Volcanoes coach Ted Martinez seems older than his 33 years. Maybe it’s the aura of quiet authority that comes from working with children for more than a decade. Or maybe it’s the peace of mind that he’s found in his adopted home of Lawrence.

Whatever the reasons for his maturity, the Denver native and third-year baseball coach in the Houk/Ice league for 13 -and 14-year-olds has used his love of children and teaching to affect his community, both as a coach and through his work as a program administrator for the central office of the Juvenile Justice Authority.

“I have an opportunity to impact kids’ lives, both personally and professionally,” Martinez said.

Martinez is an unusual case among little league coaches, most of whom have a son or daughter on their team. He doesn’t have any children, so the hours he spends at the ballfield are strictly to help other people’s children grow as baseball players and as people.

It’s what Martinez has known he wanted to do since he was 10 years old.

That’s when his father, who also worked in juvenile justice, put together a basketball team for local children. They didn’t have a place to practice, so his father took them to the gym where he worked in the juvenile correctional facility.

“At one point the door to the gymnasium came open,” Martinez said, “and about 15 kids came walking in, some in handcuffs, some in shackles. All my friends had never seen anything like this.”

The team needed an extra player, and Martinez’s father brought in one of the inmates to play. Looking at the new player — a boy just a couple years older than himself — Martinez realized something.

“There was no difference between us,” he said. “At that moment I understood what my dad did.”

Martinez went on to study criminal justice in college, eventually winding up in Atlanta, where he started working for the Juvenile Justice Authority.

Volcanoes Coach Ted Martinez talks to his team after its victory against the Aquasox on June 30 at Holcom Sports Complex. Martinez, who doesn't have any children, is a third-year coach in the Houk/Ice League for 13- and 14 year old players.

Three years ago, he decided to take the administrative job in Lawrence. Kansas wasn’t completely unfamiliar territory for Martinez, who’d gone to school at Topeka’s Washburn University on a baseball scholarship.

In his new home, he wanted to return to organized baseball, which he started playing when he was 4 and coached during and after college. He became involved with the Houk/Ice League because he liked working with 13- and 14-year-olds.

“They’re old enough to have some experience with baseball, but their personalities and opinions are still developing,” he said. “But they’re coachable at that age.”

His girlfriend at the time, Brenda, who is also a social worker, came out to join him in Lawrence not long after he moved here. They married in December of last year, and Martinez says they still do everything together. Both are also involved in other community organizations like the Unity Church, where he is a board member and she is a volunteer coordinator.

But it was at the baseball fields where they really began to feel comfortable in Lawrence. Even Martinez is surprised at just how powerful the experience has been.

“I guess I never figured that baseball would give me this opportunity to connect with Lawrence,” he said. “Our surrogate family is through baseball.”

Parents whose children Martinez has coached over these last three years have high praise for his abilities as a coach.

“The team that Ted had was not the most talented in the league, but they had success because he brought them together as a team,” said Liz Phillips, whose son Adam played for Martinez in his first year coaching in the Houk/Ice League.

Toots Schultz’s son, Jake, played under Martinez last year.

“This is a guy that made an effort to be a part of the community,” Toots Schultz said. “I love people like that. I have never seen him lose his temper.”

Martinez’s coaching style is not as mellow as his off-the-field persona, though. He has his Volcanoes players run wind sprints after every game, and he constantly shouts at his players from the sidelines. It’s all part of his approach to teaching.

“Everything I do with my team has a purpose,” he said. “A lot of it has to do with creating the discipline it takes to do well. If I can teach the kids to understand that if they work hard now, they can benefit from that later, that’s half the battle.”

His players don’t seem to mind too much. The Volcanoes have gone undefeated in seven games of league play so far, putting them in first place in the Houk/Ice League.

Martinez is quick to point out that coaching is a group effort. He calls his assistant coach of three years, Ken Roper “the perfect compliment to my obsessive compulsiveness,” and says the contributions of the people around him are what make it all possible.

“This is nothing I do on my own,” Martinez said. “I may be the leader, but I have to rely on the support of coaches, players, parents and, most importantly, Brenda.”

And it’s just a good time. Both for Martinez’s players, and for himself.

“During baseball season, every moment is magical. As painful as it is, and as hard as it is, there is not a single moment I regret or look back on unfavorably,” Martinez said.