CHAPTER

24

REWARDS AND
BEGINNING

In short, you can and should coach kids, or help the coach or the organization. Do it. Go for it. You will get more out of it than you put in. The rewards are endless.

My coaching career has given me rewards throughout my life. I have a jacket that the kids (parents) bought me and presented at our year-end party. It is one of my most precious possessions. I also still have the thank-you notes, drawings, and poems from the kids on my teams. It is special when my own kids tell me they really appreciated my time with their teams. There aren’t financial rewards, however. If I’d put the hours I spent coaching into earning and investing, I’d probably be considerably dollar-richer today.

I played men’s and old-timers hockey until about age 55 and coached kids’ hockey (boys and girls) many of those years. My kids watched, played on my teams, and later played with me.

I never realized what it meant to my kids until my youngest sent me an article from ESPN.com about kids watching their professional dads compete. My son wrote, “I thought the article was great. He [the author] only missed one point. He kept stressing how it was extra cool for these kids because their dads play in the NHL. I don’t think it matters to young kids whether it’s NHL or old-timers, it’s just cool to see your dad competing and setting a positive example. Heck, that you played with my Jr. High gym teacher was just as impressive to me as if you’d played with Gordie Howe.”

The primary reward for you will be in knowing that you have enriched the life of a kid and taught him or her something about a sport that you like. Your kids and the other kids you coach aren’t very likely to become superstars or even continue to play the sport. But they are very likely to become a fan of the game, a better person, a better worker, a better boss, or even a better politician.

When they see you in later years and tell you that they really had fun playing for you, you’ll know that you succeeded. One of my sons became a sportscaster and sports talk show host. He is well-known in the Green Bay, Wisconsin, area as the “Rookie.” ESPN sometimes calls him for “insider” information. He probably wouldn’t admit that the old man was an influence in his career choice, but some things just don’t have to be spoken. He still plays and loves sports that I coached him in. My daughter has coached kids’ soccer, and I see some of the old man’s teaching coming through. My other son coaches his and other kids in a couple of sports.

It’s rewarding enough to have a child you coached see you on the street or in the grocery store and smile and say, “Hi Coach!”

Can we combine the best of the sandlot with organized youth sports? Can some sandlot culture be used in competitive leagues? Can we combine the best of sandlot with competition? Can the kids, parents, and coaches on both sides feel like winners?

This book may not have answered all of those questions, but hopefully it has made you think about what is best for the children – not what is best for the parents, the teachers, the city, the coaches, the administrators, the school board, or the recreation district – but what is best for the kids. You are the right person to answer these questions.

So if you want to coach, help, or organize, do it! Go for it. It is very likely best for the kids.