Reared on Baseball
By Ivy Cohen

“You hear that sports does a lot to build one’s character and abilities. Reflecting on my childhood, active participation in sports and enthusiastically rooting for teams had a major impact on me.
This is a bit of a story about my dad. He died when he was just nearing his 52nd birthday and I was 17. From as early as I can remember, he tossed a ball to me. He taught me to swing a baseball bat, to run and field bases, to properly throw a football with my finger tips on the laces, and to catch a long ball.

During elementary school we lived on a block in Brooklyn where all the kids around my age were boys. That meant if I wanted to have playmates, I’d better know how to play what mattered to the boys. I played SPUD, freeze tag, stick ball, dodge ball, handball, baseball, football…you get the idea. Thanks to my dad’s periodic sports clinics, as a petite girl, I was never picked last for a team and always managed to hold my own. I was not a super star athlete. But, I was able enough to fit in and be welcome.

Watching baseball was a regular activity in our household. From April through October my dad was glued to the television several days a week to watch the Mets play. And so was I. We occasionally went to the stadium, and that was a thrill. My brother and I built an impressive collection of baseball cards, and I “flipped” them on the bus to school, growing my treasure trove.

When I was in 4th grade at the age of 9 I played in the Brooklyn girls little league. We later moved to California, where there were no public sports leagues for girls, so my competitive sports days ended.
During high school I scored wrestling matches and in high school and college I was an enthusiastic school football and basketball fan. In college I was captain of the UC Berkeley intramural co-ed football team and played for a couple of seasons.

As I entered the workforce from college, I found that my comfort with and knowledge of sports had been a wonderful asset. While it certainly helped me learn to play, collaborate with and assert myself with boys, it contributed to my capabilities with strategy, team building and sizing up competition. It has also been helpful over the years to be able to weigh in on discussions about sports, teams and athletes, and to participate in water cooler and cocktail conversations.

While it may seem odd to suddenly focus this attention on sports of my growing up years, it is clear to me that this world that my dad and neighborhood boys introduced me to had a big impact on my life. I don’t think that being grounded in sports is a requirement for everyone, but I’m grateful for the life gift my dad gave me.”

– Ivy Cohen, President, Ivy Cohen Corporate Communications
New York, NY

Ivy Cohen has spent more than 20 years advising companies and executives how to build their reputations across the U.S. and around the globe.

A visionary leader who helps clients problem-solve and create big ideas through thought leadership, public education, issues management and content creation, she is an accomplished executive and small business owner, a result-oriented civic leader and a consummate juggler of professional and family demands.

Story courtesy of © Ivy Cohen 2018