Paying it forward

by Jack Warren, host of the Top Coach podcast

I have the honor of calling friend a young man who is just now realizing his dream and dipping his toes into collegiate coaching. Recently he did something so amazing that I feel compelled to share the story.

First of all, let me tell you a little bit about my friend, Gabriel Virgil. Gabe is a very young man and a lifelong Southern Californian. This past August, however, he decided to pack up his belongings and head all the way across the country to the coal mining hills of West Virginia to accept a position on the staff of Andrew Wright’s University of Charleston (WV) baseball team as a graduate assistant. That alone merits a truckload of kudos and a giant slap on the back.

Gabe, however, considers himself a very blessed young man — in spite of the fact that his average day consists of arriving early at the office, checking in with the baseball staff, attending class, going back to the office or field to do some of his baseball assignments, studying, sleeping and then heading into a job in the middle of the night to help pay the bills. The next day it starts all over again. Ask Gabe about all this and he’ll tell you he’s living the dream.

The story doesn’t end there, however. Gabe recently determined that three young coaches like himself deserved to get a shot at going to the American Baseball Coaches Association convention in Dallas this coming January. He posted something about his idea and three young coaches are now having their convention fees paid by Coach Virgil.

One can reasonably assume that Gabe doesn’t have a stack of cash sitting around, yet out of a heart of gratitude, he decided to pay it forward and return the favor to other guys like himself.

Now, you don’t have to work a night job to pay someone’s way to a convention, but what are you doing to encourage someone or give someone a hand in time of need? It doesn’t have to be much. In fact, it doesn’t have to cost a cent — often it’s just an encouraging word. Don’t get so locked up in your daily details that you forget to look outside your routine and ask, “How can I bless someone today?”