Kids help kids in Kahalu'u

By Eloise Aguiar
Advertiser Windward O'ahu Writer

KAHALU'U — Like any other baseball coach, Chauncey Kruse demonstrates to Little Leaguers how to swing a bat, field a ball, throw a pitch and cover a base. Years of experience have prepared him to teach young players what he knows.

Chauncey Kruse, 11, shows his brother, Colby, 5, how to hold a baseball bat. Because of a shortage of adult coaches, older boys, like Chauncey, help out with younger players. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

He is among about 12 youths ages 9 to 12 who are giving their time to help younger players learn the fundamentals of the game in the Kahalu'u Little League. Officially, they're team assistants, but they're coaching — encouraging a reluctant player, correcting a swing, running drills.

At the T-ball level the youngsters are helpful with parents as well, said coach Ron Skates, vice president of the Kahalu'u Little League.

"They're not only teaching the kids," he said. "They're teaching the parents too."

It's a home run for all involved.

In a sport run by volunteers, it's not unusual to be short of help on occasion. But last year when Skates faced coaching a T-ball team of 5- and 6-year-olds all alone, he drafted three youths to take on responsibilities once carried by adults.

"These kids are untapped resources," said Skates. They know the game and have years of experience playing it and being coached. So this season the league decided to tap that resource again, with an eye toward making it a permanent program.

The coaches still run the practices that take place at the Kahalu'u Elementary School field, but the youngsters are there demonstrating how to bat, collecting balls and chasing after balls that are missed by the younger players. They help with fielding, hand-eye coordination and game tactics.

And they like helping out and seeing the improvements, knowing in some small way they contributed to the progress of the players.

"Some can hit farther because I showed them how to use all their power," said Kruse. "It makes me feel good because I taught them that."

Kruse has the skills and the background to pass on, having played the game since he was 5. He was an all-star player every year he played in the minor league and in his first year in the major league last season.

But the task isn't easy, and he acknowledged that getting players to listen can be difficult. Some talk back and others won't even try to improve when he offers his help, he said. But he doesn't hold it against the players.

Kruse said he knew nothing about coaching and learned everything from his dad, Emil Kruse, who coaches a coach-pitch team of 7- and 8-year-olds. The elder Kruse praised his son's ability, saying he is good at communicating with the younger children and holding their attention.

With all the skill his son has to offer, Emil Kruse said his son's attitude is his strongest suit.

"Everybody likes Chauncey because he doesn't have an attitude," Emil Kruse said. "He can bring that to these kids because no matter what the problem is, Chauncey doesn't get down on himself."

Keola Jarrett, 10, said the most rewarding aspect of being an assistant is seeing a young player finally get it right. Jarrett, two times on the district championship team, quietly helps out, fixing a hand here, adjusting a stance there.

The experience has had an effect on his future; Jarrett said he would like to be a teacher.

Teaching gives the youngsters a coaches' perspective, said T-ball coach Les Kamae. It also increases their appreciation for their own coaches and improves their skills as they try to help others improve, Kamae said.

The assistants are invaluable as they set up drills and work with the children on such skills as catching a ball, he said. And because the assistants are young and smaller than the coach, they are not as intimidating to the 5- and 6-year-olds, Kamae said.

"They listen to the coach because the coach looks mean, but they have fun with the assistants," he said.

Timothy Hanson-Skates, 9, said the young group is by far the funniest — and the hardest to teach. They'll crack you up with their errors, Hanson-Skates said, and it's not always easy to see where they need help because they're usually starting from scratch, having never played the game before.

"I like the younger kids better because they're hardest and I like a challenge," he said.

Kathy Enos, president of the Kahalu'u league, said she's proud of the kids who volunteer as assistants. They help communicate with the younger children and sometimes are the only other volunteers available because of work-schedule conflicts.

They love it, Enos said, because it gives them a feeling of accomplishment other than school or a game.

"They're giving up their free time just like the coaches do to give back to the kids of the league," she said. "I really give them credit for giving up their free time. They don't have to do it. They could be playing on their computers."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com or 234-5266.

Correction: Ron Skates is vice president of the Kahalu'u Little League. A previous version of this story listed an incorrect title. Kathy Enos is president of the organization.