For as long as I can remember, baseball has been my life. I eat, breathe and sleep baseball. Throughout my career, I have had many different coaches and teammates. However, one coach has made an impact on me that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
Coach Vince Mancuso, or “Cuso” as we call him, has been the Varsity Head Baseball Coach here at Arrowhead since 2010. Standing at a modest 5’10”, with a 240-pound wide, bulky frame, he is undoubtedly intimidating. But behind his staggering physique, thick black hair and beard, is someone who truly has a love for his players, and values nothing more than family.
Cuso’s philosophy is based on the University of Michigan’s slogan, “The Team, The Team, The Team.” As this slogan suggests,  the team is everything to Coach Mancuso. He reminds us that if we don’t have our team, we have nothing. He brings this to us every day at practice, stressing its importance. I have always been one for teamwork, but I was never taught what it truly means to be on a team. I was always under the impression that a team is a group of guys striving to achieve a common goal together. True? Yes. Of course. But Cuso put this in a whole new light. My team is my family. There are a set of behaviors that we take responsibility for individually, and we hold each other accountable for as a team.
Cuso: a loving father to his son and daughter, Gio and Stella, and a loving husband to his wife, Jona. He is, without question, a true family man. He taught me the importance of relying on your teammates and the immediate impact you have on the team when you screw up or do something good. The team bonfires, the cookouts, the movies, cleaning up the fields, fundraising together…He taught us how to be a family.
Before each season he preached to us, “For the next three months, you will give everything you have to this team. These are your boys you will hang around and be with them everyday of the week, on and off of the field. Individuals do not win ball games. Teams win ball games. This team is your family. THE TEAM, THE TEAM, THE TEAM.”
Cuso and I became close after my junior season. After suffering a devastating loss in the Sectional Finals, we never wanted to feel like that again. We kept in touch throughout the summer, then, as soon as August hit, when school was about to start, it was full throttle. Because he was busy with being the assistant coach on the football team, he named me the baseball captain, allowing me to run the team in the offseason. We had meetings every Wednesday. During those meetings, we talked about expectations, strategies, new uniforms and fundraising. But what he talked about the most was having this year’s team be a family more than last year’s--and he wanted me to take that center leadership role. The feeling of trust and faith he has for me is nothing short than amazing. He gave me articles to read, he lectured me about what it means and he helped me understand how to be a leader within our family team. He said,“I expect you to lead this team. Be the spark plug, be the guy that rallies everyone together…be the leader.”
His words stuck to me. I learned more about being a leader and a good teammate in those meetings with Coach Mancuso. In fact, I learned more than I had ever learned on any team I had ever played for.
These lessons I will bring throughout my baseball career, when I have a family, on my jobs and in all aspects of my life.
Coach Vince Mancuso’s life is his family. Whether it’s the three important people he has at home, or his 20 ball players at the field, waiting for him to lead us into battle. Thank you, Coach Mancuso, for teaching me, inspiring me, and being family.