Coaching is not just a job; it’s a gift where you can touch the life of a teen.
Baseball head coach Norman Taylor has dedicated 26 years of his life to coaching. In that time, he has coached high school and junior college baseball – guiding and assisting teens in making good life-long decisions. He has 23 years of coaching high school baseball, including 15 years here at King.
“My greatest challenge is to help young students with their journey,” said Taylor. “I respect the journey you guys [students] are on because the people you [students] are today is not the individual you’re going to be 10 years from now.”
For Taylor, winning is nice, but he uses baseball as an avenue to teach life lessons. He uses it to propel students in the right direction.“One reason I love baseball so much is because it’s a game that parallels with life. The tools it takes to be good in baseball are the same tools it takes to be good in life,” said Taylor. “In order to succeed you have to fail and baseball is a game built on how well you can embrace the failures, not successes. Some people go into panic [with life situations] and do desperate things and mess their whole situation up. Other people say ‘I got to find a way to make this work.’”
In his 15 years as the head coach at King, Taylor has seen several students get scholarships, with three former students signing with professional teams.
“In my 15 years, we have 14 kids that have received baseball scholarships,” said Taylor.
The parents of the players believe that Taylor is the epitome of coach and counselor. Many feel like he’s a father figure to their son.
“He’s a wonder coach here for the kids,” said parent Nancy Watson. “He’s here to make sure our kids have a good education and to get them farther with college and scholarships. He’s like a father.”
The Crusaders’ baseball players have learned a lot about life from Taylor.
“He teaches how to be disciplined not with just baseball but in classrooms and the workforce,” said center fielder Kavon Moore. “He teaches when we get a job, we should be responsible and respectful.”
