Fulfilling Seasons
Today I am grateful for trusted recipes. Yesterday's recipes included a turkey casserole we all like and cookies I hadn't made in quite a while--jubilee jumbles. I am also grateful to share time in the kitchen with my son.
Here's one more post about teachers and coaches. This one is about my time as a coach. I knew I wanted to be a coach before I pursued being a teacher. I was coaching before I left college. I started out as a Little League softball coach and went on to spend 10 seasons as an assistant varsity and head junior varsity softball coach. I loved playing softball and I thoroughly enjoyed my coaching experience, particularly the six years I coached at South Winneshiek with my friend Bonnie, whom I mentioned in an earlier post.
It sounds cliche to say that those teams felt like family, but we sure did seem to click. I believe that if you have team cohesion and respect, team success often follows. Bonnie worked hard to build those aspects of her teams, and she was highly successful. She was inducted into the Iowa Girls' Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2011. There are many fun memories of road trips to play in Urbandale and passing the time at all-day Saturday tournaments. And witnessing young girls maturing into young women as both softball players and people of character.
I also coached high school track for five years. I was at South Winneshiek for three years, and then BGM (Brooklyn) for two. I was the girls' varsity coach and did my best to teach kids how to do everything from running hurdles, to high jumping, to making decent hand-offs in relays. I had been a distance runner and discus thrower myself, so I was learning along with the athletes I coached. I was single at the time and had the heart and energy to pour into the seasons. More good memories and a very gratifying time in coaching.
Throw in five years of coaching junior high girls' basketball and I was busy much of the year. I appreciated getting to know students in ways that you really couldn't in the classroom. And that went both ways. They got to know me differently as well. I appreciated the opportunity to help shape young lives. It was never primarily about winning. It was about learning, growing, getting in shape, trying hard, being part of a team, and gaining self-confidence. Winning was a bonus.
I hope I am remembered as a coach who had that right mix of cheering on and coaching. I was there to help and I believed being positive and supportive worked far better than being too harsh and critical. The highest compliment I received as a coach:
"You helped me believe in myself."
It truly was my pleasure to coach. But that energy is now reserved for my family and the one athlete I still "coach"--my son Sam.
Here's one more post about teachers and coaches. This one is about my time as a coach. I knew I wanted to be a coach before I pursued being a teacher. I was coaching before I left college. I started out as a Little League softball coach and went on to spend 10 seasons as an assistant varsity and head junior varsity softball coach. I loved playing softball and I thoroughly enjoyed my coaching experience, particularly the six years I coached at South Winneshiek with my friend Bonnie, whom I mentioned in an earlier post.
It sounds cliche to say that those teams felt like family, but we sure did seem to click. I believe that if you have team cohesion and respect, team success often follows. Bonnie worked hard to build those aspects of her teams, and she was highly successful. She was inducted into the Iowa Girls' Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2011. There are many fun memories of road trips to play in Urbandale and passing the time at all-day Saturday tournaments. And witnessing young girls maturing into young women as both softball players and people of character.
I also coached high school track for five years. I was at South Winneshiek for three years, and then BGM (Brooklyn) for two. I was the girls' varsity coach and did my best to teach kids how to do everything from running hurdles, to high jumping, to making decent hand-offs in relays. I had been a distance runner and discus thrower myself, so I was learning along with the athletes I coached. I was single at the time and had the heart and energy to pour into the seasons. More good memories and a very gratifying time in coaching.
Throw in five years of coaching junior high girls' basketball and I was busy much of the year. I appreciated getting to know students in ways that you really couldn't in the classroom. And that went both ways. They got to know me differently as well. I appreciated the opportunity to help shape young lives. It was never primarily about winning. It was about learning, growing, getting in shape, trying hard, being part of a team, and gaining self-confidence. Winning was a bonus.
I hope I am remembered as a coach who had that right mix of cheering on and coaching. I was there to help and I believed being positive and supportive worked far better than being too harsh and critical. The highest compliment I received as a coach:
"You helped me believe in myself."
It truly was my pleasure to coach. But that energy is now reserved for my family and the one athlete I still "coach"--my son Sam.
Comments
Post a Comment