68°
Doug Horn loves baseball. He enjoys teaching young players, coaching, the entire atmosphere of the game. And with the summer he's had, he had better love it.
Horn's calendar has been filled almost every night with baseball. He coached Peter, his son, and the North Stamford Little League team that won the District 1 championship. That took him through most of July. His son, Bobby, played for the Stamford Babe Ruth team that competed in the New England Regional. His daughter Brittany, who will be a senior at Westhill, played on the Vikings' state championship team. She then played for The Tradition travel softball team that ventured to the Carolinas for two tournaments.
If there wasn't a game to get to, Horn practiced with the North Stamford team. He's with them now as they play in a tournament in Cooperstown, N.Y. Stamford won its first game on a no-hitter by Kevin Stone, 5-0, over the Carolina Lightning. Monday's game was rained out.
Horn has coached youth baseball for 16 years. With Peter in his last year of Little League, he's unsure where he'll be coaching next year. "I don't know what we're doing from here,'' Horn says. He has coached players of all ages. He hasn't noticed a big change in kids' attitudes from when he first started coaching.
"They still listen at this age,'' Doug says. "When they get to 14 and 15, it gets tough. You hope they respect you enough that they listen. Yelling at them doesn't really help. You have to discipline them or bench them, do something to get the point across."
Before traveling to Cooperstown, Horn said he was looking forward to the trip. "We're together for six days, non-stop, 24/7, in what I call barracks,'' Horn says. "It's serious bonding." After Cooperstown, he'll take a brief break. Then it will be time to coach basketball.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Stamford and receive free news updates.
