Matching families with players is key

Thursday, November 27, 2008

As the awaited members of the 2009 Tradewater Pirates baseball team sit down to home cooked meals with their respective families for today’s Thanksgiving meal, local resident Carol Keller hopes to duplicate the same feeling of harmony with the young men when they reach Dawson Springs in May.

Keller, the team’s host family and player services director, has been tediously working since August to find willing community members to take in the boys for the summer and finding the best suitable matches.

“You can’t wait until the last minute or it will absolutely overwhelm you,” she said. “There’s not a lot less stress if you tackle it as soon as the one season ends, you start on another season and start compiling your network again and sending out contact letters and e-mails.”

After the Tradewater players’ success on the field and good conduct away from it, Keller said about 75 percent of last season’s host families have signed up to be part of the program for 2009. She also said a majority of the volunteering households come from Dawson Springs and its immediate area, but a few from Madisonville have also stepped forward.

Keller and her husband Joe, the Pirates facility management director, will be among the list of host families. The Kellers return for their second season of welcoming ballplayers into their home.

Last season, the Kellers invited Tradewater catcher Kevin Schlegel to stay with them and created a solid bond.

“I’m just sorry that Kevin can’t come back,” Carol said. “We will definitely house a player and there’s a chance that we’ll have someone who speaks Spanish as his primary language and if that’s the case, we’ll probably have him here because my husband has been studying his Spanish very hard.”

Rick Hendrickson, Tradewater community relations director and public address announcer, has been involved with the team for 11 seasons and has taken note of the commitment and energy the Kellers have brought to the organization.

“We have two people with Joe and Carol that are really the local face of the Pirates and I think that’s really going to help us out with public relations,” Hendrickson said. “Last year what amazed me was how many meals the Kellers and other folks provided or how many times they would arrange to feed them before or after the game.”

Hendrickson and the board have already hired a head coach, Brandon Kitch of Faulkner University (Ala.) and Kitch has recruited nearly 20 players so far.

“He’s got a bunch of players with papers signed and ready to return,” Hendrickson said. “I think we’re way ahead of last year. I don’t think we’ve ever been this far ahead as far as preparation.”

Although Carol Keller may not know all the names and faces of the Pirates team, she has a list of about 15 families to place the players, each taking one or two boys.

Keller has done her own paper work by developing a questionnaire for potential families and players and even included an area for hosts to list house rules and expectations.

“I don’t think there’s every been any questionnaires in the past that have been sent to host families, so I think this will be a really good improvement as far as having a better fit and having the families know exactly what’s expected from them,” Keller said.

Most players come just wanting a bed to sleep on and somewhere to watch TV, but the Kellers continue to go beyond the call and still maintain close ties with Schlegel, who’s birthday was Wednesday.

“He’s going to be 21 on the 26th of this month and so I’ve already sent him a birthday present,” Carol said earlier this week. “He should get that Wednesday, when his birthday is.”

The Tradewater Pirates may be at their respective schools thinking about the upcoming collegiate season, but Keller has seen correlation between her offseason work and the holiday spirit.

“As far as the Thanksgiving season, that’s what it’s all about: just giving thanks for every thing that you have, including the players, because you meet these players and at least a handful from every single team, you’re going to keep in touch with from now on,” she said. “Really it’s all about – your whole life, everybody’s life – should be about just what you can do for other people.”