Coaches

Every afternoon I entrust my children to the care and guidance of men filled with enthusiasm, a fair amount of knowledge and experience, and their own personal perspective. A couple of these men are old enough to be their grandfathers. A couple of them are not much older than an "older brother." These are my children's coaches. One child runs cross country. One plays football. The other plays football and hockey.

My boys' coaches have different values. They have different ways about them. They have different backgrounds. They have different approaches to what they do.

My boys are all different, too. They have different abilities, different aptitudes, and different degrees of passion and work ethic. My oldest son is very gifted but sometimes injured. My middle son is very capable and does a good job but is more concerned about his grades (if not also a girlfriend!). My youngest son has the heart of a lion but has a small stature. He is an 80 pound running back and defense man! Pretty fast and fragile, to be honest.

If you growl at my oldest son or tell him you need more he responds very well. He has always been my "soldier." My middle son is quite a thinker. It works well to put your arm him and explain things in an engineering fashion. My youngest son is a lover. He loves playing. He loves being part of the team. He loves his teammates. He will gladly give up his position for another boy if you are nice about it.

I love my children's coaches. That says more about them than me. I love that these men spend two and a half hours with my children every afternoon. I would love my sons to be the star of the team but I am quite o.k. if they are not. All I ask, and what I have been blessed to receive, is that their coaches care about abut my boys. My oldest son's cross country coach often invites him to golf. How cool is that?

In a recent game one of my sons missed a play. His coach pulled him out. At first that made me sad. Then I saw the coach call my son over. He put his arm around him. I saw him explaining what just had happened. The very next play he sent my son out again. That was very cool. This man is 30ish. I am learning from him.

One day my boys will not run cross country, or play football, or play hockey. But they will always remember this time in their life. They will remember their coaches -- these men who sacrifice from their own families to give to my family. Could they do better than what they are doing? They are already doing more than I am doing -- that is the point! They are heroes.

Here's the mountain man challenge: Forget the playing time. Forget the position. Forget the Division 1 scholarship for a moment. Look at the people who are investing 2 and a half hours every day in the life of your child. Honor him. Think well of him. Affirm him. He is a hero in my book. Volunteer to work the chain gang. Join the booster club. Work the concession stand. Write your son's coach a letter or note. Send his children a coupon for MacDonald's or ice cream. Do something to say "thank you."

Help him up the mountain. The view is always better from there! Jeff -- learning to climb enjoying the people on the way!