching, catching, outfield and a head coach. There should also be nutrinalist to aid players healthy eating habits and to prevent eating disorders which is very common in sports. There should also be counseling services just for athletes as it is a very mentally straining to be an athlete. When an athletics program isn’t willing to give their athletes 100% they get athletes who aren’t a 100%.
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kynleec · 2 years
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Shoeless Joe Jackson
Joseph Jackson also nicknamed Shoeless Joe Jackson was Major League Baseball outfielder. He got his famous nickname from when he played baseball when he was young and was spotted in the outfield shoeless. Rumor was that he had ran so fast he ran slap out his shoes. But, the true story later told my Joe was that his new cleats were giving him blisters so he took them off and decided to just play barefooted. Joe is famous for being a good ballplayer but he is also known for the Black Sox Scandal that came out in 1919 when the Chicago White Sox was accused of trying to throw the world series that year. Shoeless Joe got wrapped in it because the man who was in charge of the gambling ring trying to fix the series approached Joe about helping. Joe declined. But when it came to light Joe got taken down with it. Joe along with 7 other players got kicked out of the league. It was rumored though that Shoeless Joe could still be found out in the minor league fields playing under different names, standing above the rest of the players. Some say Joe played until he could not play anymore.
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