For the Love of the Game

It's normal for a father to take some interest when his son plays baseball, especially when he a child.
But Shawn Laferty may take that a little bit too much because to him, nothing is better than spending his time with his sons and other kids teaching them baseball.
"I love doing it. I love to see the kids get good, I like to seem them do a good job," said the skipper of the Dixie Youth League's AAA Majors (ages 11-12) Spring Hill American team.
And while Laferty's club lost in Sunday's District 6 title game, 11-3, to South Lake, his club still will get to play in the upcoming state tournament beginning July 11 at Ridge Manor.
But unlike some people who take some interest in youth baseball, Laferty may go beyond that.
"I've coached baseball since my first son was three or four years-old, so it's going on 10 years now," said Laferty, who works for Autoway Chevrolet in Clearwater and lives in Spring Hill.
This year, Laferty coaches three different youth league baseball teams.
"I coach my 9-year-old, my 12-year-old and another travel team," he said. "But in other years, I've coached four teams at once."
The reason for all that may have started with his father when Laferty was growing up in Dayton, Ohio. "He probably didn't do it as much as I do with my son, but I remember him being there with me when I played ball," he said Sunday after the tournament game.
Along with all the time he spends coaching baseball, Laferty's wife Carmon has learned to love the game almost as much as he does.
"She's grown to love the game," Laferty said. "She had to because we've been doing this for at least 10 years now."
While many parents spend very little time watching or teaching their children baseball, Laferty thinks that he couldn't do anything better with his time than teach the game.
He even has considered staying in coaching after his sons leave playing in youth leagues and high school.
"Maybe, I've thought about," said Laferty. "Down the road when my kids have gone through Dixie League and gone on to play college ball. I can honestly see myself doing it because I just love baseball."