All Posts

Ages 10–12: Where the Game Gets Built (and Sometimes Lost)

There’s a truth about youth baseball that no one bothers to mention when you’re strapping that first batting helmet on your 10-year-old....

Charles D'Amico

Aug 115 min read

THE FUNNEL: Understanding the Real Numbers in Youth Baseball

Every August, as the Little League World Series plays on TV, a stat circulates online and in youth baseball circles: “Only 8% of high...

Charles D'Amico

Aug 95 min read

Total Meal: Lessons from Arkansas vs LSU and the Beauty of Baseball

There’s a moment in every baseball game that gets replayed. It’s often not the thousands of quiet steps it took to get there, but the one...

Charles D'Amico

Jun 212 min read

The Downside of Building Up Confidence

Teaching kids to carry themselves, not just play the game — and accepting what comes after. The Promise and the Paradox Everyone wants confident kids.But when they actually show up with confidence, things change.They used to hang their head after a mistake. Now they’ll smile, nod, and say, “Coach, you’re right — I messed that up.” They bounce back faster because they know the sentence doesn’t end with the mistake — it ends with the next move.That shift — from “I’m broken” to

Charles D'Amico

Oct 304 min read

The Real Movie

I’m sitting in the cage.The air’s heavy.I can feel my breath moving, wrapping around my hands. I feel anxious. I don’t know what to say. I feel bad inside.The ball rests near my feet. The stitches stare at me. I’m just a kid. Simple. Lean. I can’t speak, so I squint instead. The sound isn’t clear — nothing is.The ball hits the target but doesn’t snap the way it should. My legs feel stuck. I can’t run. I slide. Reset the tee. My hand hurts. My shirt sticks to my back. I think

Charles D'Amico

Oct 278 min read

Part 2: Fill the Void — Turning Presence into Practice

The Quiet Years Before 806 Drive After that tournament, I didn’t start a team.I didn’t rant, or pull my kid out, or try to prove a point. Instead, I went quiet. For about a year, I helped his head coach behind the scenes — quietly organizing things, helping with lineups, keeping notes, trying to make sense of it all. It wasn’t glamorous or official. It was spreadsheets at midnight, text chains with other parents, tracking little details most people ignored. I wanted to unders

Charles D'Amico

Oct 266 min read

PART 1: Fear Didn’t Go Away — It Just Shouldn't Stop You!

I’ve seen amazing coaches. Guys who can teach. Motivate. Hold kids accountable. People who genuinely want the best for them. But being there for kids isn’t the same thing as being present . You can show up to every practice, drag the cage out, throw BP, and still not really see them. I see it all the time—coaches half-listening, half-scrolling, half-thinking about the 700 other things waiting for them when the game’s over. And I get it. We’re all human. We’re tired, we’ve go

Charles D'Amico

Oct 245 min read