Ready for something that will break your heart while making you feel great? There's a video I ran across on ESPN that is so sweet, heartfelt, and just plain wonderful, I wanted to share it with you.

So . . . let's play ball! Baseball, that is.

The Little League World Series is taking place right now for the 68th time, in Williamsport, PA. Youngsters in the 12-to-13 age bracket are playing their hearts out. This is a true "World Series," with eight regional champs from the U.S. facing off against eight international teams. One U.S. team will face an international team in the final.

True Leadership: A Coach Offers Inspiration for Some Boys with Broken Hearts

On Monday night, the Cumberland, RI team suffered an 8-7 loss to Chicago and were eliminated. Cumberland manager Dave Belisle huddled the boys behind first base for a brief talk as he kneeled on the turf. What the youngsters heard will probably stay with them for a very long time.

From his first words, "Everybody, heads up high," Coach Belisle let these young boys know that they had accomplished the most important thing in sports: not winning, but playing like champions. "It came down to the last out," he told them. "What you guys are gonna bring back is something no other team can provide but you guys, and that's pride. Pride."

Then he said this:

"You're going to take back for the rest of your life what you provided for a town in Cumberland. You had the whole place jumping. You had the whole state jumping. You had New England jumping. You had ESPN jumping. Because you wanna know why? They like fighters. They like sportsmen. They like guys that don't quit. They like guys that play the game the right way."

The Power of a Speech to Change Lives

What those words written above can't convey is the sound of Coach Belisle talking. It's really something —  a lesson all of us can learn from when we give our own speeches and presentations. There's no artifice here, and no attempt to give a great speech. What these boys heard is the sound of someone they revere speaking to them straight from the heart.

Watch the video here:

 Just after this, Coach Belisle's speech becomes something extraordinary. Listen to a man baring his soul to a group of Little Leaguers, letting them know how they had the power to change his life:

"I love you guys. I'm going to love you forever. You've given me the most precious moment of my athletic and coaching career, and I've been coaching a long time ... a loooong time. I'm getting to be an old man, I need memories like this, I need kids like this. You're all my boys. You're the boys of summer."

So when you need a reminder of the difference you can make when you speak, go back to this video. Your own speech, presentation, or heartfelt remark made to your team truly can make a difference in people's lives, just as Coach Belisle's speech to "his boys" did.

What are you waiting for?

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