I've held several titles in my life. They run the gambit from professional ones like "reporter" and "news editor," to more personal ones like "dad" and "husband." This spring, I added "coach."

We signed up our oldest, Oliver, for tee ball this spring in Hartley. My better half suggested I volunteer as a coach, and several weeks of staring at the COACHES NEEDED ad in this very newspaper finally resulted in me joining on.

Lindsay Kracht and I were the only ones who originally volunteered to lead 35-plus tee ballers. Eventually, we were joined by Emma Vollink, Nick Stueben and Scott Wagner. Th...