About the Author
Before the boardrooms, there was baseball.
As a youngster, I was completely drawn to sports and no matter the season, I was involved. Of all the sports, baseball was the one I gravitated to the most.
I loved every part of the game. What began recreationally became competitive, then adult leagues and softball, eventually taking me to state and national competitions in both men's and co-ed leagues.
Over time, playing led me to coaching. I began giving lessons, working with kids from around third grade, into junior high, high school and college. My coaching allowed me to enjoy talents from tee ball to high school athletes.
At one point, I was giving 40 to 50 lessons a week from a tiny shed with a net that I rented from a friend. I'd put on '90s music and flow through the lessons, rotating abilities, ages & talents. Those memories bring me a lot of joy!
I began to realize that coaching wasn't just about baseball. It was about confidence, failure, pressure, perseverance and watching young people discover what they were capable of.
The story that was always there
I have always felt a story or that something could be said about my experiences over the years of both playing and coaching, slowly realizing the story of Clutch.
Baseball has been a constant in my life, but I learned that you sometimes have to take life on life's terms. Along the way, I found another passion that had been quietly calling my attention for years: Flying.
What started with looking up at planes, distracting me from baseball, eventually led me to becoming a pilot myself.
In some ways, it feels fitting. Baseball taught me discipline, competition, failure and perseverance. Flying gave me a different perspective — literally and figuratively — and reminded me that life can take you in directions you never expected, if you let it.
Both have shaped who I am.
And perhaps that's what Clutch is really about: life doesn't always follow the path you imagined. We grow, we change, we find new passions, and the experiences along the way become part of the story.
Clutch is one of those stories.
