Younger coaches help make difference

Sig Eps in Kansas coach a Little League team

Photo by Ira J. Spitzer

Sidewinders assistant coaches Nathan Bower, left, and Kyle Brown watch their team take on the Rivercats on Friday at Holcom. Bower and Brown, along with the other two Sidewinders coaches, are are in the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity at KU.

When people think about a little league baseball coach, there’s a good chance they have a picture in their heads of a father, maybe a little frazzled, maybe too tough or too easy on his own son.

The dad might be a great person and coach. However, the age difference between him and the players, and the fact that his son is part of the peer group, often make it hard for him to become a real mentor to his players, especially in just a couple months.
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Brian Segerbrecht is a Lawrence native and head coach of the Sidewinders in the Houk League for 13- and 14-year-old players.

“I always enjoyed it more when it was a younger guy coaching me than a parent,” Segerbrecht said.

Segerbrecht decided to use his experience in a postive way.

A former Houk League player himself, Segerbrecht started coaching last year with Josh Van Zandt, one of his brothers in the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity at KU.

This year, the 20-year-olds recruited two more fraternity brothers to share the Sidewinders’ coaching duties: Kyle Brown, 22, and Nathan Bower, 20.

They said the closeness in age to their players creates a different type of atmosphere in the clubhouse.

“A lot of times at this age, kids come in with a negative attitude,” Segerbrecht said. “To watch them become close as a team means as lot.”

Younger coaches help make difference | LJWorld.com