DATE: February 25, 2013
TO: Professor Shirene McKay
FROM: Zach Watts
SUBJECT: Information- Gathering Interview
I interviewed Derek Waddoups, a college baseball coach at SLCC, for the purpose of learning more about his day to day schedule. How much time he has for his family, benefits of coaching, and Balance was the main focus. I chose to interview Derek after practice in his office.
Spending time with family
Going into this interview I did not expect coaches to have a lot of time with their family. Derek said he spends more time with his family then he does with the team which really surprised me. Derek did say that you do lose a lot of time with your family on weekends though, because of the team and traveling to different colleges.
Derek talked a lot about balance and how everything thing in his life needs to be balanced. If he is spending more time with his family and less with the team, he will spend a little more time with the team so it has balance. Derek is very passionate about his family; Derek brings his kids to our games all the time to interact with the players and his wife as well.
Derek said he is always with his family, this answer threw me off for a second and the he told me that he looks at the baseball kids as his second family and a bunch of crazy sons. This told me a lot about the character coaches should have to be a great coach.
Benefits of Coaching
Derek did not have much to say when it came to the benefits of coaching, but the little he did say about it was very influential. Derek said the benefits of coaching is that he gets to enjoy the thing he loves most in this world besides his family of course. Derek has a passion for the game that I have never seen in a coach or even a player. He loves being around baseball no matter if he is coaching or playing or even just watching, Derek truly loves the game of baseball.
Balance
As an athlete that gets the privilege to be under the coaching staff of SLCC I know how much Derek preaches that balance is one of the most important keys to success. You can’t do much if you aren’t balanced not just in baseball but in life as well. Derek tries to balance his time with his family and the time he spends with his team. Ever since my interview with Derek I have tried balancing my life out and have improved my happiness and I go to bed with the feeling that it was a successful day.
Even during this interview he balanced all his answer out and didn’t spend more time on one answer, Derek kept everything balanced.
Interview Analysis
For this interview I have learned tons about being a baseball coach. I actually learned a lot about how to become a better person.
Going into this interview I thought I was just going to get the basics on how to become a coach and what it takes to be a good coach. After the interview I learned that coaching is more than teaching the game of baseball but being an example for the players and teaching them principles that will help them in the world after baseball.
