Schools

High School Baseball Coach Turns to Coaching Girls Softball Team

Cougars softball assistant coach Bryce Hadley has learned a thing or two about the differences between coaching baseball players versus softball players.

 

By Brandon Inglis

Many students at Half Moon Bay High School (HMBHS) know Bryce Hadley as the soul-crushing, hypercritical English teacher, (a few characteristics that makes him so popular and well-liked among the students), but only a select few at HMBHS get to call him Coach. This is because, along with being an English teacher, Hadley is also the Assistant Coach for the softball team.

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Hadley began his career as an assistant baseball coach at his old high school and kept this position until a new head coach replaced all the old coaching staff. After he was let go by the baseball team, Hadley joined the staff of the next best thing: the softball team.

Immediately after joining, Hadley realized there were some significant differences between baseball and softball mentalities. The girls he coached were different than his former baseball players; they were easier to coach, in a way, because instead of just wanting to know what was right and what was wrong, they wanted to know why something was right or wrong.

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He also noted that they did not react well to critical or negative feedback, so he focuses more on the positive comments and lets them know how they can improve and what they can do to get better.

“I believe that the power of enthusiasm and emotion are the keys in to motivating high school athletes and there’s always something to be learned in whatever circumstances a game presents to you,” said Hadley. “There’s always a learning opportunity.”

Motivating his athletes is also a large part of Hadley’s job as a coach. He focuses on learning what each individual player values and what motivates them, then asks why. He dissects their minds to discover what really powers them, what makes them want to excel at their sport.

A principal point Hadley attempts to drive across is that each game has meaning; each game will lift you towards being a better player, whether you win or lose.

“The girls learn more from playing well and losing than playing bad and winning. As we get farther into the season, they realize that there are only so many games left and that each game means something. This is what I want them to take away from softball, I want them to realize that nothing lasts forever.”

Brandon Inglis is a staff writer for The Paw Print. He's a sophomore at Half Moon Bay High School. He's also a Pisces and enjoys long, romantic walks on the beach, making finger puppets and watching his dog chase his tail. QWOP is his passion, but he also enjoys water aerobics. He once captured a zapatos with a Great Ball. "Get on my level," he says.

This article originally appeared on The Paw Print, Half Moon Bay High School's online news site.

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