T-Ball at Mabee Red Shield More than Just a Sport

It’s easy to guess that Coach Sam Berry’s favorite sport is football, since he is an American Youth Football Conference of Oklahoma (AYFCO) Commissioner.  But if you’ve run into Coach Sam recently, you’ll notice that he can’t stop talking about T-Ball. Sam started the first T-ball program at Mabee Red Shield in March, where he is the Athletic Director. The kids on the T-ball team range from five to seven years old and it seems they love Sam as much as he loves teaching them T-ball. The team mothers seem happy about the season too.

Missy Armstrong is mother to five boys aged three to 20. Her five-year-old son Daylin plays on the T-ball team. (see photo, left) 

“Since Daylin has so many good male role models with his dad and his brothers, I was really surprised to see how well he bonded with Coach Sam. But with Daylin it’s ‘Coach Sam said this, and Coach Sam said that.’” 

The Mabee Red Shield T-ball Cowboys play in the YMCA League and learn the fundamentals of the game as well as good sportsmanship.  Missy is planning to have Daylin play football at the club in the fall.   “Coach Sam treats all these kids like they’re his own grandkids. You can tell it’s not just a job for him – he has a passion for it,” Missy said. Coach Sam would like to thank fathers for their involvement with T-ball, including Donnie White, Chris Campbell, Andrew Carter, Dwayne Mayes (Daylin’s dad) and Mr. Davis.

Photo, from left to right: Samara Carter, Daiquan Haley, Jordan Davis, Christian Campbell, Lyric Webb, Maudi Maburn, Daylin Mayes, Jordan Miller. 

-Sallie