When Troy Sanders isn’t playing with Mastodon, the singer-bassist helps run his local Florida Little League, acting as league president while also coaching his son’s team and handling other tasks such as umpiring.
For his volunteer efforts, Sanders was named the Positive Coaching Alliance’s 2024 Regional Baseball Coach of the Year. The award announcement was quietly posted in late January, but just picked up by MetalSucks.
Sanders is a Little League alum himself, having played from ages five to 14. He began volunteering after his son signed up for the Indian Rocks Beach (Fla.) Little League at age eight. Sanders cheered his son on from the bleachers for the first two seasons before starting to work in the concession stand, helping as an assistant coach, providing teams snacks, etc.
According to the Little League official website, Troy would then further expand his role to become a coach and team manager while spending four years on the league’s Board of Directors. He was eventually named league president, a position he’s held for the past two years.
“Once I started as an assistant coach, it felt like a very natural and authentic progression. My son was very interested in baseball, and still is, which has allowed me to be super close to the game and a very active volunteer,” Sanders said in the award announcement post. “There’s nothing I love more than coaching Little League.”
On his award, Sanders added: “To have what I feel is the most natural way to coach and lead these young players recognized outside of my own circle, it helped me feel like I am doing at least something right for these kids and it just felt exciting to be recognized in this way.”
Sanders will temporarily step away from the diamond later this summer when Mastodon head out on a powerhouse 2024 tour with Lamb of God and Kerry King’s new eponymous band. The North American jaunt kicks off on July 19th, and you can pick up tickets here.