Don’t Pave the Path

We are not in the baseball business, we are in the path conquering business.

Don’t Pave the Path

Please take a moment to listen to Scott Van Pelt’s short statement addressing a conflict during March Madness…

Scott Van Pelt’s Statement (click here)

Now there is a lot to unpack in this 2:19 long statement, but what really hit me was the phrase, “we should prepare our kids for the path, not the path for our kids.” (this can be found around the 1:50 mark if you want to skip ahead)

I absolutely love this part of his monolague. Why?

Because this is the biggest issue I see in amateur sports today…we want to rip out all the thorn covered bushes and pave the path so it’s nice and easy for our kids to walk through. 

What’s the problem with that? Life isn’t always going to be always be a clear, easy path! It’s crucial to put our kids in positions that force them to figure out a way to get through the thorns and unpaved roads.

It’s human nature to want to protect our kids, however, whether we’re talking about baseball or life (their future career for example), there will come a point where we will not be able to change the quality of the path for them. It will be on them to get through it no matter how rough and untamed it may be.

So…

Let’s focus on building intrepid MEN who are capable of cutting down the thorn bushes and paving their own path, rather than always doing it for them. 

Sure that will undoubtedly mean some cuts, bruises, and blisters along the way, but they will survive and they will come out of it even stronger and more capable than they were before.

We are not in the baseball business, we are in the path conquering business. Be obsessed.

Ken Spangenberg
Director of Baseball
Maplezone Sports Institute