Medina resident Phil Rognier has coached youth sports for 60 years. Describing his calling, Phil explains, “Baseball is the greatest educational environment for teaching kids anything you want. Here’s the lesson baseball teaches: you're going to be facing lots of pitches, but you don't swing at every single one. You swing at the pitches you can hit. In life, you're given lots of opportunities, so you need to take the one that is best for you. If that doesn’t work, take the next one that looks right!”

While Phil began coaching baseball in San Mateo, California when he was 18 years old, for the past 25 years he has been Head Coach and the Executive Director of The FirstSwing Foundation (501c3 federal nonprofit). FirstSwing believes in providing opportunities and support in a safe and educational environment so youngsters can learn basic life lessons. "They learn the great game of baseball while helping both themselves and others develop into productive citizens,” Phil explains, “and we don't just teach baseball. We make it fun and provide life lessons such as respect, discipline, decision making, and problem solving.”

 

At FirstSwing, Phil has coached baseball teams for ages 7-12, youth camps, parent clinics, and varied educational programs. Retiring this year as a coach, as Executive Director he will continue to host youth activities and tourneys and administer the ‘Baseball Connect’ program with trips to Vietnam and other countries, sending a team of 25-30 youngsters and parents to teach baseball to local kids.

 

Phil graduated college in 1965, and recalls, “I wanted to play professional sports, but the Vietnam War intervened, and with deferments I taught high school while my wife taught elementary school. Then I was drafted, and when I returned home, I studied for my Master’s degree.” Phil chose to teach in the barrio in Mountain, California, explaining “I could have studied for my PhD and become a professor, but felt this was not the best way to educate. I wanted to teach civics and government to youngsters, opening new and different avenues for my students.”

 

Phil was invited in 2007 to help educate youngsters in Vietnam and, as he explains, “We’re obsessed with educating people as MBA’s. Microsoft may give out computers, but people can’t eat computers if the farms are not feeding the families in the district. We provide food to the villagers and textbooks to their schools, and we pack our suitcases with the personal and school supplies that are desperately needed.”

 

The ‘Baseball Connect’ program/exchange began as an educational experience for kids in the Pacific Northwest to visit Hanoi and help teach the game of baseball while improving relations with Vietnam. Over the years, it has developed into a humanitarian effort to help special needs children, isolated schools, and needy families, while at the same time exposing Pacific Northwest youngsters to the realities of life in another country.

 

Phil confirms he has seen the impact on many young lives. “I see how experiencing Ha Long Bay, Hoi An, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City forever stamps something on their personalities,” he says. “Vegas and Hawaii are fun, but not the real world. Traveling to other countries and cultures is necessary to understand that not everywhere is like our beloved Pacific Northwest. ‘Baseball Connect’ is a life experience that opens new vistas and brings the taste, smell, and ambiance of another culture into young lives. It is not just exciting and educational. It helps others who are not as fortunate as us.”

 

Meanwhile, here at home in summer 2025, FirstSwing plans to revive its popular and fun summer camps for local kids. The primary goal of the camps will be to empower participants to learn, respect, and love the game, its skillsets, and the value of competition and cooperation/teamwork. There will be emphasis on life lessons including manners, nutrition, decision making and goal setting. For further information, please email Coach Phil at phrog38@hotmail.com or call him at (425) 451 8276. GAGPTH!!

 

As Phil concludes, “As well as attending our summer camps, I hope many more will join our team and support us in helping to providing funds for the 2025 ‘Baseball Connect’ through our GoFundMe appeal at https://gofund.me/8296aaf4.