BASEBALL COACHES UNPLUGGED

Against All Odds: A 40-Year-Old's Comeback to Juco Baseball After Liver Transplants and Cancer

• Ken Carpenter • Season 3 • Episode 24

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What drives a 40-year-old father to return to JUCO baseball after two liver transplants and a battle with cancer? Join me, Coach Ken Carpenter, as I sit down with Aaron Rouselle, who defies all odds and inspires with his incredible journey. Hear how Aaron's passion for baseball fuels his fight against adversity and how his background as a former athlete and CrossFit gym owner has equipped him with the mental and physical resilience needed to chase his dreams. This isn't just a story about baseball; it's about the indomitable spirit that defines the human experience.

Stepping onto the field as both a player and a mentor, Aaron shares the unique challenges and rewards of being significantly older than his teammates. Find out how he navigates the team dynamic, transforming initial skepticism into acceptance and respect. His role has evolved beyond just playing; through empathy and understanding, he's become a beacon of support and guidance, embodying the essence of mentorship. Explore the balance between maintaining a solution-oriented mindset and being emotionally attuned to the needs of others, fostering a supportive environment both on and off the field.

We also dive into the broader world of youth sports, addressing the pressures young athletes face and the impact of overzealous parenting. Discover why maintaining a genuine love for the game is crucial for fostering positive competition and resilience. Imagine legendary matchups on the field and the potential for a Major League Baseball salary cap to level the playing field. Through it all, Aaron's unwavering dedication to his baseball dreams serves as a reminder of the importance of passion, resilience, and the legacy we leave behind.

Join the Baseball Coaches Unplugged podcast where an experienced baseball coach delves into the world of high school and travel baseball, offering insights on high school baseball coaching, leadership skills, hitting skills, pitching strategy, defensive skills, and overall baseball strategy, while also covering high school and college baseball, recruiting tips, youth and travel baseball, and fostering a winning mentality and attitude in baseball players through strong baseball leadership and mentality.


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Speaker 3:

Hello and welcome to Baseball Coaches Unplugged. I'm your host, Coach Ken Carpenter, and on today's podcast, a story of inspiration A 40-year-old father. He's had two liver transplants and he's battled cancer in the past 10 years and he's fighting for a spot to play Juco baseball with players half of his age, Aaron Roussel next on Baseball Coaches Unplugged.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to Baseball Coaches Unplugged with Coach Ken Carpenter, presented by AthleteOne. Baseball Coaches Unplugged is a podcast for baseball coaches With 27 years of high school baseball coaching under his belt, here to bring you the inside scoop on all things baseball, from game winning strategies and pitching secrets to hitting drills and defensive drills. We're covering it all. Whether you're a high school coach, college coach or just a baseball enthusiast, we'll dive into the tactics and techniques that make the difference on and off the field. Discover how to build a winning mentality. Inspire your players and get them truly bought into your game philosophy Plus, get the latest insights on recruiting, coaching, leadership and crafting a team culture that champions productivity and success. Join Coach every week as he breaks down the game and shares incredible behind-the-scenes stories. Your competitive edge starts here, so check out the show weekly and hear from the best coaches in the game. On Baseball Coaches Unplugged.

Speaker 3:

Baseball Coaches Unplugged is proud to be partnered with the netting professionals, improving programs one facility at a time. The netting professionals specialize in the design, fabrication and installation of custom netting for baseball and softball. This includes backstops, batting cages, bp turtles, screens, ball carts and more. They also design and install digital graphic wall padding, windscreen, turf, turf protectors, dugout benches and cubbies. They're not limited to just baseball and softball. They also work with football, soccer, lacrosse and golf courses. Contact them today at 844-620-2707. That's 844-620-2707. Or you can visit them online at wwwnettingproscom. Check out Netting Pros on X, instagram, facebook and LinkedIn for all their latest products and projects. If you enjoyed today's show, be sure to share it with a friend and let them know that a new episode comes out every Wednesday where we talk with some of the best baseball coaches around the country. Now to my interview with Aaron Rosella Coach. Thanks for taking the time to join me on Baseball Coaches Unplugged.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much for providing me an opportunity to kind of share my story and even just talk to you, meet you and make a new friend. I appreciate you.

Speaker 3:

Love it. Well, you know, I reached out to you, I want to say around January 23rd I came across your story, old and you're pursuing Juco baseball, and the other reason is you've battled cancer and you've had liver transplant. And you know, I guess I got to start off with how are you doing?

Speaker 1:

I'm here Currently battling pneumonia on some new antibiotics. Hopefully kick that soon. But I'm here. I'm currently battling pneumonia on some new antibiotics. Hopefully kick that soon. But I'm good. My liver numbers have been good for the first time in almost a decade. I've gone a year without being admitted to the hospital, so that's a win. I try to really focus on the small victories.

Speaker 3:

Well, that's great. I mean, I you know, when you, when you, when, before all this started happening to you, I gotta ask I mean, uh, what was like your, your size, as far as, like you know, height and weight?

Speaker 1:

oh, before I got sick, I was, uh, about 6, 4, 220 and, um, nobody could stop me from doing anything I wanted to do athletically, which kind of came with an ego. But I was big and I owned a CrossFit gym, so I was in shape too. Like my goal right before I got sick was I wanted to be in the best shape of my life at 30. And I was, and thankfully, because what I was about to face six, nine months later I needed that, because I would have survived without being in the best shape.

Speaker 3:

Yes, I can totally agree with that because your story really resonated with me, because you've been through such a great deal in your life with health issues and the only thing I can say is you don't quit. And you know as, as coaches, you know you, you find yourself telling your players hey, you know we're down six and it's the seventh inning. You know, hey, let's not quit. You never know what's going to happen. And you yourself, you just keep getting back up and staying positive.

Speaker 1:

I really look at it like and I think that's why I've gravitated towards baseball, because I was a basketball player before. I was pretty good at football. But those are timed events and life obviously is timed, but we don't know that time. So with what you say, it kind of just makes me think of baseball and it's like, until you get that left out, you're not out, so why would you quit? So you know, I might be in my fourth, sixth, seventh, ninth inning, but I got two outs left. You know, let's play ball.

Speaker 3:

Yes, I totally agree with that. And you know, I think your attitude is just like in anything that people do in life is the key to anything. And you know, this past week this is actually my first episode since returning from the hospital I was in Cleveland Clinic having surgery because, you know, I have a J pouch and that kind of replaced my large intestines and colons that were colon that was removed back in 2011. And I've recently found out that there was a hole in it and it's failing and created osteomyelitis which is leaked into the bottom of my spine. And you know, I go to Cleveland Clinic, they put an ostomy bag on me and within two days, you know, good old insurance says it's time for you to go.

Speaker 3:

So I'm back home and I'm doing daily infusions through a PICC line and you know there's been a lot of times where I've really doubted myself and thought, you know, hey, this isn't fair. Uh, I, I don't want to deal with this, but you know, I, I guess this, this is kind of selfish on my part. You know, how do you do it, how do you, how do you get up each day and just keep pushing forward?

Speaker 1:

It's you really. I just do it and I don't think you should feel any type of way and negative about yourself or the way you feel, because I've been there and that put me in a very dark, depressed state. I've been there and that put me in a very dark, depressed state, but what I've realized is you do what you can when you can, and when you can't, you just don't. We have to listen to our bodies. We all have limitations, but why can't we just learn to make the best of what we have? Um, but that, why can't we just learn to make the best of what we have?

Speaker 1:

And I think back to like when I was at my sickest, I slept 20 hours a day, but when I got up I would go to baseball practice because my teams, I would try and I'd give everything I had to be involved. And then the next day you know I'm just not moving, um, and it probably wasn't the smartest, but I was willing to accept that as my normal and I was going to make the most of it. And I think that's where a lot of it lies, is I don't look at it as like why me anymore, it's more so just like trying and I'm going to do what I can, and when I can't, I just don't. And if anybody feels some type of way about that, I don't care, because it's not selfish to put yourself first so I, I, I get that, but I wanted to see how is your attitude affected those around you.

Speaker 3:

You know teammates, the players and just even your family.

Speaker 1:

It's hit or miss. Sometimes I could get annoyed with my mindset because I sometimes push it on the others and sometimes people just want to be sad, mad and wallow in their self-pity. Be sad, mad and wallowing in their self-pity, and I've learned that it's not up for me to project who I am onto them. But at the same time I can't sit there and listen to it, so I remove myself from the situation and sometimes that'll be. You know, I won't talk to you for years because you're not making any progress to get better. You know, once you identify the problem, if you're not willing to work on a solution, I can't do anything with you. Um, and it's no hard feelings, it's just I'm not problem orientated, I'm more on the solution side, um, and I'm going to offer everything I can. But not everybody's receptive to a solution. They just want to be kind of living their problems and that's just not me.

Speaker 3:

You know and I you know I was sitting here thinking you know I'm in the worst possible situation I could be in right now. But you know, when you're getting pushed around a hospital, going into surgery or moved to a room or whatever, you realize that there's always someone out there that's in a lot worse situation that you're in and I've kind of tried to go that route. You know it could be a lot worse. Do you agree with that?

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, absolutely. But I also agree with that. At the same time, you know, you shouldn't discredit what you're going through just because someone's going through something worse. We're limited to our experience and it's good to kind of remember those and think about those that are struggling a little more, because it can help us kind of rise. But at the same time, like, don't discredit what you're going through because it is hard and my hard is going to be different than someone else's hard.

Speaker 1:

Like I know people that the hardest thing they ever dealt with was a stubbed toe. So to them that's catastrophic because that's all they dealt with. So who am I to judge them? From my experiences I have to kind of go where they are and say, man, like I've stubbed my toe before, like that's bad and that's I mean that's the kind of weed, but it's just a good way to kind of explain it like we're only limited to our experiences, so you're bad right now, like this is your worst. That doesn't mean mine work was worse, it's just different. And I think that's where we kind of spur up in his life as we compare, when we really should just like be more accepting and understanding makes sense.

Speaker 3:

Well, I, you know, I, I gotta ask. You're 40 years old and you go the route and I'm going to do some try to play some Juco baseball. Um, how did that come about? And uh, how did the, how did the? How did the team respond to, uh, a guy that's trying to play the game and they're half your age?

Speaker 1:

So I knew the coach and I knew they were rebuilding the program and he needed guys. So it was kind of a perfect opportunity to be one of those guys. I wanted to go back to school. I'm not a good student without sports, so why not? You know, if the opportunity presents itself, take it, because that's what I try to teach the kids that I mentor and coach. So like what better way to lead them than to go into their world and then, with the teammates, they're a little like who is this old dude? But once they saw that I was willing to put in the work, you know, I embraced the struggle. I did everything I could at the time because I was also dealing with pneumonia. So they've learned to like, accept me. They kind of call me Uncle Aaron, they make fun of how old I am, but they're super receptive of it. They push me.

Speaker 1:

We did a sit-up test a couple of weeks ago. I only got four, but you would have thought I got 150 in a minute because the way they all cheered me on, because they know, you know, I've been cut in half twice, my core is not together, so to set up on my own is a real struggle. Um, in the beginning of January I can only do one. By mid January I could do four. So if you really break that down, that's a significant growth product, but it's still four. It's not that many Everyone else is doing, you know, 30 to 40, but I did four. But you would have thought I did the most, and that really just puts into perspective how much they truly are like with me, how much they truly are like with me A lot of times that couldn't um being around.

Speaker 3:

you know a team, you know you guys are all in that same struggle to try to get better and get ready for the season Um have have the players kind of. You know that you got coaches that are obviously going to be older than the players, but do they ever kind of just reach out to you and talk to you about your experiences?

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, quite a few of them. I actually have my own facility so during the winter break a good amount of them would come to my facility. So now it's kind of awkward because we'll be at the like a team function and they're calling me Coach Aaron because they got so used to coming to my facility and hearing everyone else call me Coach Aaron. So it's kind of a neat dynamic because I'm like a player and a coach to some. But I really welcome that role and I take pride in it because at the end of the day, I am a coach more than I am a baseball player. I mean, by being on the team with them it's almost like they have a coach in the mud, in the grind with them. So it's been a really cool experience because I'm there with them but I'm also like, essentially their flashlight, you know, guiding the way.

Speaker 3:

You mentioned you have your own hitting facility. Tell me a little bit about that. As far as you know what, what goes on there, do you or do you have a team like a summer team that you work with, or so I run it as a nonprofit.

Speaker 1:

It's called Pops Culture. You've seen the baseball landscape a lot of kids getting priced out of it so I do this so they can still get access to training, hitting and the travel ball scene without spending thousands of dollars. No-transcript and it's obviously age appropriate, but I'm hard on them, but they know it's come from a place of caring. And another aspect is the. These kids have like pro level programs and designs and workouts and coaches. Sometimes these kids just need to be kids and they get to do that with me.

Speaker 1:

And I think that's a very important part of baseball and sports in life is remaining childlike and understanding. If they're not having fun, if they don't learn to love it first, they're not going to work as hard at it. So that's what I try to do is I get them to love it and then we work on it and we um, we use the word invest a lot because I think it's just a little more positive than work. Nobody likes to work, but an investment can turn a profit and that's what we're trying to do is grow and turn a profit on ourselves.

Speaker 3:

Yes, and in today's world where travel teams are playing 60, 70, 100 games and I sometimes wonder how that I can see where it doesn't become fun anymore. It becomes like a job, and when you're that young, it's got to be fun, I think.

Speaker 1:

Oh yeah, it's huge. I mean, you see it every day, from the Little League fields to these travel ball tournaments. These kids are under so much pressure and it's a game, it's fun. We have kids, you know, as young as 10, that have pitching coaches, hitting coaches, you know all this stuff, but really all they need is dad to go out back and throw them wiffle ball. Play a game of wiffle ball in your neighborhood. How often do you see that anymore? But these kids have time to be kids. Because it's in such a rush, we got to get you here. We got to get you here. We got to take you to this coach. We got to get you here. We gotta take you to this coach. We gotta take you here.

Speaker 1:

Um, and it's become a racket. Like people are getting rich off kids with pro level workouts and development, but I'm like they're not ready for that. Like, let's be, you know a little more appropriate and let them be kids. And like, if your son wants to play fortnight and not go to his pitching coach, maybe sometimes let him. It's not that big of a deal. Nobody's signing a contract at 10, but the fear of missing out has like consumed these parents and they get online and they see every kid in the country working and you're like, oh my gosh, my 10 year old's not as good as this 10 year old. I need to get him a hitting coach, I need to get him with a pitcher and before you know it, by the time the kid's 13,. He's got 17 different jerseys in his closet because they're bouncing wrong from team to team because they just feel like one team is better or one coach didn't do it the way they wanted to.

Speaker 1:

So we're not only pushing these kids way harder than they need to, so we're not only pushing these kids way harder than they need to. We're also not teaching them how to compete because the second time they're not the best shortstop on the team or best second baseman, best catcher, best pitcher. They don't buckle down and work to become the best. They roll out and find a new team and that's why you see such a high dropout rate in college. I think is because in college you have to compete, but we're not teaching kids how to compete or teaching them how to complain. And I'm sure you watch enough games like how often do you hear parents say anything positive? They're on the coaches, the umpires, their own kid playing their teammate. It's rarely anything of love or growth or development. It's just ridicule and criticism. And who wants to be criticized all day? So why would this kid want to do it? We're literally sucking the love out of it, when that should be the most important element of all.

Speaker 3:

I hear people talk about it on social media. You see the crazy stories social media and you'll see the crazy stories and, uh, you know, and, like you said, even the umpires, they don't want to be a part of that. So then it creates a ripple effect where you don't have umpires for games because they're just not enough that want to put up with some of the things that goes on in baseball and basketball and football and everything else out there yeah, if you don't get the call you want.

Speaker 1:

It's like oh, meet me in the parking lot. Is it ever really that serious? As adults, I don't think very many situations should ever get to the point where I have to physically do harm to another human being. We should be able to remove ourselves from the situation or dissolve the situation, but we rarely do. We just escalate it and then we get so angry that we don't know how to react and then we throw tantrums and then we make a terrible choice. We get in a fight. Our kids see that.

Speaker 1:

I mean we don't really understand the repercussions of our action and our work as adults, like we're literally creating their normal and we're dropping the ball because we just refuse to be accountable and, like I say it often like parents we're the problem and I'm just as guilty. The only difference is is like I'm aware of it and I'm working to be better. I still fail, but when I make a mistake, if I'm too hard on my kids or a kid that I coach, I apologize to them, because I think that's an important part. As parents and adults and coaches, we create these images of ourselves to these kids like we're perfect but we're all severely flawed. But if we're not willing to swallow our pride and apologize to these kids when we make mistakes, they're never going to think we're wrong because they don't know that. So that's why you see so much negativity still in this world because adults are just stubborn, unaware of themselves. They just refuse to take accountability.

Speaker 3:

So how can we expect our kids Well, let me ask you this what has been your biggest challenge? Trying to compete at the JUCO level?

Speaker 1:

Speed I am not as fast as I used to be. I have neopathy in my left leg, so when I plant sometimes I just fall. And on top of that I am 40. So it's just speed tends to go first. Thankfully, as the physical falls, the mind kind of picks up. So I'm kind of at a decent spot of balance to where I recognize things and I can pick up on tells and things. So I can still be effective. But what I've learned too is it's far more effective for the team's growth if I see it and I communicate it and I get it to these fast guys.

Speaker 1:

Because speed with knowledge is real dangerous on the base path, but like knowledge without speed, still a liability. So um, so what I do mostly now is like I try to just like I see the game as a coach but I'm playing. So then I tell the you know the teammates like hey, man, like watch this picture. Like every time he does this he's going home, you can get an early jump. Or you know he's pitching in this sequence, it's just it doesn't run around. Second, he's heavy on his fastball. He's doing this Cause those are things you don't think about it. You know 19 to 20, but at 40 you have to. So you know it's so beneficial to everyone that I use my mind not just to benefit my game. You know everybody's game and I think that's another part of the sport.

Speaker 1:

That's missing is we don't see players communicating as well and helping each other be successful and we've. We watch even the mlb, especially in the regular season. It's selfishness. It's all about the individual. You know, if there's no outs in a runner on third, these kids would rather strike out than make contact and just drive something over to the right side to get the runner home. How often do you see kids square the bunt anymore or a sack fly? These kids will hit a sack fly and they're going back to the dugout pounding it mad because they got out.

Speaker 1:

I'm like bro, we scored the run, mission accomplished. It's the small victories. But we've gotten so far away from small ball and baseball in a way that's played together that these kids don't understand baseball. Like the IQ is low but the athleticism is crazy high. But we need to create that balance and I don't think a lot of people are doing it because it's just not as popular. These kids want to have home runs. The parents want to see home runs. You know you see a meme all the time. You know you got four thousand dollars worth of bats and two cents worth of knowledge in the dugout. It's like what are we doing?

Speaker 3:

I, I gotta believe that. You know, when you know the the season gets rolling and you know every player goes through struggles, you, whether it's hitting, or they boot ground balls or whatever, they've got to see how you keep battling to overcome all the challenges, you have that boot and a costly error late in the game. It it's not the end of the world, you gotta. You gotta just uh, have a short memory and just keep moving forward. I would think right.

Speaker 1:

Oh, absolutely, and with everything. And that's why baseball, I think, is such a great teacher for life is um, you don't have time to feel sorry for yourself because the next place happening life is happening. So what I've learned, too, as a coach, is we no longer get on the kids about physical mistakes, because they're on themselves enough. They know when they screw up we don't need to kick them while they're down, because on top of the coaches yelling at them, dad's probably yelling at them. You know their teammates' parents are making fun of them. They know that. So why should like? So we really started focusing on the mental side of the game and building them up through error, because we, we need it. Why not let these kids fail young and then help them navigate it rather than just ridicule them? So they're scared to death to make a failure? And um, it's obvious because the errors are down when they're not afraid to make a mistake. But when we drive home these fundamentals and they do everything perfectly and they still make that error, they implode because it's like what do you? I did everything right and I still screwed up.

Speaker 1:

How much does that happen in life? Um, you know what I mean. So they got to understand. It's like you could do everything right but you're still out. You could hit 104 mile an hour line drive and the outfielder makes a crazy good play. You're out Doesn't mean you failed. It just means you weren't successful in that moment. You did everything right and it still went wrong. That's life. How are you going to handle that? Are you going to let it consume you? Are you going to you going to understand? It's like yeah, I did it, I'm going to do it better next time. And that's got to be. The mindset is always a little better next time, one percent better every day, and it works you know I I experience.

Speaker 3:

Uh, you know, like everybody around the country, the I've got a I I to be a D1 player. You know you hear everybody talking about how they you know they want to play for the big D1 schools and JUCO. I think now is becoming more of an option because the transfer portal is having a huge effect on these guys. The D1 coaches are just going and getting another D1 guy versus recruiting a high school kid. So my question for you would be best advice for a high school player who wants to play JUCO baseball?

Speaker 1:

Start getting strong, because that's really a separator. That's why they're going to JUCO now, because why take the 17-year-old when you get to develop 19, 20 year old, spend more time in the gym? And then, with JUCO, the beauty of it is it's on you. You don't have coaches teaching you and guiding you, nutritionists, so you really have to develop some independency, some self-worth really, and decide how bad do you want it Because it's on you. I think everyone should go jukeboat just for that reason, because just for you to develop the grit and the grind, and then you find out if you really love it. Because if you're not willing to put in the work on your own, you really don't love it. And what's the point of traveling 3,000 miles from home to find out you don't love it? You know, save some money, save some time, stay at home, eat your parents' food, go to Juco All right, here we go, I got to.

Speaker 3:

I asked this of every guest hate losing or love winning.

Speaker 1:

Probably love winning. When you lose as many times as I have, you learn to appreciate it, because usually when I lose, especially in life, usually my fault, sometimes in sports it's not my fault. But that's also a good translation of life, because you have very little control in life and I think that's why baseball is such a great thing to do is because you have limited opportunities to make an impact in the game and you can win or lose based on that. But it depends on who you surround yourself with and your success and your failures are all you kind of push together. So I think I really love winning. I don't mind losing because I know I'm going to get a little better from them, but I do like almost to a fault, unless now, like young, winning wasn't an obsession. Um, now I can handle not winning, but I still want to win everything. I'm into Uno games, the baseball games. Um, I don't gamble because if I can't sway the odds in my favor, I don't want to do it, but I love competing.

Speaker 3:

You're a general manager for an MLB team and you can only keep one pitcher and one hitter. I'm going to give you two groups. Group A has Aaron Judge and Paul Skeens. That's your hitter and pitcher. Group B is Shohei Otani and Nolan Ryan. What two are you going to keep and what are you going to say on passing them?

Speaker 1:

I'm going with Otani and Ryan. Ryan was the ultimate competitor and I think Otani is too Based on that speech that he gave at the world baseball classic to his japan team when they were playing usa, saying you know, essentially like, these guys aren't your heroes today, they're your competition. No matter how much you look up to them, we're essentially here to destroy them. I like that. You cannot question nolan ryan's competitive spirit. Um, beating somebody up and then throwing 114 pitches or something crazy, he was just a dog. I'm in no disrespect to judge and schemes, schemes is incredible. Need to see a little more of him. And um, my last image of judge in my brain is that fly ball.

Speaker 3:

Yep.

Speaker 1:

And I think Otani is just a better player. He's going to put the ball in play more. He doesn't just live or die at the home run To where Judge is like. He's had some runs where he just is pretty inconsistent at times. So to me it's a no-brainer.

Speaker 3:

What would be one change that you would make to major league baseball to make it? Just make the game better for players, fans, everybody salary cap.

Speaker 1:

I'd like to see a little more um fairness, I guess. Like I don't like how you could just try to buy trophies. I'd like to see more creativity with, like moving pieces, building teams, working your farm system, and not just saying, hey, man, we didn't win this year, but I got six billion dollars, we're going to win next year. Like the Dodgers may not lose the game their rotation's insane on top of their offense and not to say they won't, because the beauty in baseball is you just really don't know. But I would just like to see you almost know some teams are always going to suck because they won't spend the money. I would like to see a little more parity in who's going to make the playoffs.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, definitely. I'm a big Cleveland fan and they've overcome a lot because their owner doesn't like to spend. But they have a good system. But I can't even imagine what it'd be like if they had Dodger money.

Speaker 1:

Well, I've been spoiled. I grew up a Braves fan and all we do is win. I just like to see other teams come up.

Speaker 3:

Well, you're a parent. Best advice that you would give parents of young baseball players.

Speaker 1:

Let them be kids. Let them learn to love it on their own. Don't make them love it because you love it. Our kids will often do things because they think that's what they want us to do, but at the end of the day, we should want them to do things that they want to do. We're not making carbon copies of ourselves. We're building up new individuals. Let them find their passion, let them try things, let them fail and be there to dust them off, help them up and then navigate the failure a little bit better. We have to stop protecting them from failure, because we're not going to be around forever. So when they fall and we're not there to protect them, but they're falling, you know, at 30, the fall from 30 compared to the falls at, you know, 1, 2, 10, 15, a lot further. So we need to learn to let them build some resiliency and toughness so that they can love them where they are, understand them and understand that love is not protecting them. It's preparing them.

Speaker 3:

In my opinion, it's preparing them, in my opinion. Well, it's Aaron Roussel, and all the heart in the world. He's playing Juco baseball at the age of 40 and just living life, and I really do appreciate you taking the time to join me here on Baseball Coaches Unplugged.

Speaker 1:

I'm truly honored, sir. It's a blessing to meet people. I love that I got to hear a part of your story. I wish you nothing but good health and no matter what God puts in front of you, it's in you to defeat it. Just keep fighting. It sucks. I have a friend in a very similar relation. He's got a colostomy bag. It's embarrassing for him. He spent a lot of time like struggling with it, but it's his normal embrace it. Um, everything here is temporary. You know, and leave your legacy and I really appreciate the opportunity to you know, meet. You share my story on your podcast and, um, I hope we can stay connected. Um, reach out. Anytime you think of me, text me and I'll do the same.

Speaker 3:

Sounds great. Well, hey, thank you very much and best of luck this upcoming season.

Speaker 1:

Thank you, sir, going to need it.

Speaker 3:

Today's episode of Baseball Coaches Unplugged is powered by the netting professionals improving programs one facility at a time. One facility at a time. Contact them today at 844-620-2707, where you can visit them online at wwwnettingproscom. Be sure to tune in every Wednesday for a new episode with some of the best baseball coaches across the country. As always, I'm your host, Coach Ken Carpenter. Thanks for listening to Baseball Coaches Unplugged.

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Ken Carpenter

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