Dave McCartney got the coaching bug early. "As a kid, I knew there were three things I wanted to do,'' says Dave, who manages the Fairfield Little League 9- and 10-year-old softball team that is playing in the East Region Invitational. "I wanted to coach Little League. I wanted to get married, and I wanted to have kids."
McCartney dived headfirst into coaching almost as soon as he got the opportunity. He started as an assistant coach of teams his son Christopher, now a 19-year-old college student, played for. He began coaching softball seven years ago, when daughter Kaitlyn, now a student at Fairfield Ludlowe, picked up the game. His youngest daughter, Shannon, is on the two-time state champions playing in Pennsylvania. McCartney estimates he has coached 1,000 games.
"You think back to when you were a kid,'' he said. "Your role models are your coaches in Little League. They're your teachers in life."
McCartney has assembled a strong support staff. Doug Romero works with the pitchers, and Jarry Rasmussen brings years of experience from coaching in the Fairfield American Little League when his sons played in the league. McCartney's teams have won three state championships in the six years he's been coaching All-Star teams.
He also credits the support of his wife, Mary, a nurse at St. Vincent's, for allowing him to devote energy to coaching. He took "a hiatus a few years ago" from employment at Grainger and works as a substitute teacher in Fairfield. "Eventually, especially according to my wife, I'm going to have to get a real job,'' he says.
For now, however, he's a happy coach. "It's a great time,'' Dave says. "Working with the kids pays never-ending dividends."
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