The Fearless Warrior Podcast

005: Getting Team Buy-In and Building Culture with Coach Tom Horton, Papio South Softball

• Amanda Schaefer, Coach Horton

Share episode

Coach Horton is in his fifth season at the helm of Papillion Lavista, south softball. He's in his 14th year as head coach and 23 years in fast pitch. I've had the opportunity to coach alongside Tom and his team as a mental performance coach. 

What I love most about working with high school athletes is the ability to support coaches as they build their culture and chase really big goals in such a short span of time. Here in Nebraska. We are one of the few states that softball is a fall sport. It's a grind and it lasts about eight weeks and 10 weeks. If you count pre-season and post-season, if you make it. Which is so cool because today we talk about that. How patio south has made it a new program standard to be a contender in the state championship. We break down the skills we worked on to make that possible when it started clicking with his team and how they ultimately took ownership of it and made it their own. So if you're a coach and you've been curious about how mental performance works, how to get your athletes to be all in and what kind of results it can create. 

Keep listening. As we peel back the layers to give you an inside, look of it all. Let's jump into today's episode.

Episode Highlights:

  • How Coach Horton decided to prioritize mental performance to get his team ready for the season.
  • How mental performance training gave the team a common language to work through set-backs.
  • How mental performance coaching helped him understand and coach his players more effectively.
  • The importance of communication on a team.
  • Embracing a team identity 
  • and much more!

Connect with Coach Horton:


More ways to work with Fearless Fastpitch

Follow us on Social Media

Coach Horton is in his fifth season at the helm of Papillion Lavista, south softball. He's in his 14th year as head coach and 23 years in fast pitch. I've had the opportunity to coach alongside Tom and his team as a mental performance coach. What I love most about working with high school athletes is the ability to support coaches as they build their culture and chase really big goals in such a short span of time. Here in Nebraska. We are one of the few states that softball is a fall sport. It's a grind and it lasts about eight weeks and 10 weeks. If you count pre-season and post-season, if you make it. Which is so cool because today we talk about that. How patio south has made it a new program standard to be a contender in the state championship. We break down the skills we worked on to make that possible when it started clicking with his team and how they ultimately took ownership of it and made it their own. So if you're a coach and you've been curious about how mental performance works, how to get your athletes to be all in and what kind of results it can create. Keep listening. As we peel back the layers to give you an inside, look of it all. Let's jump into today's episode.

Amanda:

Coach, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. I'm excited to talk with you today. I know you and I have had lots of really cool conversations, uh, after practices in the parking lot over the phone. And so I'm just really excited to talk about all things mental performance and softball, um, here in Nebraska, we're gearing up for, for high school season in the fall and yeah, give us a snapshot of who you are, how long you've been coaching, uh, and where you're coaching at and what's next. All right, well, I'm at Papio South High School. I'm going into my fifth season there. Um, 14th years, the head coach in the metro, 23rd year in fast pitch. Um, This, this season, uh, it's going to be an interesting growth season for us. So, uh, we graduated eight seniors last year, so we've got a lot of things to replace this coming up season, but, uh, you know, the kids have done a great job this summer, you know, they show up and they work hard and, uh, we've been able to, you know, put a lot of places or pieces in place to, to be ready to go this fall. So it's going to be great. And for those of you guys that are listening, Nebraska, I think we calculated is an eight week season. If you take out preseason and postseason, it is. Hard and heavy. It is, it is very intense. We'll we'll play anywhere between 32 to 36 games in those eight weeks. And we get that 10 day window of practice at the very beginning, and which includes a inner squad and a jamboree game now. And, uh, so it's not even all just practice games or practices, but, um, yeah, once we hit the ground run and there's not a lot of wiggle room for growth after that. So. Yeah. Well, let's jump right in. You mentioned the jamboree game and I know I gave you crap for that as a, you know, we, we have all these, these games that we start more than any other sport is volleyball has a little bit of breathing room and then we jump right into it. Talk about one of the first conversations that you and I had had together where, you know, we were discussing mental performance. You wanted me to come in and do some sessions with your team. Talk about that, um, internal dialogue and that dialogue with me of, Oh man, do we sacrifice physical practice time you and I had decided to start in the classroom. Can you talk about that internal struggle as a coach of. Man, we're so used to physical, physical, physical, every, every minute of every practice plan is planned. Can you talk about that? Yeah. Um, you know, it got to a point where, um, we were just wanting to allow our students to focus on the mental side and the confidence piece of it. Um, and we wanted to give them an opportunity to, or even an edge really, um, in their performance. And so we thought that, Hey, this was going to be a good place to start and to get into the classroom. And I, I've always kind of done classroom stuff for about 10 years or so, as far as like in the summer and the off season and where we have conversations of, of leadership and what the team's going to look like. Um, but to do it, like building up to the season and in season, you're right. It was kind of like, um, okay, we're wasting time, um, not being on the field. And, and getting, and getting our reps in and all that kind of stuff. And, um, but it, it really gave the players a great opportunity and great, uh, dialogue was what we found as the season went on, um, in that practice that you came out and ran for them. And, and we started behind the shed and had the conversations and came out and we did the failure, failure drill. And then we came back and had the conversation, you know, it was like essentially one drill for like an hour, you know, it was one deal we were doing, but. Um, you know, again, I gave him, um, a real world, um, experience to see that failure piece and then to be able to apply it right away. Um, which for our game, um, as anaerobic as it is, and as long as it is, it's still explosion at times and they need to be ready to go and their last, um, their last rep or hit or ball hit to them could have been an error. And they've got to learn to let it go because they might get the next one or they might not get it for 20 minutes. And then they're going to sit there and dwell on it. And again, they've got to learn to release it. And so, uh, working with you has been, it's been awesome. And the dialogue that we're able to have with our players, um, at practice or in games or whatever, and, and we start moving things forward, you know, I know at some point, you know, we'll bring up the fatty baddies, um, you know, and that was the, the girls were able to, to name their. their positive personality that got them moving and being in that zone. And, you know, for years you've heard people kind of talk about that, like being in the zone and what's that mean? Um, I think working with you and what we've been able to do with these kids is being able to getting that zone is great, but they recognize when they're not in that zone. They recognize when they're in a negative mindset and it helps them work through it a lot quicker. Um, and we've seen it, we've seen it on the field and we've seen it through a season and kids get their growth piece of it. And they're not necessarily the same at the beginning of the season that they are at the end of the season because they've worked on it for so long. So it's been a good experience. Yeah. I love that common language. And when you're talking about that, the conversations that you and I have had of not just as, you know, I'm not just teaching the girls as a coaching staff, you guys are kind of morphing, how are you coaching? Can you kind of talk about, we'll just dive into that conversation of. You know, seeing you at the state tournament this past year, and I will never forget this. You said, Hey, did you know that our state shirts were orange? And that was such a cool moment for me because we had talked about personality colors and the conversations of, you know, if your entire team is quote unquote, an orange personality, but you yourself are a gold coach. Talk about those conversations that you and I have had about how has that changed how you and your staff coach your girls. Uh, you know, so you'll hear a coach say all the time, every team is different year to year. They're always different. And I think one of the things for us was when we did the personality test and we saw where we were at and everything, and, and I'm, I'm very structured. You're right. I'm a gold. And, um, we come to practice, we do our work, we get done and we move on. I had a lot of oranges the last couple of years and you know, they need music at practice and they want to mess around a little bit and they just, they need to be, um, not necessarily less structure, but they just, it does have to be a shade more fun, like for them to like, stay engaged the entire time. Um, yeah, it definitely changed the way practice plans happened over the last two years. And this last season specifically, we were senior led. Like I said, we had eight seniors. Um, the majority of them are oranges. And so we leaned into the wave and we just went with it. And so our practice plans looked that way. They were a little bit looser, but but on task and um When we qualified for state again, that's, that's where the orange shirts came from. It was just, you know what, Hey, we, we adopted it, we accepted it and we're going to flaunt it now and we're going to the state tournament all wearing orange. But, um, yeah, it is really good. It's, it's also given me an understanding as a coach and the fact that, Hey, this is who I am, this is what I want to see. These are my results. However, they're not hearing the same thing as I'm talking to them because of the way they process. because of the way they look at stuff. And so it's given us an opportunity to identify our players and say, Hey, here's my structured kid. All right, this is what we're going to do over here. This is kind of my, you know, free and loose kid. And this is how I'm going to have to talk to her and address her and get through stuff. Um, as a pitching coach by trade. I know all of my pictures are a little bit different and it's a matter of going out to the circle and knowing, do I need to tell a joke to one kid and getting her loosen up? Do we need to get more serious with another player and be like, Hey, this is our performance and our expectation and just how they're going to respond. Um This gave us that on a bigger scale, um, being able to do that with all of the players opposed to just like very specific individuals. So, um, yeah, it's, it's been interesting. It's been good to be able to make those adjustments. I think practice was fine last year. I think, uh, one of the things the girls really enjoyed, um, So our team last year was, they knew their jobs, they were senior led, they were veterans, and so it wasn't about showing up to practice and being like, all right, here's the game plan, this is what we're going to do, and we're going to get through it. Um, they knew what they were going to do. They knew their jobs. So I started every practice with a dad joke. Some were good, some were bad, and they let me, and they let me know. They were, they were very good about critiquing all of my jokes. Um, but um, Uh, it, it allowed us to start practice that way with a bunch of oranges that needed to laugh to get moving forward and, and to have fun through practice. So, um, yeah, it was just those little nuances is what's going to allow us to be successful. So, and if you were a time traveler and you could go back to Tom five years ago, or even 10 years ago, you probably would have looked at yourself. Like you were crazy. You would have never guessed that that's how you would have started practice. I, I tell you, yeah, so there's, I tell people all the time, 14 years in, I said, there's, I would not coach, I would not have coached this way 14 years ago. And, um, you know, players have changed and times have changed or whatever. But, um, yeah, you know, I mean, every older coach can go back and say that they're like, ah, man, I was. I was inexperienced or man, I just probably shouldn't have been doing that, you know, 15 years ago or whatever. But, um, you know, those guys, you know, back then, again, it was still just about that structure and that's who I was, my way or the highway, it is what it is. And, and, uh, you know, now, now I think that just being able to communicate and have that, that good, uh, communication with the players is huge. Um, I think one of the things that we focus on and, and, uh, maybe we'll talk about it later, but it's just a confidence piece for some of our athletes. Um, I have some really good athletes and they don't, they don't see that. And so us being able to have those conversations of, you know, no, this is what you do well. And then recognizing that, that what they do well, again, it's that communication piece that we're able to build on. So, yeah. Well, and it's the culture that you've built, that a lot of the programs that I've either coached myself or been a part of when I step into the classroom or step onto the field with your girls, As their mental performance coach coming into the fold, being a part of your staff to compliment. And I tell them, you guys really have a great coaching staff that cares about you. I think that that culture has become evident. Whereas in the first couple of years, they kind of looked at me like, yeah, yeah, sure. But I think they're starting to see that and having that, having that in your repertoire as a coach, I think speaks volumes because, you know, watching you from afar and watching you coach. The end of season is truly bittersweet and watching you guys at the state tournament. I see and hear those conversations from the girls and you want them to have those fond memories. And I, I don't think that that's the case for every program for sure. Yeah. Go ahead. So let's jump in. I, I had a note I want to talk about the past couple of years and, um, kind of the cool story that you guys have built, which, um, you know, I. I suppose I should go back and clarify your school colors are blue. And so to have orange state shirts is kind of unique, but talk a little bit about, you know, go back to 2021. Uh, you had asked me to start working with your, your team and your program and having those, those skills and those realizations describe what, what made those. A difference maker in your season. Um, you know, you and I have, have kind of gone through some of the stats. You remember the stats better than I do, but, but talk about 2021 post season. Um, so 21 post season. So, uh, that year in itself was, was. Really unique. Um, so we had started working together in the summer and throughout the season and everything. And, um, things were kind of moving along. Season was going fine. And that was the year we lost our starting pitcher, um, to that car accident where, um, her, she'd had that leg injury. And so we're right in the middle of the season. And as I kind of told everybody at the time, it was kind of like building an airplane while we were flying it. Um, we didn't have a lot of time to, you know, shut down and rebuild. And even after the accident where we had, you know, seven players one way or another were involved with that whole thing, like we had to play the next day. And so we had to have all of these conversations and a lot of the stuff that we had worked with, um, with you and talking about just their identity. And, um, building that self to and jumping onto the fatty baddies and everything and what we were looking for and continue to build for helped us, um, maintain a goal. And so going into districts that year, I think we were seated, uh, overall somewhere 14th or 16th in the, in the state. Um, we were 14 and 16 overall, and, um, we had. We had, I don't wanna say limped, but we had definitely, we had worked for every win we had gotten up to that point. We had put a lot of time and effort into, um, to be able to qualify for state around here, though, we've got automatic bids. And so we, as I told them going into it, I said, Hey, the only way we're making it to Hastings this year, which would have been our second year in a row, is we got to win districts. And we ended up in the number one overall, uh, district with Gretna, who was the number one team in the state. And they were sitting in 27 and three at the time. Um, I said, all right, here's our role. This is who we got to go through to get there. And What happened at districts really propelled into our 2022 season as well. It gave me a real tangible experience that I was able to give to the next year's team. We'll talk about that in a second, but going into it, I told him, I said, Hey, you know, we have to win to go. We have absolutely nothing to lose. We're number 14th in the state guys. This isn't, you know, nobody's expecting us to win this guy. We're getting ready to play the number one team in the state. And we took a very, um, aggressive, fun, um, what we termed later is our hashtag flex mentality. And we just played with it. Uh, we stayed completely positive. No mistake mattered. No strikeout mattered. No home run giving up mattered. Um, and they played really free and loose. And it was really awesome to watch because, I mean, it, I mean, as a coach, you get to sit back and just like your athletes just played and they went out there and they made big plays and they celebrated each other throughout the entire thing. Our dugout was completely dialed in. Um, Mariah, um, the pitcher who ended up with the leg injury, uh, she kind of became, so we had these ending boards. Um, in the dugout and it keeps scouting reports and it keeps what we've done through the ending and all this kind of stuff. Well, she's also an artist on top of that. And so she started drawing all of these little things, these little stick figures flexing throughout this whole thing or whatever, and the players really jumped on board with all of it. And that was a big piece where we saw like our mental, our mental health and our mental strength was going to be a big thing for us because we were talented. Just like every team, we were talented. We had that skills, um, but they really believed into them. And yeah, we jumped out on Gretna, uh, right away in the first game, uh, where like we're up five, zero, we'd hit a grand slam. Our, our catcher had, had really had a great offseason. She hit it up or, uh, sorry, post season. She ended up hitting like 650 for the post season between districts and state and, uh, and never looked back. One benefit to us, I think, and I told him at that time was like, we actually didn't play Gretna in a regular season that year. Um, so it was a little bit unknown, you know, it was like going in, we hadn't seen each other or whatever. So, um, we got to go in again, we played free and loose and, uh, at Abby pitched extremely well, just kind of dominated the entire time. Um, yeah, it was, it was a great experience for them to do that and to be able to qualify for state, um, after the season that they'd kind of gone through, uh, was huge. Um, And like I said, I come back to the, you know, our hashtag flex, which kind of led into the 2022 is that it was very tangible for those girls to see that. Like I said, guys, when we play this way, when we celebrate us and we celebrate our teammates and we celebrate, you know, everything, we forget the negative stuff because negative stuff's going to happen. Errors are going to happen. Strikeouts are going to happen. And when we just put that aside and accept that it's going to happen, but then we celebrate the big things. Um, we just, our, our dugout and our team, the positiveness is that we just had through that district, which was huge, you know, and I wrote down the quote, because Patty Gasso reminded me of when she was talking about after the world series this year and said, unapologetic about the energy and celebration that you have. And I was like, yeah, that was us to a T you know, and I really liked that it allows them to play that way. So that's incredible. And, and having that buy in from your seniors, even from Mariah, who. Wasn't able to physically contribute, I think says a lot, but it wasn't something that we had talked about in that poignant moment of the season. It was something that they had prepared ahead of time, talk about the identity of big fatty baddies and kind of get into that, of the mental skill that we're talking about here is self one versus self two from the inner game of tennis and using that as a tangible tool to recognize and give your athletes an opportunity to, to own that themselves. and hold themselves accountable to recognize when they're not being in that identity and then being able to flip that switch, which for you guys is. Big fatty baddies. Yeah. So big, big fatty baddies. All right. BFF. So they, uh, you know, they came up with that. Is that, is that a positive self too, that they're ready to go with? And the great thing about it was, was that they, they took ownership of it. They took accountability of it. And it was again, that language and communication piece to where they were able to talk to each other and be like, Hey, you're in self one right now. You need to take a minute and fix that and you need to get back to big fatty baddies. And, and you could see it, you could see it as we walked through, you could see our dugout and their mentality. And, um, and we talked throughout the season how we would see players early on in the season and when they would struggle, they would isolate, they'd get down on themselves. Um, you know, Or really snap back at other players, and this gave us a good communication piece for them specifically with each other of, Hey, that's not how we're gonna roll. Um, you need to get you need to get your mind right and move back into self to and so that so that we can be successful as a team. And and they really they did a great job with it, you know, and that team specifically, they were just able to, um show us that growth piece, especially going into districts. Um, again, how we kind of talked about how they just kind of stayed positive through everything, even when errors did happen, or even when that big strikeout did happen, they just, okay, hey, let's go get the next one. And that, that went all season long. Um, especially coming back and kind of rebuilding the staff a little bit after, after the injury, we had their mid season. Um, it was a huge piece for them to understand. Um, How to stay positive and get through that growth piece, um, and get through the negative piece and get through the hard stuff. And because it happened, I mean, we definitely You know, mid season we were, we were losing some games that we probably wouldn't have normally. And, uh, you know, so they had to recognize that and they're like, okay, you know, we can, we can sulk or, you know, and check our stuff in or we can figure it out. And they did a really good job with it. That's incredible. And, and talk about, were there any moments where you, are these moments that you and your coaching staff overheard? Did you let them take some of the huddles? Like talk, like give us a behind the scenes look of that. Like what does that sound like? I would say as the season went on, um, especially at Districts, um, we gave them the huddles. Like it became, it became a situation where again, like that team, like they, once we got through everything, like they knew their jobs, they knew what they needed to do, just like last season, they knew their jobs, they knew what they needed to do. And we let them control kind of their motivation and their motor in there, you know, and, and so, um, all the time we're just like, Hey, I'll be here to help. I'm going to give you all the tools you need, everything else, but I can't start your motor for you. And so that's one of those things where they really, once they got moving. Uh, they were kind of unstoppable. So, so awesome. So building off of the 2021 season, now let's talk about last year, which would have been the 2022 season. Talk about the kind of turnover of those seniors. What does that look like? In your program. I guess we're talking now about this season. I'm getting them mixed up. Talk about 2022. I'm combining them. Well, so the great thing was, was it from 21 to 22? Uh, we had all those juniors that then came into seniors, which is why, which was why the hashtag flex was able to come because I, you know, you saw it, you saw it at districts and, and, and they went into state and still, they still kind of played that way. Um, when we got to state, it was definitely like, uh, hey, we're not necessarily supposed to be here. And so, you know, there was a little bit of hesitation as they got through that piece of it. But, um, you know, coming into this year, like I, again, I was able, I mean, real early in our off season meetings, I said, guys, uh, this is how we played at districts. This is what you need to understand. This is how we play period from now on. It is, it is a new identity stamp, um, for the program and we'll accept nothing less. And, and they, they jumped on board with it again. It was all, all eight of them had been, uh, starters the year before. And then, so now here they are starters again, and they were just, they were just able to roll. Um, and in fact, in my career is kind of nice because it's the first time I've had that many kids. I kind of stick around for, you know, one season or whatever, between not graduating. And so, um, on the coaching side of it, you know, we really were just able to kind of keep rolling, um, for two years straight, socialize, which. It's kind of the challenge we got this year because now they're all graduated. But, uh, yeah, so moving into 2022, um, they, they took ownership of that. Um, they took ownership of flex, uh, became ourself too. Um, and so then that's how they played and then they held everybody accountable on the field. Even our freshmen, our true freshmen, they're like, Hey. We know that you're young and you're inexperienced, but this is how we play. So you need to step up to this. Like you're going to be fine, but this is where we're going to hold you to this accountability. So, um, it was great to see them grow through that piece of it. And in a loving way, I mean, I think it's hard for them because they don't want to be the cranky senior, you know, the nitpicky senior. And so if it's an identity piece of this is how we do things around here, it's not a, he versus we versus she, it's just. This is welcome to the program. You're a freshman. You want to hop on this bus, hop on the bus. This is how we do it. Yeah, no, it's great. Cause we had, so I had a very senior, uh, level third baseman last year. Um, she was locked down third for, for many years and she did a great job. Well, she had the freshman right next to her. And so we had those conversations with her. It's like, Hey, this is your, this is kind of your job. You guys are same side of field. You're going to talk to her. You're going to keep her positive. You're going to keep her loose. Don't let her get into her head. Let her talent just do the job and don't think too much about it. You do all the thinking. Just make sure that she knows what's going on that way because your experience is going to be there to help her through that piece of it. Um, and they did a great job. They really did. It was, it was a nice blend. And then on the other side of that, she was still a senior. However, she was a first year starter for us over at first base. And, but she was part of that class and she was part of that, that identity, um, of that, the flex mentality and same thing, just straight owned it and did a phenomenal job as first year. She had ever played first base. And, you know, in the last five years I've been in south was one of our better first baseman. She did a great job. So, um, and all of that came with her work and their mentality, um, and being able to train together with that. So. So awesome. So fast forward to 2022 postseason districts. Talk, talk about that. So we had a little bit better season, um, you know, going into it, uh, when we were in the Miller North district, their number four overall. Um, but we definitely had, um, we've had a lot of hopes coming into this one. Um, so we dropped the first one to. Well, we beat Belize and then we dropped one to Miller North on that first day. So we got to come back and go through the elimination days. Um, this is where our positive and flex mentality really came in. So it was kind of a nasty cold day. Uh, it was like 40 mile hour winds blowing straight in. I mean, it was extremely windy that definitely affected the game. We talk about it all the time. Um, however, our outfielders and defense in general just handled the wind and the ball and our outfielders made some absolutely amazing catches, um, throughout and the whole game. It wasn't like maybe one or two or three. Uh, they probably made 11. That made a huge difference in the game and they stuck with it and we celebrated every one of them. I mean, it was just a matter of, like I said, they, they, they played with flex and that was their, that was their self to identity that year. And, and, uh, they knew again, we were still kind of in a position wildcard point wise that we had to win districts to be able to go to state again. And, uh, so they, they knew the task at hand and they showed up and they got it done. They, they beat East the second day. They beat, um, uh, Miller North in a, in a dog fight and the first championship game, um, and it was, it was definitely Sagan. You had to push the if game. We did. We had to push the if game. It was definitely, um, you know, they, we had to play really well, um, uh, to be successful in that first one. And then the second game, our mentality was there, it was flex and, and we, we kind of took control of that second game really early. Um, yeah. And so again, it was just them staying together and it was really nice for that group. I mean, they been together for a long time and, and, uh, uh, we'll be able to graduate at a very successful class. So. Well, and I think they could have very easily crumbled under the expectation of we've been to state. This is now a new program expectation. We are now in another tough district. How do we battle the elements? We dropped a game. We're in the loser's bracket. We're seniors. We don't want our season to end. I mean, there is pressure after pressure after pressure that was mounting that post season. So to see them at state again with that class was really special. And they really, they didn't, and they didn't fold to any of that because of that self too. It's because they continued to believe in who they were and how they were going to play. And had we lost at the end of it, okay, I'm pretty sure that most of us, everybody could have accepted it because we played that way. Um, but because we played that way, they were able to achieve, uh, that that district championship. So Yeah. And we won't get into the details of state, but I think that, you know, even the way that it ended at state, I think they knew there was no doubt in their mind that they belonged, you know, whether it was, you know, eighth or runner up, or they could have had that shot at state champions. It was the fact of seeing them behind the scenes and the conversations when season was done of, we have every right to be there standing in Hastings, standing in the complex, giving them We belong here was just, it gives me chills to think they did. They absolutely earned it. And, and so I'll be honest with it. This is the second game of the state tournament was against Miller North again. And, uh, it ended up being an absolute dog fight. Uh, I think the final was 15 to 14. Um, but I will again, contribute their self to, to, to that fight. They could have easily. Chopped it up. In fact, actually, we were the ones that went ahead early, uh, of six zero. And we just kind of saw it coming back and we'd played each other, what, four times at that point and point in a week and a half or whatever. And so, you know, pitching and hitting, there was no secrets left. Uh, it was just about performance at that point. And, uh, you know, and again, so it's kind of one of those where, you know, yeah, we lost, but we can definitely walk away knowing that they played hard mentally. They were in the game. They never at any second gave up and so. You know, when the time ran out, we just were on the, on the downside of it. So, yeah. And now we have this expectation and we're going into the 2023 season and coming back, working with your team, talk about the decisions that you're making, moving forward, knowing that season, by the time this airs on the podcast season, we'll have started. And so what's kind of your mentality. Going into this year. Yeah, gosh, by the time this airs, we might, we're gonna be 10 games into the season. Um, um, you know, so, so we did have a big turnover, right? We're going to be really young this year. Um, we're definitely going to be sophomore led, probably looking to start somewhere between four to five sophomores. Um, in those positions, um, uh, having you come back in to work with them and, and, uh, you know, we've kind of redone a personality test again this year and our color changed a little bit, you know, so it's not near as many oranges or a little bit more blues and gold. So, so we get along a little bit better. But, uh, you know, they're, they're still, they're still a very seasoned team. And the fact that, you know, they've got a lot of experience under them, a couple of the kids that we're going to, our players, we're going to lean on a little bit, you know, did perform for us quite a bit, uh, last year as freshmen and, and, uh, you know, they're, they're, they're finding their own identity, um, to be competitive out there, to hold each other accountable. And, um, we, we, even about mid season last year, we started talking about how. When this year comes, like our teams couldn't be more far apart personality wise. They're just, it's 180 degrees. Um, so these guys, you know, they show up and they've accepted it and they, they, they're looking to hold each other accountable, which is that big piece. Um, their confidence is there. Um, they know that they can do it. They, even the younger ones, they were there and they saw it. And so, yeah, it's an expectation to get to Hastings, but it's definitely not, um, it's not a daunting task for them. They just, that's when our season ends is when we go to Hastings. So, and nothing before that. Yeah. Well, I'm, I'm so excited for this season and continue. Uh, you know, we've had lots of classroom sessions, two classroom sessions already this summer. And so the next time I see you will be at the scrimmage and, um, talk a little bit about coaching and the decisions that you've made as far as. Um, you know, intentionally finding times, even when I'm not working with your team to slow down, have them journal, maybe having a chalk talk where, you know, asked coach Horton would have, you know, I know you guys play Sandlot in the end, but those are all intentional coaching decisions. Talk about those decisions that you're making now as a coach. You know, um, the journaling is coming from, um, our, our head cross country coach has been doing it for two years, and he did a coach's clinic up with us, um, this last spring. And I listened to him and I listened to, he's got some, you know, pointed conversations that his, his runners do, uh, pregame and postgame. And, and I really liked that because. It gives our kids an opportunity to one, lay out their goals. Um, but then to, to sit down and reflect, you know, did I meet my goals? Yeah, maybe we lost, but, um, you know, I met my goal. And so that's, that's kind of a big thing that I want them to understand. Cause one on one conversations I have at times, and I'll talk to a kid over the weekend, I'm like, Hey, you're out with your club team. How did you do this? And she's like, well, I didn't do very good. I said, Oh, well, what did you do? And she's like, well, I hit two triples, a double on a home run, but you know, we lost. And so, so we've been having those conversations. I've said, yeah, okay, you lost, which, which is a bummer. I said, however, you can't come tell me that you did a bad job when you went 700 for the weekend. Um, and so the journal in itself is that piece of it is that I want them to be able to recognize, Hey, I am doing a good job. Um, it's hopefully going to allow them to stay in that, in that self to and up at the top peak in their zone, um, for a lot longer, um, and that they'll be able to accept maybe some setbacks or failures without really looking too much into it. Cause I'm going to have 15 pages of success and I'm going to have one page of, yeah, it wasn't a great day, but okay, but I have 15 pages of success. And so, yeah, we've been using it a little bit different this summer. Um, and the fact that they just, they write down after like team cams or, uh, we do our PGMs on Monday, right. Our personal growth Mondays. Um, and then we'll use those as well, moving into our player meetings, uh, for the, uh, for the fall. And then that way we've got same common, uh, common language and they can really point to stuff cause you, you know, like you, you're like, Oh, I need to go talk to somebody, but it's two days later and you're like, uh, I knew I needed to talk to you. I don't remember what it was, but. You know, here it is in the journal and we can sit down and have those conversations. But, um, I just want those guys to be able to really one, set their goals, but to recognize that they're achieving, you know, whether, whether as a team we're being successful or not, but them as an individual player, they are getting better. Um, and you're right. 10 years ago, not, not something necessarily on my radar, uh, to be doing something like that. And, and I think this is just going to give them an opportunity to one grow as an individual, but it gives us an opportunity as a team just to be more successful. You know, right? Well, and even before we hit record today, we were talking about the difference of this generation really does have a lot more pressure of game changer and Twitter and recruiting and live streams of their games. And, you know, we had kind of talked about it's a, uh, uh, quick sand slope, slippery slope, however you want to call it, uh, attaching their identity to their performance on the field. Can you kind of talk about how are you addressing that with your players? You know, um, I think the biggest thing is, is one, we just make sure all of our kids, like they know that we care about them, uh, whether they, you know, perform on the field or not. Um, I really do try to make sure that we have a conversation in the beginning and that, you know, whether you're a starter for me or not, um, you know, we care about you as an individual, right? You need to understand that like your, your personality and who you are as a person doesn't relate to what you do on the field. And so we address that and make sure that we kind of have those conversations and that they understand it. Um, you know, the social media part of it is, it's, it's just more and more and more. Um, I mean, I just saw as recently as yesterday that there's a Colorado softball high school player that's got an NIL. Um, you know, and so this thing is just. It's, it's out there and it's, you know, going to show up in our sport and everything goes from pros to college to high school and we'll see you soon enough. Um, but the big thing for them is, is that I want them to understand that when they come out here one, we care about him a two, they're representing something bigger than themselves. And so they get the opportunity to do that through, you know, competing role player. Um, focusing on their growth as an individual so that when they leave the program, um, I always want to be able to produce good citizens. And so when they leave, I hope that's what we've been able to do. Yeah. And more than anything, knowing, Hey, coach Horton had my back, you know, and I know that the dice doesn't always roll that way as head coaches. I have a couple more questions for you before we close out. And one of them is a specific question to you. And then the other one is one that I ask all my podcast guests, but. The first one specific to high school coaching that, you know, as a former head high school coach myself. Can you talk about what is one thing that you wish more players, parents, uh, other coaches out there? What's one thing that you wish more people understood about coaching? Great question. Um, you know, I mean the time commitment piece of it, um, the fact that we really lose sleep over almost every decision we do make, um, that's. We want to help all of our players grow and get better and to reach their fullest potential, right? That's like, that's like our number one goal. What people see, however, is what the product that we have to put on the field. And when we have to put the best nine out there, that doesn't always include. player 11 or player 12 who, who did, did everything we asked him to, who played hard. It was in the weight room who improved just like the other nine improved and just, and just understanding like, you know, that we're actually all on the same team. It's not, you know, coaches versus players versus parents or whatever that we're here to help them grow as an individual. That's a big piece of it. Um, you know, being able to, I think maybe a few years back, you know, I think, uh, Volunteering was a little bit more common as far as like, you know, parents helping out and stuff like that. And there just seems to have been more of a wall kind of built up between coaching staffs and parents and players and all that kind of stuff, because a lot of people start focusing only on number one, you know, that one individual, um, that's kind of the hardest thing I think we see right now. Um, and just know that like, we're, we're, Literally trying to do our best, you know, and put a good product on the field and take care of all of our players at the same time. And, and, uh, just because your kid's not a starter doesn't mean that, you know, we've forgotten about them or don't care about them or whatever. It's just, you know, at this point in time, that's, that's where they're at, you know, and I guess lastly, there is that, you know, I tell people all the time, like. One of the things I love about coaching high school is that we get a mix of kids, and we get to represent our community, and I'll have a freshman and a senior on the same field. They're not like all 18 years or 17 years or 16 years or whatever, and we're putting the best nine up there and giving them the best shot that they can. I just really enjoy being able to do that, being able to enjoy to watch them grow over those four years and stuff. So, um, parents could just, you know, remember that piece of it sometimes that, you know. We're doing it for the love of the game and then for the kids still it's, uh, uh, it'd be nice. That'd be amazing. Yeah. We all, we all need reminders because I think it's easy. I mean, I lost myself as a head coach, getting swept up in the X's and the O's. And so from a veteran coach to a former coach, I think that's one thing that I took away from you and watching your programs now on the other side of coaching as a mental performance coach is you practice what you preach and you really do care about your kids. And I think. The wins and losses really do take care of themselves, which is, it's cool. So, all right. Final question. As you were a time traveler and you can go back in time and give your past self one message. What would you tell yourself to relax? It all works out in the end. You know, um, yeah, I think, especially early on, um, when I was, when I was at my former high school, I put a lot of time and pressure in on myself and even on the kids to perform. We were trying to build a program over there. And, uh, it just. I really cared a lot about what, what we looked like on the field and how that, you know, translated to wins and losses and everything else. And, and I think the biggest thing is, is that we can, you know, we can probably get more with less sometimes. Um, I mean, I, I'm, I'm almost down to two hour practice nowadays in the fall. And if you talk to some of my alumni from the other school, it wasn't uncommon to go to three or possibly even three and a half hours at some point. So. Um, you know, less is more. Um, yeah, you know, if I could just tell them to relax a little bit and, uh, you know, listen to the players and let them play, um, not control quite as much that it's, you'll be successful with it. So gold, gold advice, coaches out there that are listening to this. I hope you are listening because I could have heeded that advice five years ago. Tom, thank you so much as your girls call you coach Horton. I just really appreciate. All of your mentorship and your friendship and sharing just your authentic advice and behind the scenes look of what it's been like to implement some of these mental skills. I know we are going to talk more about this on the podcast, but, uh, the best place to follow you in your season. I know you guys are active on Twitter. If you guys want to follow, um, your season Twitter's is the best place, right? Yeah. Twitter. We, it's the same handles, uh, PLS Titan softball, um, on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Um, one more thing that I do just make sure that everybody gets the information out there, but yeah, it'd be a great time to follow up. It should have a good season. It's going to be a great season. I'm looking forward to it. Awesome. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thanks.

People on this episode

Contributor

Amanda Schaefer

Host