CONTRIBUTED BY ANDREW SMITH

HAMPTON HIGH SCHOOL

Coaching baseball is a very stressful profession. You have to prepare for everything, constantly have to work with other coaches with differing personalities, and get your team ready to play every day. 

A lot of coaches have different ways of working through the stress of the job.

For Hampton’s Nicholas Perkins, it is his faith. 

Perkins’s faith plays a large role in his life as he is the leader of Hampton’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes and elder at his church. 

He also finds different ways to incorporate his faith into coaching Bulldog Baseball. One of the biggest ways Perkins does so is by creating an atmosphere of family and community, not unlike the sense of community felt in a church.

“Hampton High School is a public school, not a private Christian school,” said Perkins. “So I can’t teach Bible lessons before practice and conclude practice with a prayer, but as Christians, we should strive to glorify God in all we do.”

While Perkins can’t explicitly lead prayer or conduct other Christian practices, he still instills Christian-based ideals into the program that can be translated outside of faith.

Coach Perkins adds, “I want the baseball program to be based on love, patience, forgiveness, hard work, fun and appreciation for one another, and there is no law against that. I want us to sincerely care about one another.”

Speaking from experience, these values were imminent every day when arriving at Scotty Bunton Field. We have a group of guys who care deeply for each other, who, while enjoying picking at each other, really have a love and respect for each other.

I am going to miss being around this baseball family and appreciate the values that were the foundation for Hampton Baseball.