Finding the Reason: What Drives You on the Field

For the Parents of Tough Kids: Helping Them Stay Driven and Move Forward

Some kids are naturally tough. They show up, push through pain, stay quiet when it’s hard, and keep going when others would quit. If you’re raising a kid like that in baseball, you already know you don’t need to push them harder. What they need is something different: support in their motivation, space to grow, and help sharpening their reason for playing.

Because even tough kids lose focus. Even tough kids get tired. And even the most driven players sometimes need help reconnecting to the thing that makes all the effort worth it.

Your Kid Is Not Lazy. They’re Just Looking for Meaning.

If your child seems a little off—still showing up, but less locked in—it doesn’t mean they don’t care. It might mean their reason for playing isn’t loud enough anymore.

Maybe they’ve outgrown their old motivation, like just wanting to win or be the best. Maybe they need something deeper. And that’s not a weakness. That’s growth.

As parents, our role isn’t to lecture or fix it for them. It’s to help them reconnect to their purpose and push forward with clarity and strength.

How to Support Their Motivation Without Taking It Over

See the effort behind the attitude.

Tough kids don’t always talk about how much they care, but they show it in how they grind, how they carry themselves, and how they keep showing up. Start there. Let them know you see that. Recognition fuels motivation.

Ask real questions.

What are you chasing right now? What makes you feel proud after a game? What would feel like a win this month? Skip the surface-level stuff. Speak to them like a teammate. It builds trust, and often, they’ll tell you more than you expect.

Help them level up their reason.

Sometimes their old reasons aren’t enough anymore. Help them build a new one.Instead of "I play to win," maybe it becomes "I play because I’m capable of more than I was last season."Instead of "I don’t want to let people down," maybe it becomes "I want to become someone I’m proud of."That shift matters. Better reason, better focus.

Don’t over-celebrate outcomes. Celebrate mindset.

Wins and stats fade. But how they handled adversity, how they led the team, how they showed up on a bad day—that sticks. Highlight those moments. That’s the stuff that builds character and long-term drive.

Keep them moving forward, even when it’s hard.

Motivation isn’t always loud. Sometimes it’s quiet discipline. If they fall into a rut, help them take the next small step. Not a full leap. Just one step. Show them that progress doesn’t need to be big. It just needs to be steady.

For the Kid Who Never Quits

If your kid is a fighter, a grinder, a do-it-their-way type of player, support that. But also help them grow. Motivation doesn’t have to come from proving people wrong or being the toughest. It can come from becoming someone stronger, more focused, more confident.

Let them build a reason that belongs to them. Let them redefine success as they grow. Let them chase something that actually matters to them.

You’re not there to drag them. You’re there to walk beside them.

And they’ll remember that longer than any trophy.