As part of USA Football’s Football Development Model pillar of Coach Education and Training, a good coach can have an impact on a child that will last a lifetime.  For me, my love of sports came from my father, Barry Schwartz, and I learned a lot about sports from him, especially when he was my little league baseball coach. He was the perfect youth sports coach because he truly cared about each and every child on the team. He tried to teach each player the right way to play and wanted to make sure that each kid had fun.

To be completely honest, I wasn’t much of an athlete when I was growing up but I loved to play baseball. I got a hit here and there but my favorite position to play was first base. However, I knew at a really young age that my love of sports was not going to get me to play at Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium or Giants Stadium. Hopefully, it would lead to me covering the stars that graced those fields as well as other fields, courts, and rinks all over the country.

Thankfully, the latter worked out just fine. 

My father took me to a lot of games and that was a great part of my childhood, but it was pretty cool to be able to call him my coach even though I still addressed him as “Dad.” He taught me how to play baseball and how to treat my teammates and other coaches, but he also taught me how to be prepared to play. That included having the right attitude and the right equipment. I’ll always remember when he took me to a sporting goods store to buy my first glove and it’s something I couldn’t stop thinking about when I took my sons for theirs.  

The most important thing my father taught me was that sports were more than just how good you are on the field. 

I remember when my dad was asked by our little league to be one of the coaches in the All-Star Game. I was really excited for him because he was a great coach and that the little league rewarded him for his efforts. It was my father’s responsibility to pick a few players from a handful of teams to make up his roster for the All-Star Game and for some reason he chose me.

I was furious because I wasn’t very good and I felt that I was taking a spot away from someone else who really deserved it. It was my opinion that my dad chose me because I was his son. I told myself I wasn’t going to play.  My mother was able to calm me down and I reluctantly agreed to play but I wasn’t very happy about it. It was already hard enough to be the “coach’s kid” and now he picked me to play in the All-Star Game when I didn’t belong there.

That was my feeling at the time, but that changed a few weeks later.

At the end of the season little league breakfast, my father was asked to hand out individual trophies to the players, and that included those that were selected as “All-Stars.” I swore to my parents that I didn’t want to go up and get that trophy because I didn’t deserve it. I begged my father to just put mine in a bag and not call me up. But he didn’t listen to me and I’m glad he didn’t. 

What he said is something I have in my heart to this day as I watch my kids play.

My father told everyone at the breakfast that I was picked as an All-Star not because of my skill but because of my passion. He went onto explain that there was more to playing than just playing…that I was always the first one on the field for practice and games. He thanked me for always carrying the equipment bag to and from the car, for playing the game the right way, for treating my teammates with respect and making him proud to be my father.

I’ve tried being a youth sports coach for my kids and I’m awful at it. I’m not nearly as patient with it as he was. My problem is that my biggest takeaway from playing for him is that I care about each and every child – and not just mine.

I just want to be a dad so I’m not coaching anymore. But that doesn’t mean I won’t help out if another coach asks me to. I always want to apply what my father taught me to my boys and if it’s appropriate, to their teammates.  Having my dad as a coach was special and I think my kids would say the same thing from the couple of times that I’ve done it. But I also think they would admit that it wasn’t a very comfortable experience for me.

Maybe things are different today than it was when I was playing little league baseball when it comes to coaching kids, dealing with parents and other coaches. I would tell you that if you asked my kids who their favorite coaches are or were, the answer shouldn’t be me. I say I’m retired but I said that last year when I was asked to coach in flag football. I swore I wouldn’t do it again, but I keep thinking that my dad would never say no. How can you say no to being there, not just for your kids, but for any child?

Peter is a sports anchor for the CBS Sports Radio Network and WFAN Radio in New York.  His son Bradley is entering his first year of high school football and is a participant in the U.S. National Team program while his younger son Jared plays flag football.   Peter, his wife Sheryl and the boys are busy cheering on the New York Jets when they’re not at a youth football field.