Murdoch and Ward: a coaching marriage 30-years young

B.C. Little League coaches from Layritz, Mark Ward and David Murdoch have been coaching together for 30 years. The duo is looking to capture their first Provincial title at the 2010 B.C. Little League Championship in New Westminster.

After three decades of coaching, Mark Ward and David Murdoch are chasing a B.C. Little League Championship title.

The coaching duo met in 1979 at Triangle Little League when Murdoch had a son on the team Ward was coaching.

Murdoch was coaching a minor league team at the time, and it wasn't until 1980 that the pair decided to form a coaching superpower. The pair are now the coachs of B.C. Little League Championship team, Layritz.

"We're on the same page," said Ward about his 30-year relationship with Murdoch. "We enjoy both our roles. I'm the manager. He's the coach. He prefers it that way. I prefer it the way we are. We still gel all the time."

Ward thinks he and Murdoch are simpatico. If one is coaching an outfielder on one side of the field and the other is giving instruction to the catcher at home base, they both know they're saying the same things.

Like any marriage, the pair has had a few squabbles in their 30 years together.

"Oh, there have been the occasional things. Usually not about baseball though," Ward joked.

All joking aside, the two believe their success is a direct result of their commitment and love of the game.

"In '79 when I saw how good the elite kids could be, it was astonishing," said Ward. He said his eyes were opened coaching that year to the beauty of Little League.

"I was watching professional baseball on a Little League Diamond," he said.

"It's amazing what these kids can produce at a young age."

The pair simply love Little League baseball and would rather watch the excitement kids generate than to watch Major League Baseball on television.

Even after years of coaching, Murdoch and Ward still feel young when they're at the diamond.

The only reason the pair say they would ever stop coaching is if they felt the kids didn't want to learn and didn't listen to them anymore. For now, they think they still have plenty to offer the game before they "hang ‘em up."

"Would we like to win the provincials sometime? Well, yeah," laughed Ward. "It's been an awful long, long, long time. A long drought."

The closest the two have come to winning was six years ago in Langley, when their team lost off a walk-off home run.

Two years ago in Prince George their team was leading White Rock in the sixth inning, but lost after the opposition came back to win it all.

This year, Murdoch and Ward are coaching a young team who are still looking to prove themselves, but they're confident in their ability.

Nick-named Mr. Murds and Mr. Ward, both coaches said their relationship is based on mutual respect and sharing the end of the game tab.

"We kind of equal that out," smiled Murdoch. "It's not beers any more. It's rum and cokes. We usually have our own bottle of rum and that."

At the end of the day, Murdoch and Ward see coaching Little League as their personal Fountain of Youth and they don't plan to stop any time soon.

"We suspect it keeps us a little bit young, or younger feeling," said Ward. "We're still having a ton of fun."