FEATURE STORY 2

Feature Story

He is just a month shy of his fifty-second birthday but Steve Carter, the current coach of
The Majesties, looks much younger. He could easily pass off as a man just turning 35. Apart
from his baby face, his physique is that of a young swimmer- tall with broad shoulders and long
arms. He was actually a swimmer in both high school and college but he is no longer into
swimming. Another sport has taken the place swimming had in his life. It is baseball.
Mr. Carter was never an enthusiastic baseball player but now he is the coach of The
Majesties, a little-league team that prides itself in producing not big league baseball players but
big league people. How did he become a coach in a sport he had barely paid much attention to
when growing up?
“It was an accident,” he starts off. “I had two of my kids in the team and one day I just
walked into the team’s meeting with a fellow parent. It was curiosity. Guess what? Less than an
hour later I went back home with a bucket of balls and equipment bag. I had just been made the
coach! Can you believe it?” He ends with a big hearty laugh.
Since taking over as coach the team has enjoyed considerable success and popularity as
well. Its games routinely attract over three thousand fans from the local community. According
to Carter, the secret to this success is making both training and playing as enjoyable as possible.
From the way he talks about his job, it is clear that he really enjoys coaching baseball. He,
however, has only two more months at his coaching job. His wife got a job in another state and
the family is planning to relocate.
His departure will coincide with arrival of new sponsors – Crimson Company. Replacing
Mr. Carter as coach will be the company’s CEO, Aaron Smith. Like Carter, Smith is a sports
enthusiast. He is also 52 with three kids. Asked about his impending replacement of Mr. Carter

FEATURE STORY 3
as the new coach of The Majesties, Mr. Smith is rather philosophical, “It is hard to replace a man
of such passion and ability as Mr. Carter. I am only succeeding, not replacing him.”
Isn’t he worried that he may not have the time to effectively carry out his coaching role?
Mr. Smith has no such worries, “I really do not have a time problem. I only need one hour a day.
I certainly have that time. Plus, it is not the first time I am doing voluntary coaching. I did it a
decade ago in my son’s high school. So, I am adequately prepared for my new role.”
As Smith reveals, coming after a widely admired and successful coach as Carter is going
to be tough. Unlike Carter, Smith does not have the physique of an athlete. But he shares his
passion, commitment and coaching philosophy. With those three there is little doubt that the
team will continue bringing joy and fun to thousands of its fans in the community.