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00:00Our strength and conditioning, it was before I met you, it was like, go work out.
00:04Go watch Gooby do the VersaClimber and just do what he says.
00:07Go watch Monty do his fucking arm farm.
00:09Arm farm?
00:11Or his little arm caravan.
00:12Yeah, no, when you said arm farm, I knew exactly what you were talking about.
00:18Yeah, dude, that was crazy, but I remember my favorite fight,
00:22like our final fight, was about our boy Sal.
00:26You know, after Sal's 100th win that they were mad about,
00:28and I'm like, I'm like, Sal, do you really want to get me fired?
00:31Is that your goal?
00:31He's like, I don't know what to tell you.
00:34So we're sitting in Herc's office, and Herc goes, he goes,
00:36I just don't know what you guys, you guys seem to have a great relationship.
00:39I just don't understand why you guys just can't make an adjustment.
00:43Herc is telling me and Sal this, and I look at Sal, we're laughing.
00:46Then I go, hey, I got an idea.
00:48Herc, why don't I find Sal $500 for every pound over the weight
00:53you think he should be?
00:54You tell me what weight Sal is, and I'll find him $100 for every pound
00:58over the weight you told me he needs to be.
00:59And Sal's laughing his ass off.
01:01And Herc goes, oh, we can't do that because of the union.
01:03I go, OK, well, what the fuck?
01:05Then why are we sitting here?
01:07Do you feel good for your venting session right now?
01:09So then me and Sal would go in there, and he'd
01:11do an hour of fucking Burst of Climber, or whatever.
01:14And then he'd be there at the hotel bar.
01:16Lose an ounce.
01:17Sal and I used to go to TJ Friday's every night, getting breadsticks and.
01:21Fucking beers.
01:23Jeez.
01:24But you know what?
01:25You guys were good fucking baseball players.
01:26That's why you were there.
01:28So yeah, absolutely.
01:31I should probably say howdy, now we're in San Antonio.
01:38It's my pleasure to welcome you to our annual convention
01:42here in San Antonio.
01:44Looking forward to a great week.
01:47Tonight, sorry, this morning, we're going to watch a video.
01:51And we're going to introduce the sports heads, which will come up
01:54and they'll speak to you all, and give you
01:56an update on an unbelievable year for USSSA.
02:01This week brings us together, friends, co-workers,
02:07and our national office, who have done a phenomenal job in planning this.
02:12And so I'd like to give them a round of applause for getting us to today.
02:17Good.
02:17We'll give you more updates on the organisation tomorrow.
02:26And I'd like you to all turn to the screen to get us started for the week.
02:47Don't cry, don't raise your eyes, it's only teenage wasteland.
03:13It's only teenage wasteland.
03:17It's only teenage wasteland.
03:47Teenage wasteland.
04:18Good morning.
04:23Just want to make sure everybody's aware,
04:26we have a wanted person here in the banquet room.
04:29So if you do see him, and you do find him, Dave Marey is giving a reward.
04:33It is Tim's birthday.
04:35So if you do see him, there is money on the table.
04:39Do a quick review here, just on the slow pitch program.
04:42It works.
04:48Challenge Cup, we kicked off the year in January, February.
04:512024 saw the Challenge Cup grow to host a total of 388 teams
04:55from the US and Canada, participating over four weeks.
05:00Five umpires from Europe joined us.
05:02We brought them in, we trained them prior to the event,
05:04and they actually worked the event, which was great.
05:07Teams were really excited to see umpires from Austria,
05:10from Spain, and see some new faces out on the field.
05:17In 2025, this program will be adding the first defense divisions.
05:22Teams can consist of military, police, and fire personnel combined.
05:27We are getting very good feedback and interest in these divisions,
05:29and we're excited to expand that program.
05:34In March, USSSA, in conjunction with 360 Softball,
05:38held the World Slow Pitch Championships in Barcelona, Spain.
05:41Nine US directors, along with seven umpires, attended the event.
05:46USSSA staff served as the tournament directors, UICs,
05:49along with umpiring the majority of the tournament.
05:52Prior to the event started, Dave Murray and his staff conducted a training
05:55session for over a dozen umpires from Europe and the Middle East.
05:59Seven directors, I was very jealous of this,
06:01tied in the trip to a cruise to the Mediterranean,
06:05and they had a great time.
06:06Next year, next time I'm going to do that myself.
06:09Two teams did qualify from events inside the United States to participate,
06:13and they went to Barcelona.
06:15I can proudly say they finished second and fourth.
06:19Unfortunately, Canada took first, so we're going to do better in two years.
06:23Several US-based military teams participated,
06:25along with teams that represented 11 different countries.
06:30The USSSA staff, in conjunction with the 360 Softball staff,
06:33put on a world-class event, and we're seeing huge benefits
06:36with feedback and interest in these partnerships.
06:40The results of the World Slope Pitch Championships
06:42have opened up additional markets way sooner than we had expected.
06:46USSSA and 360 Softball continue to build on this relationship
06:50as we develop expansion in global markets.
06:55I would like to take a minute and mention
06:57that Mark Stein, president of 360 Softball, has joined us this week.
07:01You'll see Mark around some of the meetings,
07:02so please, if you see him, introduce yourself
07:04and give him a nice, warm USSSA welcome.
07:08Discussions have already begun to introduce more USSSA-sanctioned sports,
07:12so stay tuned.
07:16Conference USSSA held its 19th season with 26 men's teams and 23 women's teams.
07:22This program dealt with several challenges this year,
07:24with travel costs being the highest point many of us have ever seen.
07:29The USSSA committee has been reviewing every aspect of this program
07:32and are looking at ways we can help reduce costs
07:34for all of our teams and players.
07:39World tournaments.
07:40Military program hosted about 98 teams at the World Tournament,
07:43not just in Georgia this year.
07:46We relaunched our Hispanic committee in 2024,
07:51and the committee updated the program rules
07:53and has resulted in growth in the program.
07:56We're all excited to see the re-emergence of this program.
08:00The USSSA Black American World Tournament held a combined 118 teams.
08:05In 2024, Lawson Edwards returned to USSSA
08:09with his indigenous sports circuit.
08:11Happy to report his World Tournament completed a few weeks ago
08:13with 148 teams.
08:15Excited to see a full year of indigenous events
08:17returning to our schedule in 2025.
08:22GSL World Tournaments were held successfully
08:24around the country, Las Vegas, Panama City, Maryland, and Vieira.
08:30Our USSSA and GSL World Tournaments grew in participation from 2023,
08:34and if it was not for Hurricane Milton, it would have grown even more.
08:44In closing, we look for steady growth going into 2025,
08:48which is 100% due to the incredible efforts by our state programs.
08:52Proud to report that we're on track to improve
08:54all of our participation numbers from 2023.
08:57Some great traditional local tournaments continue to set the bar high,
09:01such as the Boo and Brew in Kansas,
09:02the Firecracker in Connecticut,
09:04North versus South in Texas,
09:06the Whole Enchilada in New Mexico,
09:08and the Bush Classic in Arkansas.
09:11Want to thank our umpires and leaders for the hard work on the field
09:14and support our directors and our brand.
09:16Thank you for your time.
09:17At this point, I'll hand it over to Ryan with Fast Pitch.
09:27Good morning.
09:352024 was a great year for us in Fast Pitch.
09:39Record-setting year in a lot of ways,
09:42in which you'll hear me talk about in the upcoming slides,
09:45but the credit for that goes to the men and women
09:48that are sitting out here that represent us day in,
09:50day out in the field, our directors.
09:52So first and foremost, I want to start with a big thank you
09:54to you all for what you do for our organization
09:58and moving our sport forward.
10:01Some overall stats from this past year,
10:04we had a little over 19,000 teams registered
10:07and 74,182 teams participate in tournaments across the country.
10:12Both of those things were up about 6.5% from 2023 to 2024,
10:17which is great to see.
10:19And overall, we had 21 of our state programs across the country
10:24do better from 2023 to 2024 in both of those areas.
10:30Elect 30 National Training Camp,
10:32we've got some great partnerships established
10:34with Maroochee, New Balance, and Eastern.
10:40Invitational-only tournament that we hold two of these
10:43each year, the first one being over Martin Luther King weekend
10:47at the Space Coast Complex.
10:48This past year, we had a little over 300 kids come to that.
10:51And then for the second year, we did a West Coast version
10:53of this out at Big League Dreams in Vegas
10:56and had 130 kids out there, which was great to see.
11:03Our All-American Games program, this is headed up by Kim Hatcher.
11:05She does a fantastic job with this.
11:08She's worked with many of you on tryouts,
11:11set records this year, did a tremendous job with this.
11:16Almost 2,200 athletes participate in tryouts.
11:20Some of the big tryouts we had were a maxed-out tryout
11:23at Jackson, New Jersey, and also in Sterling, Virginia,
11:26and then had enough participation
11:29to necessitate holding three different tryouts in Florida,
11:33which led to over 100 teams and 1,231 athletes
11:38at the Summer All-American Games, which, again,
11:41was a record-setting number for us.
11:44Did a couple of different things this year with that event.
11:46We had a movie night where we gave a custom towel
11:48out to every athlete that attended that.
11:51And it was the best opening ceremonies
11:53that I've been a part of down there at the complex.
11:56And the weather cooperated, and we had just a complete.
12:11This past year, we had 162 teams.
12:13It was the largest we've ever had.
12:14It was up near the top of the world.
12:20It's the first year we've had an 8U division.
12:22We set a goal, Jen, Kim, and myself, working on this event,
12:25that we wanted to get an 8U division established.
12:28And we were able to do that this past year, which was great.
12:31And we also implemented instant replay for the first time.
12:34The first travel ball organization to do that.
12:37Kudos on that goes to our umpire leadership.
12:40They really embraced this, came up
12:42with a plan on how we were going to implement this
12:45into the event, did beta testing leading up to the event,
12:48and then executed it at a high level
12:50within the tournament itself.
12:52So got a lot of really positive feedback
12:54from the participants on that.
12:55We're excited to see where we can take that in future years
12:59and implement it into more of our programs.
13:03National championships, again, led by our directors.
13:06It continues to be a really strong part of our program.
13:09Had nearly 3,000 teams participate
13:11in nationals across the country this past year.
13:14And last but not least, it's our 2024 National All-State Games.
13:18Last year was the first year we launched this program.
13:21We had a void between Christmas and New Year's.
13:23Kind of had a stagnant event with our Winter All-American
13:26Games coming out of COVID.
13:28Really wasn't doing a whole lot.
13:29So we came up with this program, put it
13:32in the calendar between Christmas and New Year's
13:35last year.
13:36Had 14 states that participated across the country,
13:39with 6,000 athletes participating.
13:42With 6,000 athletes participating
13:45in a local All-State Games.
13:46And that led to 700 athletes participating last year
13:51in the inaugural event down there at the complex.
13:53And we thought that was really strong for the first year.
13:55But we knew coming into this year
13:58that we had a lot of momentum with this.
13:59And something we talked about with our state directors
14:02last year, that if you weren't doing an All-State Games event,
14:06we wanted you to do one in 2024.
14:08And so you can see we grew in 2024 from 14 states
14:11to 26 states participating.
14:13And had over 10,000 athletes participate at the local level.
14:18And that brings us to preparing for the upcoming event
14:22here this year.
14:23It'll happen December 28 through the 31st.
14:26We just closed registration on this a couple of weeks ago.
14:30And ended at 1,260 athletes registered,
14:35which was awesome to see.
14:36Obviously, huge growth from year one to year two.
14:39And really excited to get down to the complex
14:42and see this event.
14:43So again, overall, a great year for us in fast pitch.
14:48A huge thank you, again, to all of you guys
14:50out there that make what we do successful.
14:52And with that, I will turn it over
14:54to Steve to talk some Utrecht baseball.
15:02Good morning, 2024 convention.
15:14It's amazing how fast.
15:16I feel like we were just in Santa Bell together
15:18and here we are again another year gone by.
15:21This year has brought a lot of challenges and changes
15:23for USSA and our directors.
15:25that the flooding we had an election this year I mean that's crazy as it is
15:29we've obviously had a lot of changes within our national office and
15:32leadership and you know the one thing as much as things change the one thing that
15:35stays the same is the directors you know same thing for baseball with all the
15:39other sports like slow pitch and fastballs like Ryan just said is that
15:42for baseball and all the directors you guys are the constant you guys are the
15:46heartbeat of this association yet again baseball pounded out another great year
15:51you know I'm a real big believer that this association is led by the ground
15:54up and this year was just another testament to that I'm more interested in
15:59where we're going in the future it's nice to look back and measure where
16:02you've been you know so baseball same thing we've had a record-breaking year
16:06and all our programs you know the all-american games the elites everything
16:10else but this week I'm excited to talk about where we're going you know I'm
16:13sure you guys have all heard there's a reason why the windshields bigger than
16:16the rearview mirror it's nice to look back and reflect but let's look out
16:19where we're going so that's what this week's gonna be about for baseball is
16:22where do we go from here how do we keep the sustainability keep the growth going
16:26joint ventures group activities and just kind of keep this thing going for the
16:30next few years that's what I'm excited about thanks to Sean and slow pitch we
16:36had the opportunity I flew out to Barcelona and went to an international
16:40baseball tournament so baseball now has an opportunity coming up in the future
16:43to in March I believe we're gonna try to attempt to take a team out to the
16:47international games which is gonna be great it's gonna be a big improvement
16:50for us glad to have that and that's just another part of being you triple SA
16:54is the fact that we can work with our other sport lines most our competitors
16:58don't have that opportunity I think it's a great opportunity for our directors so
17:02again co-mingle in between the halls and the meetings again we're all separate
17:06sport lines but when you have those opportunities to work together like that
17:09it's just a win for all the Association so I don't have too much I'm gonna have
17:13the pleasure of bringing up our guest speaker I'm gonna read you a little
17:17intro form excuse me I kind of read at a third grade level but I'm gonna give you
17:20my best effort here less Norman less his journey to success began in 1987 as
17:27part of the u.s. gold medal-winning North team at the u.s. Junior Olympic Festival
17:32he letter later went on to be drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 1990 and then by
17:37the Kansas City Royals in 1991 he quickly made a name for himself in the
17:41Royals minor league system earning player of the year in 1993 and other
17:45honors in 1995 less made his major league debut with the Royals beginning a
17:51career that would later have tremendous impact in many different eras less has
17:55used his
18:06radio show and the well podcast where he explores leadership personal growth
18:12personal development as an author and a national keynote speaker and a corporate
18:17leadership trainer he empowers equips individualizes and organizes to reach
18:22the fullest potential please join me and welcome him less Norman
18:31appreciate it man thank you so much well good morning everybody I am NOT gonna
18:36stand up here I'm gonna come down amongst you all and don't worry about if
18:40you read it the third grade level I speak at the second grade level so
18:42we're right where we need to be that's perfect okay so welcome everybody ready
18:47for a great week Wow that was really great there and really good right here
18:54and the rest kind of not bad you ready for a great week awesome so listen this
18:59isn't just about the stuff you're gonna learn and this is about friendships it's
19:03about networking it's about reconnecting and that is a passion of mine where's
19:08K bar at where's Kevin at you in there there he is in the back stand up I want
19:12you guys to meet Kevin bar real quick Kevin actually you know when you think
19:17about the major leagues I had a couple years in the major leagues it was fun it
19:21was great but when I got to the big leagues Kevin did we even have a barbell
19:26in the weight room in Kansas City I don't even maybe that's why we lost for
19:3130 years I don't know that's what it is any of you Cardinal fans in here st.
19:35Louis Cardinal fans raise your hand hi awesome I'm a Cub fan so the exits are
19:39in the back you got no I'm just kidding you're good I speak of jealousy that's
19:44all it is thankfully we had 2015 and that's great and then the Cubs did but
19:48you know it was it was people like Kevin who helped me at a time in my life where
19:54I don't even think Kevin do you remember did I even look like I lifted a weight
19:57up until that point I'm glad I could hit because the rest of it didn't happen
20:01very well but here's the thing I didn't know Kevin was coming today and we have
20:06made contact with each other and talked online social media things like that and
20:11as soon as I walked in the door we saw each other's face it was that big old
20:15bear hug I think we hugged 17 times which is about 15 times past comfortable
20:20so once you get to two then it's all good but I just missed that dude dude it
20:24is so great to see you and I want to thank you for all that you did for me
20:28even in the short time that I got to play in Kansas City without you man I
20:31don't even know that I would be up here to have this platform so I appreciate
20:34you brother thank you for your hard work and all you continue to do all right as
20:38we begin guys gonna borrow your table real quick okay so I wrote a book and
20:43that doesn't mean anything for you it's a book on hitting but here's what I want
20:46you to do I'm gonna do five little trivia questions to kick us off and
20:50there's a lot of people I've got a lot of bright lights in my face I can't see
20:54that far and I promise you there's probably more glow off of my head than
20:58there is off of these lights so just shout it out if you know the the question
21:04and you're gonna get a copy of this book so in in this books is teaching the
21:07tools of hitting I know softball's got one thing baseball's got another thing
21:11fastball it's all different so what I want you to do there's some fun stories
21:14in here practice organization stuff like that
21:18you
21:33the sentence man you have some like PTSD with that yeah absolutely I just hope I
21:39was never that parent okay the first book I'm going to give away you can give
21:43it away to these whoever you want to again funny stories and here's some cool
21:46stuff who came the furthest now we're in San Antonio anybody come from Hawaii
21:52no I'm sorry that that stinks anybody come from the northeast like Boston area
21:58I saw one hand come after you from Boston ish where are you from the
22:02northeast Jersey which one of you is further that's you can you catch you
22:09better be adult nice very good all right so okay the
22:14trivia questions all right where was the first you triple s a world softball
22:21tournament played somebody who first person to say Wisconsin over here you
22:28got it okay I'm gonna let you guys can you just hand that kind of over to him
22:31raise your hand in the back okay next question where was the national
22:38headquarters located before Florida somebody over here said it raise your
22:42hand somebody over there you got it he raised his hand first very nice you guys
22:47pass that over to him okay how many of you are Texas Rangers fans yeah right
22:54there could you raise your hand any tighter or higher than it is right now
22:59okay so here's a question I'm gonna I'm gonna instead of leaving this open I'm
23:04gonna give this to you okay you better get this right if you hand it up you put
23:09your hand up that fast what year did the Rangers win their first World Series
23:19do you know I got to give it up somebody said 23 over here who said 23 over here
23:25sorry I got to give it to the man who knew what's that so that's your
23:32American League team but your team won the world's are you one of those guys
23:35that like whoever wins the World Series like yeah that's my team right is it
23:38that's him right there you just got called out the National Convention that
23:43ain't right you're a Cowboys fan so yeah I can see the whip and the kick marks
23:48right now brother I appreciate that yeah okay hey I grew up a Cub fan I feel
23:54your pain brother I feel you feel your pain all right so the Dodgers the Pirates
23:59the Reds and the Cardinals came from the American Association to the National
24:04League in what decade
24:12somebody said 18-something who said that 1890 right here that's impressive
24:19right there there you go congratulations 1890 unbelievable okay so we're gonna go
24:25ahead and get started I talk fast I don't have a lot of time I want to make
24:28sure you guys get to your other other things that you need to get to okay what
24:34you do matters what you do every everything that we do every day of our
24:41life makes a difference but let's talk about you triple essay specifically what
24:45you do matters so we're going to talk about leaving a legacy and why your why
24:50matters now some of you might be sitting here right now thinking oh man I did not
24:56I didn't want to hear this I what what I've got specific vested interest in
25:03what you do and I'll explain so ask yourself what is your why hi young lady
25:11how are you you rethinking the sitting in the front table thing right now yeah
25:16you're stuck here okay everybody else is sitting there you like okay well let's
25:19just so I got to sit what's your why what's your why your family very good
25:26that's a great question all right my man what's your why
25:31you're friendship growth okay in life what's your why right now you're looking
25:37across the table and you're thinking if I don't look at him he won't call on me
25:41which is why I'm gonna call on the person sitting next to you I'm kidding
25:46that's not fair you thought you were up to hug didn't you you thought you had it
25:50what's your why hmm that's it she said me me I like that and we're gonna get to
25:58that that's very good you're gonna actually speak the second half and good
26:01assist right there well done okay my man right behind what's your why another guy
26:05looking at are you checking your steps on your phone you look like your yoke
26:09dude you were weren't you like checking your steps how many more you got the
26:13rest of the day a lot all right well if you want you some laps around here I
26:17mean you're like a dieseled up dude we wouldn't mind watching some good form
26:21what's your why sorry your kids very good all great answers and everybody's
26:29why could be different so here's what I want to ask you what's your what I want
26:35you to think about that what's your what and does your what match your why does
26:40your what match your why here's what I'm talking about when I was a kid I did not
26:46get picked off right here because it was a righty thank goodness but my what
26:50when I was a little kid I didn't have anything like you triple say growing up
26:55I had no I never played any kind of tournament I just played local Little
26:59League and when I was in second grade the coach said go to the base we had
27:04four teams in our town the coach said go to the go to the position that you want
27:07to play and my favorite player was Ryan Sandberg insert any Cubs joke you want
27:12right here but Ryan Sandberg was the man and so I went to second base and so
27:18I'm and this is back when if you were 8 9 10 11 and 12 years old y'all played on
27:22the same team small town in Illinois cornfields and baseball it's what we did
27:26and so when I went to second base that's kind of almost the stance I was just
27:31pushing the dirt around and all of a sudden I heard some feet next to me and
27:36we had four baseball and four softball teams in our town not affiliated with
27:41anything just are just a Little League softball baseball but there was one girl
27:46who didn't play softball she played baseball and she happened to be on our
27:51team and that day doggone it don't you nod you know what's coming I see you
27:55nod right there she had to play second base and my first thought was five
28:03minutes later I was a starting right fielder on that team and by the way you
28:08can laugh all you want but in college she was an all-american in three
28:11different sports she was pretty good okay but even as a right fielder that
28:17lost out to a girl who who cares boy or girl she was a stud my what was I was
28:23gonna be a famous big leaguer I was gonna make a ton of money I was gonna be
28:28the name everybody knew I was gonna bring that small town of 2,000 people at
28:33the time up out of the whole factory thing and the nuclear power plant thing
28:37and that was gonna be my what I was gonna show the world what I was made of
28:43and if you don't know even though it's not there it was the back of my jersey
28:47that I was proudest of at the time I was gonna do that for me so that was my what
28:52now let me get to my why when I first signed okay I turned down the the Boston
29:00Red Sox and in the next year in 91 ended up playing and up signing with the
29:06Royals okay my junior year was an all-american year I'd had the Olympics
29:10gold medal under my belt things were going really well and I know some of you
29:13are thinking as I stand up here it's like the old Roadhouse I've never seen
29:16the movie Roadhouse the original one with Patrick Swayze and the Sun when
29:19everybody said wow I think you I thought you'd be bigger yes so did I I thought
29:24I'd be bigger too but ended up playing a little bit and and so when I I signed
29:30and got out I got hurt right away and then Alabama an outfielder from the
29:35University of Alabama was drafted as a right fielder so I'm in short season
29:39ball hitting 160 and a part-time player what are the odds not super good thank
29:47you for shaking your head you're shaking your head before I even like that's not
29:50very good go ahead and say it Bob that's stick you don't have to be embarrassed
29:53it's not 160 it's horrible it's not very good at all but the idea was that flipped
29:59the script in my head it helped me understand that my what should never
30:04have been about me now should I have enjoyed the game yeah anybody know what
30:08the major league minimum salary is this year because back when I played in the
30:11mid 90s it was a hundred and eight thousand anybody know what it is now
30:14but 750 750,000 it's a good gig if you can get it my buddy get your steps in
30:21and go for a tryout it's a pretty good gig if you can get it 750 G's is amazing
30:26but it flipped the script in my head because I knew that I was gonna get
30:29released once I got hurt I blew my shoulder out diving for a ball and so
30:33then the next year they had to bring me back after surgery and come to spring
30:37training and I knew as soon as I showed I was healthy I was out and wow where
30:44was my what then my what was about me until it wasn't and then I might have
30:50blew my opportunity and so then in spring training two outfielders got hurt
30:55and our manager said you know what let me take him as a fifth outfielder and
30:58low a ball now there's there's like the lower the totem pole there's the fifth
31:04outfielder and low a ball and then there's released so I was really happy
31:08to get that job and then once we go to Appleton Wisconsin and spring training
31:12breaks now we go we go there and there's snow on the field there's snow on the
31:18tarp and there's two of our starting outfielders are jacking around on the
31:22snow on the tarp and both of them pull a hamstring and I promise you I was not
31:26the sniper that shot them in the hamstring it wasn't me I did not do
31:30that however it thrust me into the starting lineup but it's amazing what
31:34your mindset can do when your priorities and your what and your why match because
31:39at that point I'll sell hot dogs I'll keep the book I'll chase foul balls I'll
31:43babysit your kids I don't care just to be a part of that team and to now have
31:49that on the front to wear that Royals emblem on the front to wear that you
31:54triple s a logo on the front it matters it means something and so going there
32:01thrust into the starting lineup there were no more worries I was just happy to
32:05be there that year at the all-star break was hitting 400 got promoted to double a
32:09and two years later I got to walk on that stadium in the big leagues now
32:13interestingly enough my career average in the big leagues as a backup player is
32:17about 169 in a career where we don't use money I'd be willing to bet that most of
32:22you probably have more coins in your pocket than what my average is but
32:26here's the point the platform changed the what and the why we're different so
32:30you see this picture how many of you noticed that that is Wheel of Fortune
32:35you say well wait a second all right so if you didn't you're in the back that's
32:39Wheel of Fortune another quick story of why the why matters nine years ago I'm
32:45sitting on the couch with my wife on the outside and my 11 year old son in the
32:50middle how many of you love Wheel of Fortune I've watched that show all the
32:55time love that show I've watched it since Vanna was like six I think that's
32:59how long she's been doing Wheel of Fortune and so we're watching it and I'm
33:02rattling off rattling off and finally my he doesn't talk talk like this now but my
33:06sweet little son at the times like daddy could I please have the last puzzle when
33:12you talk like that sure no problem my wife said you stop getting them all give
33:16him a shot so I went into the kitchen and I started making dinner and I'm
33:19cutting vegetables but I knew what I was doing because at my counter if you
33:23move over to the left you can kind of see the family room TV if it's turned
33:26just right and so that last puzzles up and the people on TV aren't getting it
33:31and they're down to two tiles and some book and I blurred it out I don't even
33:34remember what the puzzle is and my son stands up and he's like daddy what are
33:39you doing I'm like oh man I'm so sorry I didn't I didn't mean to do it he's like
33:43well that's it you're gonna go on the show and my wife had this peculiar look
33:47on her face like mm-hmm you're going on the show and I usually do what my wife
33:51tells me but you can't just magically say okay I'm going on the show and show
33:55up in Hollywood and then they let you in the door and be on Wheel of Fortune so I
33:59said okay what do you mean I'm gonna be on the show he's like I did the
34:01research the research is there's a one there's 1 million people that send in a
34:05video every year I said well how many shows do they record he's like about 600
34:11a year I'm like well what's the percentage trying to trap my 11 year old
34:14son always the competitor right and he's like point zero zero three two like
34:19you're serious about this and so I said okay let's do it he's like well you got
34:25to make a video I said okay let's do it so month passes a month passes and all
34:31of a sudden he comes in the door from school getting ready to go to practice
34:35for cross-country and he's like did you do it I said do what I'm vacuuming I
34:41mean I hope I'm not in trouble I'm trying to obey your mom and he said did
34:45you make the video I said oh you mean for Wheel of Fortune buddy I'm sorry I
34:49forgot and he says well I guess you're all promised Blanca but that's it but
34:58that's it my own son in a loving way not an insulting way called me a promise
35:03breaker because of what I said didn't match what I did my what am I why didn't
35:09match and so I said okay let's do it we go upstairs we make this goofy video he
35:13says where you Jersey where you have backwards say this don't say this and we
35:17did we do the 30-second video and he gets ready to press the button he says
35:21now there's three things I want you to understand before I press this button I
35:25said okay what are these like number one if I press the button you're going on
35:29the show like okay number two I never been to Hollywood I'm only 11 so you're
35:35gonna take me out of school like all right and I think this last one's the
35:39one I'm most proud of he said there's four people in our family so if you go
35:44on the show when you win something I want 25% of the winnings all right so I
35:50ended up going on the show because I ended up trying out they picked me some
35:55crazy thing and I remember the day I got the call I ran up to school and he's
36:00around all his friends how many of you have kids is it not one of the biggest
36:04joys in life is to embarrass your children in front of their friends it is
36:08awesome and amazing as long as it's not being spirited but it is awesome so I go
36:12up like dude I can't believe it I got picked and you're gonna go and we're
36:16gonna do and this is gonna be great this is all that he's standing there like
36:18this like dude are you not excited come on he said listen before I pressed a
36:26button I told you I was gonna you were gonna be on the show and besides I
36:30believe in you daddy melted and it was another point in my life where I
36:37realized my what and my why have to match and they have to be for other
36:41people so understand this both of my sons were baseball players I know
36:48shocker I probably when I gave them times where they could actually practice
36:53on Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City that might have spoiled them a little bit but
36:57they tried basketball and they tried horseback riding and archery and all the
37:00thick excuse me all the things but they gravitated to baseball and they came up
37:06through you triple SA tournaments Dwayne will you stand up
37:11Wally Garrett you guys sitting over there too will you guys stand up if
37:14you're there when my sons came up they loved our relationship they loved it and
37:25today they still talk about how much they love their tournaments how much
37:32they love the car rides how much they love all the different places we got to
37:35eat when the car would break down when the dog would toot in the car and blow
37:39us all out I mean it was an amazing time but they came up through that
37:44organization in Kansas City Wally and Garrett and Dwayne thank you for
37:49treating my family and my children incredible I can't begin to thank you
37:54for the memories that you helped create from the bottom of my heart thank you
37:58they still talk about at 23 and 20 they still talk about it and just please give
38:04them a hand I appreciate so much of what they do my sons are now 23 and 20
38:13ones graduating nursing school one works construction because he loves it and is
38:17learning new things but they're amazing and they're amazing because of the
38:22opportunities that were afforded them the competition the character you
38:26created in me the opportunity to teach my children character and I'll never
38:32forget that so thank you guys for that okay we're gonna dive through this quick
38:35nine lessons to leave and live your legacy you have to realize what your
38:40value is I interview people on the radio all the time I've been doing that for
38:4516 years and the more famous famous people any of you 80s childhood children
38:53of the 80s 80s music know the name Taylor Dane watch the original American
38:58Gladiators yeah I mean I couldn't name 16 years of all these people that I've
39:03interviewed and at the end of these shows I asked them when you look in the
39:07mirror not the physical but when you look in the mirror what do you see and
39:1199% of them can't answer the question one of them even broke down in tears
39:16when I was doing this show live and I had to cut the show quickly because they
39:21didn't feel like they had value so maybe you're really good at what you do maybe
39:27you're good at organization maybe you're good at leading people maybe
39:29you're good at running a tournament maybe you're good at all the other
39:32things that you are great at but if you can't look in the mirror and love who
39:38you are not like who you are but love who you are and realize your what and
39:42your why have to match then you're not realizing your own potential look you
39:47were created amazing I don't care what you've done what you think what you see
39:51most of us how many of you would also say that yeah I'm my own worst enemy
39:55sometimes I'm my own worst critic you don't have to raise your hand for that
39:58but most of us would probably say that but do you notice that when you hear
40:01that voice in your head and you're beating yourself down you actually hear
40:04it in your own voice that's not okay so I want you to realize that you have
40:10incredible value I don't care what your role is and you triple a say you have
40:16incredible incredible value the meaning of life is to discover your gift the
40:20purpose of life is to give it away and many of us have asked the question what
40:26is the meaning of life why am I here at some point we all come to that crisis of
40:30faith in that crisis of thought in our own mind the meaning of life here's the
40:35meaning of your life discover what your gift is what are you good at my man
40:40besides growing that really good-looking beard dude my goodness that's
40:44impressive what's your name buddy Burt less good to meet you man what give me a
40:49gift that you have what do you get to that it's tough question to answer
40:56sometimes isn't it it is see it's a tough question answer and I didn't mean
41:00to put him on the spot because when people have asked me before me mm-hmm
41:04and that's what I'm gonna challenge you to leave with this week you should be
41:09making a list of what your gifts are okay how can you use those gifts to
41:17leverage your position of leadership if you're in this room you've got
41:20leadership potential you've got leadership qualities you are
41:23unbelievably good at what you do whether you believe it or not you have
41:30to invest in yourself what a great answer first one in 20 years of doing
41:35this that somebody answered that well done even with a little help doesn't
41:38matter still you get an a good job if you're not listening to podcasts or
41:42reading books or or doing something to make your life better for you and now
41:47wait a minute you might think well wait a minute you just told me that it's not
41:49about you how many of you would say you don't have to raise your hand but how
41:53many of you would say you want to be the best version of yourself I do I want to
41:58be the best version of myself and it's impossible to do it all the time but
42:03most of the time especially when you're dealing with kids especially when
42:07you're dealing with families and remember people see you oh yeah I had a
42:12bad day people see you so to be the best version of yourself you have to invest
42:18in yourself take breaks when you can go on vacation read a book exercise do
42:23something that you enjoy any golfers in here raise your hands high any golfers
42:30okay keep your hands up any good golfers in here you kept it up a little
42:38bit all right awesome I love that so you have to invest in yourself look think
42:44successfully in 1999 I was I had signed back with the Royals and our manager
42:49said look we have a fifth outfielder job seems like that's the whole thing of my
42:53career the fifth outfielder job and he said you got to do this this and this in
42:57spring training if you want to make this big league club this is 1999 not only
43:01did I do that but I did about 20 things more I had the best spring of my life I
43:04was told at the end of camp you made this trick you made the team we have to
43:08trade Jeff Conine we trade Jeff Conine you're gonna make the team so go to
43:12minor league camp tomorrow do your own thing I'll come and get you as soon as
43:15we trade Jeff Conine that night on ESPN my wife and I were watching ESPN Jeff
43:20Conine was traded for cash and a player to be named later and I was literally 20
43:25something years old jumping on that holiday in bed doing flips and landing
43:29I'm sure I broke it I don't know if I paid for it if you're in here just send
43:33me the bill and then the next day I went to minor league camp and I saw the the
43:38cart coming over and he had talked to our triple-a manager and went in to
43:40grab my bags and the manager came over and he said Scott pose you made the team
43:45go get your stuff was that fair doesn't matter it makes no difference if it was
43:53fair it was the mindset it hurt but that was one of the pivotal points where
43:59I realized that my platform is not about me my platform is what I'm gonna do with
44:04this so I went and told Tim Cash he was a former player who was working in
44:08ministry and I was complaining and railing on our manager and he said in
44:11that Georgia twang he said son it's time to get a check up from the neck up get
44:15rid of your stinking thinking like wow and then I called a friend of mine Kevin
44:20Seitzer most you'll know that name Atlanta Braves hitting coach played for
44:23the Royals A's Brewers was a great hitter and I called him and told him hey
44:29I can't believe this happened he's like wow dude that's amazing I'm like I
44:33thought you were my friend that's not amazing he's like no but now you realize
44:37it's not about what you can do it makes you really realize what's inside of you
44:41what your why is what are you what are you gonna do with this how are you gonna
44:46use it so that's how we live a legacy have a legacy mindset and think
44:50successfully your words and actions have impact what you say and what you do
44:56need to match remember my kid walked in that door in a fun way and he's like did
45:03you do it oh buddy I'm so sorry I forgot I guess you a promise break up what we
45:10say we need to follow up with my wife has an incredible gift of discernment
45:15after 28 years of marriage that woman can smell a toot in a tornado and I'm
45:20not talking about smell it's amazing what she can see and I said you know
45:25sometimes I say hey we're gonna do this and do this she's like you know what
45:28don't even tell me I would rather you just do it because that's what that's
45:33what lifts me up and so our words and our actions have to matter and they have
45:38impact the difference between happy and joyful this is a quick lesson for you as
45:43we hit the homestretch here understand you can be happy
45:49last year I was on vacation didn't feel well fast forward went home drove all
45:55the way home come to find out oh you're 54 and you have prostate cancer Wow now
46:01more fast forward everything was great had surgery I am now fully 100% healthy
46:06okay it's amazing I had great doctors but here's the deal at the beginning
46:11when I found out I was sick I was sad I was really sad and I'm sure there's
46:16somebody in here that probably has had that same or different kind of journey
46:19with it I was really sad but I never stopped being joyful never stopped being
46:26joyful because I always realized what was around me and how could I use that
46:30to impact other people and so I had the opportunity to build into the life of
46:35other people that were struggling with the same thing how many of you have ever
46:40been yelled at by a parent you know don't raise your hand the laughter says
46:45it all and how many of you after they were done yelling at you came back the
46:50next day and yelled at you some more and then you got the email and then you got
46:52the phone call and all those things did it annoy you did it bother you in some
46:58cases did you want to lash back a little bit and put them in their place let me
47:02ask you this question did you ever think about what might be going on in their
47:06life because behind every face there's a drama unfolding including every single
47:11person in this room nobody really knows your stuff so it's important to
47:15understand that joyful is an attitude it's a preset attitude going into
47:21something like when a parent comes at me it I'm just gonna be professional and
47:25deal with it I'm gonna try to be compassionate and help them understand
47:28happy and sad hits you from the outside joyful is a decision on the inside and
47:33if you want to leave a legacy for what you're doing I encourage you to adopt
47:36that and serve others and do it well you already serve others it's just something
47:41I put in there because it's true you do serve others all the time but are you
47:46doing it really really well is it what's at the end of the the tournament at the
47:52end of the week at the end of the month or are you not worried about that and
47:56are you diving in to serve other people let me ask you this question if you
48:01change one life for what you do is it enough good answer it's absolutely
48:08enough if you change more than one you are a rock star outstanding serve others
48:14and do it well be thankful every morning my family and I've taught this to my
48:19sons you may have the worst day in the world but there's always something for
48:23us to be thankful for how many of you are married how many of you have a
48:30significant other how many of you have family how many of you are just happy
48:34that you got up this morning and you got away from work for a while and come hang
48:37out with your friends you haven't seen a long time hey that was a really high
48:40hand young lady I appreciate that do we need to tell you where the bar is
48:44downstairs or you know where it is already okay so be thankful your
48:49gratitude shapes your attitude encourage others again behind every face there's a
48:54drama unfolding and you could be having a bad day but I promise you instead of
48:58your bad day if you go to somebody you want to live a legacy and you go up to
49:01somebody and you say hey I just want you to know I was watching what you did that
49:05was amazing how many umpires are in this room right now almost as bad as Cardinal
49:11fans I'm just kidding he's like dang listen it is it's like a server in a
49:18restaurant umpires will hear a hundred negative the negative things before
49:24their hair will hear one positive thing what if you went up to an umpire and
49:28said hey that was a really good call well done nice job you don't have to go
49:33into some big long thing but what if there was a parent who their whole side
49:38was going crazy over what an umpire said or or what a player did or something
49:43like that and you see one parent who's just sitting there all casual all chill
49:47all quiet hey thanks for controlling yourself in that people saw that one
49:51little piece of encouragement means the world if you want to live a legacy it's
49:57important to practice that and finally choose excellence in everything that we
50:03do we're not going to be perfect every time but in everything that we do we can
50:09choose to be excellent it's an option it's not just a way of life it's an
50:14option we are we are every morning when we wake up we are faced with so many
50:21decisions that we don't even think about that we can take for granted but
50:26it's important to understand that everything that you do be excellent at
50:29it if you're running some kind of tournament if you're whatever you're
50:34doing within your organization be excellent at what you do Ryan I I worked
50:41with Ryan a lot of years in his former organization that he was working with
50:44and and man I gotta tell you my coaches my families and my players were treated
50:52so amazing by Ryan and his staff never forgot it never forgot it if it was a
50:57rain out if it was rescheduling if it was whatever sometimes he would call me
51:02did you have me on speed dial by the way like you know I was gonna call there and
51:06thank you Ryan by the way for your part of that too for giving my family and my
51:10boys such an incredible time on the field the car rides home were even more
51:16fun than the games most times but you chose excellence and you've always
51:21chosen excellence and I appreciate that about you Ryan thank you for that so as
51:25I close thanks for listening I appreciate it enjoy the books throw them
51:29away light a fire whatever you want to do with them there'll be more chances as
51:33I because I'm gonna see some of you in the different sessions that we do two
51:37later on today one tomorrow there'll be more chances to win a couple of those
51:41or some trivia your live your legacy what you do matters don't be that guy
51:49like like me even inadvertently that said oh yeah my son said you'll promise
51:53Blanca and he didn't mean it mean but it told me everything I need to know you
51:59have value you were created to do amazing things and so as I head off here
52:04to the side now I want to challenge you one more time do amazing things thank
52:09you guys for your time I appreciate it have a fantastic week thank you for
52:14being here and thank you for everything that you do I appreciate you all see you
52:18soon
52:20thank you let's add it's actually unbelievable to have a guest speaker
52:37that has experience with our directors and I think that's what is really really
52:42good to show light some of us directors and what they do and what you all do and
52:47I know you'll do a phenomenal job and I thank you again for coming you being
52:51here makes our organization better I want to thank Steve Ryan Sean for again
52:58bring coming up here giving us an amazing giving us the information on
53:01another amazing year and I know we're gonna have an amazing week and I wish
53:05you all the best and let's go and get this thing done so welcome to San
53:09Antonio let's go you triple say
53:39you
54:09you