Here's a great clip from a press conference featuring legendary Coach Tony Robichaux.
The late Ragin' Cajuns head baseball coach Tony Robichaux spoke at length during a news conference in 2017 about the lack of toughness in kids who come from select baseball.
The conversation originated from a question a reporter asked about one of his college players who had transitioned into a more prominent role on the team.
He related a story about his grandson getting a ring from a travel baseball tournament that was bigger than a Major League Baseball World Series ring.
Listen to the full clip below (begins at approximately 10:00)
Some of the highlights include:
Kids win, they get a giant ring, Robichaux said. And when they lose, they’re still rewarded with pizza parties and trips to the zoo and theme parks.
That’s not how real life works.
“We’re not teaching them anything,” Robichaux said. “Life’s not that way…We shouldn’t be fooling kids into a false model.”
When the Cajuns drop a game, he said, “they’re waiting for me to take them to Water World.
“Dude, we ain’t going to Water World.”
Robichaux has long been known for valuing toughness among his players. He praises those who have “throwdown,” who play with passion and leave it all on the field. He has earned a reputation for turning boys in grinders.
Toughness, Robichaux said, can compensate for shortcomings in talent. “If you can get your kids tough, then you have an advantage,” he said.
“I don’t care what mental weakness a kid has, what lack of ability he has - if he’s been taught how to throw down … he’s gonna make it,” Robichaux said.
“We tell them all the time, you’ve got to work while you wait. In their personal life, most people stop working until the door opens, and then they want to work again now that the door is open. But in this profession, you’ve got to work while you wait.
“That’s why the select model is such a bad model, you know? Because nobody sits on the bench. But then in high school, you’re going to sit on the bench. Then in college, you’re going to sit on the bench. In rookie ball, you’re going to sit on the bench. In low A and high A, you’re going to sit on the bench. Double A, you’re going to sit on the bench. Triple A, you’re going to sit on the bench, and at the big league level, you’ll sit the bench,” Robichaux explained.
“That’s why so many kids quit. That’s also why they stop working while they wait, because someone created a model that promised them that they would never sit. Then they get ready to get in the real world, they get out of ‘daddy ball,’ and they get into ‘big boy baseball’ and they can’t handle it, because they have to sit maybe.”
Don't forget - work while you wait.
Hope this helps.
See you on the diamond.