Gopher Baseball Camp Teaches Success With Game Based On Failure
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The reason many kids don't stay with baseball at lower levels is what you see Byron Buxton going through at the Major League level: Failure.
WCCO's Mike Max caught up to a veteran local coach to talk about just that.
Don Geng has been coaching for four decades, so when the rain came at the Gopher Baseball Camp and they had to go inside, he knew exactly what to do next.
"I mean the great thing is keep the kids busy. Kids have short attention spans like we all do, so the main thing is keep the kids busy," Geng said. "They like to play."
There are two things that seem to be hurting the grand old game at the lower levels. One is keeping it fun with limited attention spans.
"Here's the question -- How do you help someone be successful who's not successful? The younger the kids, they can't catch," Geng said. "So you start basic with no gloves and you just get them to see success using their hands."
The other is failure. A game where it's set up to make you feel bad most of the time.
"Baseball has the highest failure rate. You've heard the story before where if you hit .300, you've failed seven out of 10 times," Geng said. "If you hit three out of 10 free throws, you're worse than Shaq."
What he wants to create is success. What he does to achieve it is simplify.
"So you've got to think about ways to make it successful. Success is a great motivator," Geng said.
So that even on a rainy day in July, you can create some energy for a game that needs a boost.
