Installment 2. Series of Fortunate Events. A short series.

Thanks for following the story here to my blog. 😜

Passion isn't always an overwhelming onslaught of energetic enthusiasm. Sometimes it’s the constant burning of a flame that keeps one warm and guided. I never thought of the word passion for the things I enjoy, until recently. It takes me a while to grasp things sometimes. Sorta a slow learner I would say. 

Stepping beyond the humbleness to put myself out there is the objective of this series. 

So many have influenced what I do and how I do it. Education is important. Continued striving to learn more and keep up with the latest. No one gets to where they are alone and sometimes those who influence us do so just by  the way they do their thing. 

Installment 2.  Coach Candrea

Life is variety, and those we cross paths with are always for a reason. Didn't really think about my going out to learn from others was much of a deal. I started coaching softball at 14 when we could no longer play because there was no league for us. Kelly and I loved softball so much that since we could not play, we coached. 

Decades later, when Mr. Coates, my boss and the High School’s VP/Athletic Director came to me and said that softball was being added to the athletics program. He wanted me to be the assistant coach for the first season for the softball/baseball teams. 

I coached alongside Don N. Later that same year I was given a brochure for Mike Candrea’s Coaches Clinic if I wanted to go. In October I was off to  Uof AZ.  What an experience! I felt very comfortable and met some legends, although I didn't realize the enormity of it all at the time. It was at this clinic where I actually learned HOW to coach softball. Coach Candrea is passionate about what he does. 

I coached for 9 years and then stepped away from the field after Kelly passed. I just couldn’t be on the field because I wasn’t sure I could keep myself together. A few years later I was once again asked to step into the coaching position as Head Coach. I accepted. I found another coach’s camp that he was a part of I attended yearly a few years. I am a firm believer that if you really want to be the best at what you do, you need to seek out others who excel in that arena. I spoke to Coach a few times, emailed as well. He always had time to answered. 

If you ever get the opportunity o hear Coach Candrea speak, please take the opportunity. He has many words of wisdom to share. Coach has a code of ethics, integrity and compassion that manifests from him. I sincerely enjoy watching college softball and when UfoU plays Arizona I go watch. The last time I got to watch them play, I emailed Coach and asked if I could get a picture with him after a game. He said sure. 

At the first game I met some diehard AZ Wildcat fans. They asked if I was one as well. I said, “Well, sort of. But it's
more like I am a Coach Candrea fan.” They sure lit up with that comment. They were a couple older gentlemen and started telling me lots of great stores of Coach. Some I already knew. The second game was a day game. After the game I hung out at the dug out as did many many others. I took some pics for others, then I stuck my hand out to Coach and introduced myself, letting him know I was the one that emailed him. I handed my phone to someone to take a pic of us. I was so fan-girling in the moment. 

Coach says if you find something you love doing, you won’t work a day in your life. He is one person I look up to and use to help me maintain integrity in what I do. Softball is my first passion. Spent lots and lots of days on a field in all capacities. Groundskeeper, umpire, coach, stats, announcer any and every thing. I stopped coaching softball for good in 2015. I miss being on the field, throwing the ball and hitting to the players, but isn’t my place any longer. 

The planets aligned just right for me to have been in the presence of this guy. Never underestimate what opportunities may present themselves. Sometimes in the most unassuming ways. Learn all things from all things. Being present in the moment will open those opportunities. 

Take it all in.