It is time to announce the latest Braves Coach of the Week! Every seven days, in partnership with the Atlanta Braves, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reveals a new winner — nominated and then voted on by their metro Atlanta peers. This time around, Austin Hamilton of the Martinez-Evans Little League is receiving the big honor, as well as a $100 Kroger gift card and a baseball signed by an Atlanta Braves player.
A father, husband, coach and soldier, Hamilton wears many hats. According to one of his nominators, it’s his care for the players that sets him apart from other youth baseball coaches.
“Austin by day is a soldier in the Army and by night he is a dedicated coach,” Samantha told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“If the other team gets hurt, those boys get down on one knee and Austin is right there with the other player from the other team to make sure he is okay. This shows he doesn’t just care about his team, but the team he goes up against. He takes extra time with each kid to assure they feel comfortable on the team, whether it’s an extra 10 minutes in the batting cages or a 10 minute talk to pump them up. He’s there for whatever is needed for the sake of the kids. No matter any challenges he faces, being active duty in the Army, he makes sure those kids is his priority out on the field each time they take it.”
A Rossville native who has served in the U.S. Army for 10 years of active duty (previously, he served in the Marines as well), Hamilton is currently stationed at Fort Gordon. With a passion for baseball, the soldier serves his local community in more ways than one.
“Martinez-Evans Little League is where I have been volunteering my time for the last two years and have watched my team win a victory in the championship game and have seen them get to the championship game three times,” Hamilton told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I coach in all the seasons and in the summer we play in All Stars. I have been coaching since my oldest was two years old and, now in the fall, he’s on the travel ball team for the Columbia County Cannons.”
To Hamilton, coaching comes with great responsibility. It’s a responsibility that he proudly accepts.
“Outside of the kids’ parents, coaches are the next biggest influence in a young kids life,” he said. “I pride myself in being a steward of the game and being a role model for these boys to look up to. I have been playing baseball my whole life. My coaches molded me into the man I am today and I hope I can have that impact on the boys I am coaching. It has been an awesome few years watching the differences in how the boys develop throughout the seasons.
“I love watching them grow and see how happy they get when they prove to themselves they can succeed when they set their minds to it.”
Now a Braves Coach of the Week winner, Hamilton plans to keep helping his community however he can.
“Thank you so much for all those those that voted for me,” Hamilton said. “It gives me a better reason to move forward with my best effort for the boys I coach. It wasn’t about the prizes, it’s about teaching the boys on my team that good sportsmanship always pays off on and off the field.”
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