BIG TEAM Little Me

At the opening of our preseason practices in late January, one of the first things we asked of our players — in particular, our eighth graders — was to come up with a slogan for the 2007 season. Earlier this week, they unveiled their motto — BIG TEAM LITTLE ME.

It’s a simple concept but I think the boys did a fantastic job summing up the philosophy we are trying to put in place with the SMS baseball program. Simply put, BIG TEAM LITTLE ME means putting the goals of our team above individual players, above any one player’s personal goals.

But words don’t mean anything unless our actions follow. You can guarantee that myself and the other coaches will follow this philosophy in 2007. We hope our players — and even our parents — will also take these words to heart.

BIG TEAM LITTLE ME tells me these boys mean business about reaching our goals. There is no need to publish these goals here in a public forum — everyone involved with SMS Baseball knows our goals very well.

I’m looking forward to seeing how our players — how these 15 young men — put these words into action over the next few months.

We made a promise to the boys that we would have T-Shirts made with this motto. Check out the sample to the right for an idea on how the shirts will look. We want our players to wear them with pride and help send a message to everyone at St. Mary’s that, in 2007, SMS Baseball will work hard to live by these words.

You also may notice ay www.stmarysbaseball.com a photo of a cap. It’s a sneak preview of our new caps for the 2007 season, and they will feature an emblem that comes from the St. Mary on the Hill crest and is a tribute both to our school and our great parish. I hope everyone likes the look, and in case you’re wondering, our shirts and caps should be ready next week.

Special thanks to former SMS baseball coach Mel La Pan, owner of Harrington’s Sportswear, for donating the caps and for working with us on the t-shirts.