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Old School Values in a New School World
~By Dan Clouser
When Berkshire Baseball was formed 22 years ago, we never had some grand vision that we would someday be sponsoring over 20 teams and hosting tournaments for teams all up and down the East Coast while making an economic impact of over a million dollars a year for the local Reading and Berks County area. We pretty much just wanted to play baseball. However, even in the beginning, as very young men, we knew that there was a certain "code of ethics" that the game needed to be played by. A respect for the game, a respect for your opponent and respect for the officials that needed to be adhered to. Play hard between the lines and leave it on the field, no matter what. Be committed and do what was best for the team first.
We understood that concept and we took it very seriously that there was a certain level of responsibility that went with wearing a Berkshire uniform and knew from the very beginning that we didn't want to be just another baseball organization. We wanted to set the bar very high from the beginning and make the "Berkshire Way" a way of good sportsmanship, honesty, loyalty, dignity, humility, class and respect for authority.
We wanted to be involved in the community and give back in any small way that we could and we did. Our influence and arm in the community has reached further than any of us could have ever imagined.
In 22 years, a lot has changed in baseball and society. In this day and age of "Daddy Ball" and "me first" it becomes extremely difficult at times to continue to instill some of those old school values in today's new age ballplayer.
We live in a world where young people are coddled and parents have a hard time letting them go off to learn from their own mistakes. I still see parents carry their son's baseball bags for them as they go into their junior and senior year of high school. Kids are taught to make decisions that only affect themselves, regardless of how that decision may negatively affect their team and teammates.
Although building a large organization that is based on old school values can sometimes seem like a monumental task in today's world, we as an organization still feel strongly that it is worth the extra work. If it was easy, everyone would do it. If it was trendy or popular, everyone would be doing it. It's not, it goes against the grain of todays "me first" society. In a day and age of hired guns and baseball mercenaries playing for multiple organizations as long as they personally benefit, we ask for loyalty and commitment.
We have grown tremendously over the past few years, every year we add some players and parents that simply do not "get it". At the end of each year, we have to go through the weeding out process to make sure that the core players for the following year are the right fit for the organization. We live by the Lou Holtz philosophy that we are not necessarily looking for the best players, but we're looking for the right players. Every year, no matter how much literature we provide or times that we tell people, we still always seems to get a few people who come in thinking that their 12 or 13 year old son is "elite" or some sort of "super star" and think that they can go about their conduct on and off of the baseball field with a different set of rules than that of their teammates. They learn fast that we actually hold our best players to a higher standard and expect them to lead by example. A 12 or 13 year old player has yet to have been offered a college scholarship or selected in the Major League draft. Swallow the pill, they are not elite, they are 12 and 13 year old kids trying to have fun playing baseball and trying to be the best that they can be in hopes that they can play at the next level. Let them enjoy it.
Over the years we have also had some coaches who have come into the organization thinking that their win/loss record supersedes their conduct on and off of the field as well. Again their tenures are generally short-lived and we look to get coaches who are the right fit for the organization in place.
This is a constant work in progress. We, as an organization can never be content with ourselves. We need to constantly be monitoring the product that we put out and understand that not one individual is greater than the organization as a whole.
The success of our organization is not always measured in wins and losses, but more importantly by the impact that we as coaches, administrators and an organization as a whole have on the lives of the young men that go through our system. Most times those results cannot be measured until years after a young man's playing days with us are over. When he comes back to coach in the organization as so many have or when he just comes back to visit and you see what a successful member of society he has become. A good parent, a good husband, a successful businessman, those are the measure's of a youth sports organizations success.
So many times in youth sports today our morals are compromised. Sportsmanship takes a back seat, teamwork takes a back seat and discipline most certainly takes a back seat more often than not. The super star ballplayer is many times given a separate set of rules than his teammates and therefore learns nothing regarding leadership and responsibility.
We tell people all the time that Berkshire Baseball is not for everyone and we are very fortunate that we do have a very solid base of families and players who do still believe in old school morals and that giving back is an important part of our existence here on earth.
In 22 years we have seen many organizations come and go, I imagine that we will see many more come and go over the next 22 years, Berkshire Baseball has stood the test of time and will continue to stand the test of time because the principals and values by which this organization was founded are real and are of substance, these old school values have stood the test of time no matter how unpopular they sometimes are in this day and age and therefore so will Berkshire Baseball. | 
