For Scott Mortenson, coaching baseball is about helping young athletes grow through competition and the game they love. It’s about creating an environment where they can learn, take chances, build confidence, and—most importantly—have fun.

This summer, Mortenson will bring that philosophy and 14 years of coaching experience to the 13U Fargo 61’s Blue team.

Mortenson grew up in East Grand Forks and Hallock, Minnesota, where sports were a major part of his life. A three-sport athlete, he competed in baseball, hockey, and football through his high school graduation in 2014.

Baseball ultimately provided him an opportunity to continue competing at the next level. Mortenson played collegiately at St. Cloud Technical and Community College before continuing his career at the University of Minnesota Crookston.

But his coaching career actually began before his playing career was finished.

At just 17 years old, Mortenson started coaching and discovered an opportunity to pass along what he had learned to younger players. He has found a way to continue doing that every year since.

Over the course of 14 years, Mortenson has coached nearly every level of the game—from 13U baseball all the way through the college ranks. He spent the previous three seasons coaching at the collegiate level before joining Fargo Youth Baseball.

Through all those different teams and levels of competition, three things have remained at the center of his approach:

Attitude. Effort. Fun.

“If those three things are consistent and done with energy and enthusiasm every day, the athletes give themselves the best opportunity to develop and get better as players and people,” Mortenson said.

While those principles haven't changed, Mortenson's definition of “fun” has evolved throughout his coaching career.

For him, fun doesn't mean removing competition or making things easy. It's almost the opposite.

He wants competition itself to become the fun part.

The goal is to create practices and games that feel like a backyard wiffle ball game with friends—competitive and energetic, but without the fear of making a mistake.

When players feel that freedom, Mortenson believes they become more willing to take risks. And when they're willing to take risks, they put themselves in a better position to learn.

That environment will be especially important with a 13U team, as players continue developing both their baseball skills and their confidence.

Mortenson also believes strong teams are built through shared challenges.

Rather than shielding players from adversity, he wants his teams to experience difficult situations and learn how to work through them together.

“I believe challenging them with difficult things and making them battle through adversity together has a way of bringing a group close,” he said. “It can also give the team a sense of pride and knowledge that they can get through tough things together.”

But the standards for the team won't simply come from the coaching staff.

Mortenson gives his players ownership in determining what kind of team they want to become. Players help establish standards for how they practice and compete based on what they hope to accomplish together.

That ownership creates accountability—and, over time, leaders.

“In my experience, the best and most tight-knit teams I've coached are player-led,” Mortenson said.

Mortenson's greatest coaching influence has been there since long before he ever stepped into a dugout as a coach.

His dad.

Growing up, Mortenson watched his father coach multiple sports and saw firsthand how a coach could impact young athletes. Even after 14 years of coaching himself, Mortenson still turns to his dad for advice.

It's difficult for him to identify just one lesson he's taken from those years of watching and learning, but two principles stand above the rest: work hard and approach people and life with a positive attitude.

Those lessons have helped shape the coach Mortenson is today.

Ask Mortenson about the most memorable moment of his coaching career, and he won't point to a championship, a dramatic victory, or a particular game.

Instead, it's what happens years later.

It's running into former players and seeing where life has taken them.

Some are beginning college. Others are starting careers. Some are beginning families of their own.

“The most joy I get is seeing those players become amazing young adults and productive members of this society,” Mortenson said.

That's ultimately the bigger purpose behind his approach to coaching. Baseball provides the setting, but the lessons—attitude, effort, leadership, accountability, resilience, and teamwork—can stay with players long after their final game.

As Mortenson took the helm of the 13U Fargo 61’s Blue team this past summer, one simple phrase guided his approach to coaching.

It's a quote he learned from his dad and one he believes perfectly captures what youth athletics should be about:



“Play Hard, Have Fun.”