Crawfordsville baseball coach John Froedge has been coaching Athenian baseball for nearly 40 years.
His team had unfinished business heading into his final season at the helm of the program, looking for their first sectional title since 2013, and looking to add hardware to an already crammed trophy case.
And then in the blink of an eye it was all put on hold due to the growing COVID-19 outbreak.
“We had just finished our last off-season practice and were geared up to begin our season when everything was shut-down last week,” Froedge said. “It was so sudden and unparalleled with anything any of us have ever experienced. For a few days, it seemed surreal.”
The earliest schools in the state of Indiana will return to the classroom is May 1, which puts a start date to the IHSAA baseball season set for Monday, May 4.
Froedge says his team is pumped about the opportunity to still have a season, and knows the rest of the spring sport athletes and coaches in the area are also hoping for some sort of season. The Hall of Fame coach is encouraging his team to follow the same guidelines that has them sidelined.
“I’ve encouraged our guys to follow all the safety guidelines we have been given and to keep working out as they are able as though we will still have a season (however, brief it might be),” he said. “Much is out of our control right now, but coaches always talk about controlling the controllable. Right now, that is preparing for a May 4 start to our season and dealing with this unprecedented situation in the most positive and productive way you can. Do not feel sorry for yourself or be fearful.”
Froedge is confident that positives can come out of this situation.
“Even with all the drastic changes to life we are enduring, positives can come out of this time as well,” he said. “This should force all of us to slow down a little. More activities is not always better. Families will be able to spend quality time together and maybe even more frequently sit down at the dinner table . That is difficult to do with the busy schedules most us keep, especially those families who have sons and daughters in sports. I’ve told our players to look for ways to be more helpful around home; to find ways to come out on the other side of this a better person.”
And he has turned to his faith to understand that we as a community, and country will come out better on the other side of these unsettling times that have seemingly turned our lives upside down.
“As a Christian, I know that God is sovereign and in control,” Froedge said. “He has a plan for all of his children in the midst of this crisis. My ultimate hope is not in baseball or this world. We should not be fearful. Do all the things we have been told to do to stay safe. No one wants to see anyone suffer physically or economically due to the virus. However, we will get through this as a community and a country.”
Froedge wants coaches to remember that while they are not taking the field, their jobs as coaches are as important now as ever before.
“We coaches often speak about overcoming challenges and adversity and all of the life lessons that competitive athletics can teach a young person,” he said. “It is important that we coaches continue to mentor and help develop good character qualities in our athletes even if we can’t be on the field at this time.”
