JEFFERSON — Coaching in sports is often a thankless job. It’s commonly said that if a team wins consistently, it’s because of the players. However, if that same team loses regularly, the players rarely take the blame. That always falls squarely on a coach’s shoulders.

The coaches are often named as the reason a certain player doesn’t see the playing time they’d like. They’re always the one at the center of a complaint.

What often goes unnoticed is the devotion that coach shows to his or her players. What is never mentioned is the motivation that man or woman has for coaching.

“It’s just my love for the game,” Dan Gaul, coach of the 10-and-under Ohio Jaguars said from the 2011 Ohio Jaguars Summer Showcase. “I just like building, I think. I have so much fun doing it.

“It’s the kids, mostly, for me. I love being with the kids. Fastpitch is such a great game, especially when I can stay with the kids and take them until they get to the older age groups.”

“At first, I just didn’t trust anybody with my daughter,” Will Irons, coach of the 12U Ohio Jaguars said. “But then I developed relationships with the girls. Now, I’m in it for the girls. They’re probably why I will stay with it after (Alyssa) is done.”

“I love the game and I love the girls,” Jim McCaskey, assistant coach for the 18U Ohio Hurricanes Black said. “We have a girl walking around with two knee braces. Last week, she was taken from first base by an ambulance. It’s their dedication (that keeps me out here). I love them.”

And, generally, when times get tough, those coaches aren’t screaming at their young troops. They’re not blaming them when something goes horribly awry. They’re simply looking for a way to help them move on.

“(At those times) I realize they’re just 12,” Irons said. “I look at how far they’ve come and how much they’ve improved.”

“I know we’re all positive,” Gaul said of his staff. “We try and turn a negative into a positive. One of the things we do, even after a loss, is have all of the girls pick a player and say what they did to help the team.”

“Those tough spots are just everything else in life,” 18U Ohio Jaguars coach Scott Francis said. “You just deal with it like you deal with life. You do the best you can. You may not handle it the right way, but you do the best you can with what you know at the time.

“You just make small adjustments here and there. You deal with it how you deal with everything in life. You fix what you can and adjust to what you can’t.”

And, truth be told, that coach at the center of the blame loves each and every one of his players, not for the game-winning hit or the spectacular defensive play, but for the person each of his girls is.

“I have fallen in love with them,” Irons said. “Especially while they’re at these younger ages when they’re innocent and they’re not into boys yet. I think I’m going to give it up, but then I see them working and I say I’m going to stick with it because they’re not giving up.

“They have me hook, line and sinker. They’re all team players, but they have individual personalities. I have fallen in love with them. They’ve all got personalities and I’ve got little nicknames for each of them. I’ve fallen in love with them and that’s just how it is.”

What is rarely talked about is just how much that person loves each and every one of his players. Rarely does that coach receive as much as a thank you for the time and effort they’ve donated to making a better player and person of little Susie.

And, often, those coaches don’t want that much. It’s enough for that person just to be allowed to see the smile on Susie’s face when she finally “gets it.”

“We have a girl that hasn’t hit (for a) .100 average,” McCaskey said. “But we keep building her confidence back up. (Hitting) .300 is good. Two of every three at-bats, they’re walking back to the dugout. But we keep building them back up, keep pumping them up.

“That girl came up today and got a double to give us the win. She came through with the winning run. That’s what makes all the difference.”

“That’s what coaching is all about,” Francis said. “When they catch on and do better than they were and hopefully because of something you showed them as a coach, that’s important (to a coach). You have to have that intrinsic reward.

“When you help the kids out, you can tell by how they relate to you and how you relate to them that you helped them. As a teacher and a coach, there’s no bigger thank you than to see a kid’s face and see they appreciate what you’ve done. That’s what you want.”

“That’s what keeps me here,” Gaul said. “For example, we had a bad weekend one time. My catcher comes running across the parking lot and gives me a big hug. She said, ‘Thanks! I had so much fun!’ That’s what makes you love it and them.”

Coaches, here’s hoping every little Susie get’s that big hit or makes that spectacular play. You deserve to see that smile light up the diamond.

Ettinger is a freelance writer from Ashtabula. Reach him at ettinger22@yahoo.com.