The Email That Changed Everything

It came at 11:03 PM.

I was lying in bed, exhausted from a long lesson day, halfway debating whether to even check my email. And there it was: a message from a player I hadn’t heard from in over a year.

“Coach D… I just wanted to say thank you. I almost quit softball this summer. I was miserable. But something you told me during a virtual call last spring stuck with me. You said, ‘Even when you don’t believe in yourself, just keep showing up.’ So I did. I showed up. And today, I got my first offer.”

I sat up in bed and cried.

Not because of the offer. But because she chose to keep going.

That’s the thing most people don’t realize—what we do as coaches is so much more than mechanics and drills. We get the midnight texts. We hear the self-doubt. We sit in the quiet moments when a player is deciding whether or not to give up the game they once loved.

This email reminded me: what broke me years ago is what allows me to help rebuild others now.

So if you’re a coach reading this—know your words matter.

If you’re a parent—know your presence matters.

And if you’re a player—know that someone sees you. Even in your lowest moments, you are not alone.

What’s something a coach said that changed your mindset? Drop it below. It might be exactly what someone else needs to hear today.