A Dad for All Seasons

Jonathan Myrick, with his Little League team, was described as committed "to all of his surrogate sons on the team." (By Marvin Joseph -- The Washington Post)
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One recent day, Carey Hitchcock picked up the Myrick boys from school. Another day it was Sharon Saile. One recent weekend, Myrick dropped by the home of Dana Hecht, asking for her son, who plays on a different baseball team. "Hey, I'm taking some kids out to hit some balls. Does Johnny want to come?" he asked.

The help goes around and around.

"It's not unusual to see dads involved," Hecht said. "What's unusual is that he's doing it alone." Hecht rattles off the events where she sees him: back-to-school nights, parent-teacher conferences, field trips. She recalls the birthday parties he has thrown. How he networks to learn more about teachers and school programs.

Myrick also advocates for the needs of his younger son, who is deaf and has a cochlear implant to help with hearing.

"The guy doesn't slack off a bit," said Chris Nielsen, a neighbor and fellow coach. "Honestly, I don't know how he's done it."

For his part, Myrick is uncomfortable with such praise. When a visitor suggests he must be highly organized, he laughs and gestures around his house, with its cluttered garage and games and toys stacked in little piles. "See my house -- do I look organized?" he says.

His work as a coach was not something he set out to do but rather something he "fell into" in spring 2002, he said, after a request for volunteers. The same need for parents to step up led him to coach basketball and soccer.

The recent baseball season had its challenges, when his 9-year-old son's team had a mid-season losing streak. At several points, recalled assistant coach Jeff Goettman, Myrick and his fellow dad-coaches debated: "Okay, what can we do better so that our kids have a better experience?"

Said Goettman: "He is very positive with the kids, but he also has a high standard at which he wants them to perform, and I think at the end of the day he really wants them to learn what's right about sports -- which is to enjoy the competition and have fun."

Both of Myrick's sons say they like that their dad is so involved.

"He's a really good coach," Zachary says. "He's not one of those coaches who only cares about winning."

Dylan chimes in: "He yells at us sometimes, but whenever he yells at us, it makes us win for some reason."