Former Minor Leaguer Kris Richards on Coaching in Prague, Czech Republic

Born in Montana, Kris Richards spent most of his life in North Carolina where he grew up playing baseball. After high school he remained in North Carolina as he signed on with the NCAA D1 University of North Carolina at Greensboro where he played ball from 2008 to 2012. In his senior year he hit .342 in what is regarded as one of the best college conferences in the country, the Southern Conference. Richards was drafted by the Orioles where he spent two years as a shortstop in A ball before being converted to a pitcher at the age of 23. This quickly led to a elbow injury and a year on the sidelines recovering from Tommy John surgery. Upon recovery, Richards decided to not continue to chasing a career as a player, and turned his focus to coaching. While coaching at an academy in North Carolina run by Mike Griffin, a former Czech National team coach, Richards was introduced to the possibility of jumpstarting a coaching career in the Czech Republic. "I had no idea where the Czech Republic was to be honest with you. I still thought it was called Czechoslovakia." Next thing he knew he was on his way to the Czech Republic in the winter of 2014-2015 with Griffin and his academy coaches and had the opportunity to experience the country before committing.