“It’s not whether you win or lose. It’s how you play the game,” wrote the great American Sportswriter, Grantland Rice.
These infamous words are often repeated by Royal Oak, Michigan youth baseball coach, Tim Keenan.
The newest recipient of Weplay's Coach of the Week honor, Keenan began teaching youth baseball at age 15, during his tenor as an assistant coach for the Harper Woods, Michigan Little League program. Keenan a former Harper Woods player, enjoyed his time with the team so much, that he naturally flowed into an assistant coach role until the distance and demands of college set in.
Keenan would not formally coach again until his son Aidan, now 9-years-old, joined a baseball team - dad of course, came along for the ride as an assistant coach volunteer. His experience with Harper Woods and his lasting passion for the game, soon landed him the coach/manager role with the ROSL Pirates, after the group formally approached him, requesting his services.
Flattered by the offer and a desire to reunite with the game, Coach Keenan took his son's advice and joined him at the ballpark. He of course pulled from the memories and life skills garnered during his playing years. Most importantly, he walked in with a confident game plan, focusing on the most appropriate needs of a 7-9-year-old team, fundamentals and fun.
Since the league doesn't maintain official scores, coaches have more time to focus on the development and enjoyment of each child. However, Coach Keenan did boast about the talent level of his players writing, "The team made progress with every game and if we did keep score we'd have a winning record.”
When Keenan is not coaching he's fulfilling his duties as president of the Royal Oak Rotary Club and chairman of the Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame. It doesn’t stop there, he is also the owner of his own industrial PR firm.
How does this Coach of the Week have time to do it all? Simply put, he relishes in the responsibility he has to his team and the gifts of coaching that receives each season.
