A New Chapter

Last night I made official a decision that I have been wrestling with for several weeks. For the sake of consistency in communication, I will post the exact message that I sent out to our Athens Bulldogs Baseball email list.

Dear Bulldogs Baseball Family,

I want to reach out to you directly to let you know of a decision I have wrestled with for several weeks, but after much prayer, meditation, long walks and several pages of notes, I have come to a conclusion. I am choosing to not renew my contract as Head Varsity Baseball Coach at Athens High School. It is not without a heavy heart and many, many hours of prayerful consideration that I am making this decision. My heart is heavy because I truly love coaching and I love this group of athletes that we currently have in the program, yet I know that this is the right decision for this particular time in my life.

There are so many things that I love about coaching, but perhaps more than anything it is the relationships that are built among coaches, players, and those who support the program. Those relationships are what make this decision the most difficult. I have a staff of assistant coaches that are of the highest character and quality men anyone can find. What has made this coaching staff so effective and successful is that while there is great trust among us and love and respect for one another, no one has been merely a “yes” man, but all have contributed to the program in ways that have challenged each one of us to be the best we can be in order to help the young men we are coaching to be the best they can be. I am incredibly grateful for the partnership and brotherhood I have had with Coach Hewitt, Coach Lonas, and Coach Crossen.

For the past 13 years—8 as an assistant coach and 5 as head coach—I have made it my goal and priority to do everything in my power to make the Athens Bulldogs Baseball program be the standard for excellence in southeastern Ohio when it comes to how a baseball program should be ran, from the off-season to the in-season to the post-season, and on-the-field as well as off-the-field. So much of my heart, sweat, blood, and even a few tears have been left on the field at Rannow Field at Athens High School. I love everything about coaching baseball, and I truly believe it to be part of my life’s calling—to be a coach. The opportunity to mentor young people through coaching this great game is a dream come true to me.

Yet, there are other realities in life that sometimes tip the scales in the other direction whenever a person has to consider the weightiness of one choice over the other. While I love all the time I get to spend with my coaches and players throughout the year, I have become keenly aware of how quickly time moves, and now my daughter, Kaylee, is going to be a junior in high school. In the past two seasons I have seen a total of only four of her varsity softball games in person. Over the years I have spent so much time in baseball coaching activities that I have missed way too many of her games. Additionally, and perhaps even more condemning is that I have missed way too many opportunities to work with her individually in the same way I have worked with other people's children. Throughout all the years of her childhood, during the times when she and I could have been working on her pitching, hitting, fielding, etc. I have typically been doing something associated with coaching high school baseball (practice, weight lifting, camp, fundraising, field work, individual instruction, meetings, etc.). That's the even bigger issue. I am beginning to feel myself become regretful that these are important times that I could be investing into her. She deserves that time from me. She has for too long stood back and watched me give that time to others, and I now have only a couple more years to make it right.

While there are a few other factors I have considered in this decision, the primary reason why I am choosing to step away from coaching at this time is family, and particularly the timing of where everyone in my family is in life right now. I won’t lie, it is very hard to do. This has been an extremely difficult decision to finalize. I feel like I am just now beginning to learn how to coach, and I feel like the momentum for baseball at Athens High School right now is at an all-time high, having just completed two consecutive record-breaking seasons, and knowing that we have some tremendously talented athletes coming up through the program.

However, if I am going to have regrets a few years from now, I would prefer to regret leaving coaching for the time-being than to regret missing out on seeing my daughter play during her entire high school career and missing out on doing everything I can to help her reach her dreams. Those are regrets that I simply cannot accept in my heart and mind.

I hope nothing but the best for Athens Baseball and for all of you. Ultimately, I hope that one day I might have the opportunity to step back into the program and serve as a coach in some capacity. Though I am stepping away right now from the position of being the Head Varsity Baseball Coach, I will still be investing time into providing coaching, individual training and whatever help I can for players and coaches in the Athens community as often as I can. As I mentioned, baseball is in my blood. Coaching is in my blood. Mentoring and helping people to be the best they can be is a life-calling, part of who I am, and something I will never cease doing.

I am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to coach baseball at Athens High School for 13 years. While it—like anything else in life that truly matters—has included challenges and ups and downs, it has been an incredible honor and privilege that I do not take for granted. The Bulldogs community has adopted me and embraced me as one of your own, and I will forever proudly bleed green and gold.

God bless you.

Coach Chris Stewart

It has been very, very hard for me to "press send" on this message. I wrote those words over a month ago, printed them out on a sheet of paper and carried it around in my pocket every day, pulling it out and reading it just to make sure I still felt the same. The sentiment I expressed didn't change in over 30 days. So, I figured it was time.

I am looking at this as simply a change in my role for a time. Coaching is something I will always be involved with. I will remain close to the game and close to this community of ballplayers. I just have to shift my role and methodology for a time.

In fact, this blog has become one outlet for me to continue pouring out my heart, mind and passion for the game to any and all who might happen to read it and be blessed by it. I plan to keep writing. And, I look forward to any door of opportunity that might open that will allow me to help strengthen the game of baseball and enhance the lives of young people in the Athens and southeastern Ohio community. I see such awesome potential here. I can't wait to see what God does with the next chapter!