Passing on the lessons of sports: Coaches Miedema and Rando on starting the season

Coaching is teaching.

And speaking with JV Baseball Coach Peter Miedema and Softball Coach Lindsay Rando, they’ll tell you it’s not just about learning the strike zone or turning a double play.

Coach Miedema, who teaches history and has coached for more than 20 years, and Coach Rando, a teacher’s aide starting her first year coaching softball, are as eager as their players to finally take the field against the competition.

“We’re ready,” Ms. Rando said about her team of 10. The JV baseball team has 15 players, ranging from 7th grade to 12th.

Coach Miedema, sitting in the stands at Fiske Field a few minutes before practice one day last week as players warmed up, said part of the teaching process was encouraging the older players to help younger ones. It wasn’t just to pass on baseball skills, but to help the younger boys find their footing within the group.

“The older ones give the younger ones a nudge, sometimes it’s a hard nudge, but it’s all in good fun,” he said about the dual benefit of learning the sport along with the values of teamwork.

The veteran players get a boost, as well, reaping the rewards of mentoring.

A persistent challenge is getting players to focus, Coach Miedema and Coach Rando said.

Most Shelter Island students participate in many extracurricular activities and clubs, so when they come to the field, Ms. Rando said communication with her players is paramount. She always strives, she said, to instill the virtues of “discipline, focusing and patience, which builds confidence in the girls. They can see the benefit of working hard. I always ask them to give 1% more every day to be better. Not a lot, but at least 1%”

With all the distractions of class work, studying and extracurriculars, there’s also the online world that never stops beckoning. Challenging their players is an essential tool the coaches use to keep them mentally involved  during practices.

“Some of the kids have never played,” Assistant Baseball Coach Mike Dunning said as the team ran though drills on the basepaths. “We have different levels of skill and knowledge of the game, so it’s a challenge to coach, and a challenge for the older guys to help the younger ones, but it’s also really rewarding to see the development,” the coach said.

A way of integrating the group into a unit is to be aware of how her players pair off when individual drills are called for, Coach Rando said. “I like to mix it up, and not have two girls who are best friends always pairing up,” she said.

A goal of practices, which will carry over to games, is Coach Rando’s efforts to teach personal responsibility by having players “motivate each other, and themselves.”

Coach Miedema said the start of the season, with four games on the road, will be challenging, facing schools with many times the enrollment of Shelter Island. “But it should even out as the season goes on,” he said. Strengths this season, he said, are infield defense and pitching, which can lead to a winning combination.

Coach Rando said her girls also excelled at infield defense. Her aim will remain throughout the season: To have a team focused on hard work, having fun, improving skills, and coming together as a group sharing goals.