Let civility reign!

Civility ~ Let us consider this, before we speak or act.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

As an athlete you need to trust your coach..... your time will come.

I'm not sure when everything changed but everything did change at some point along the way.  Here is what I remember from my past in regards to sports.  I partook in sports from a very early age but then again most kids played sports.  My dad introduced me to basketball.  I started playing basketball in the third grade.  My dad was my coach.  He taught me all the rules, I knew basketball inside and out.  I loved basketball, I still love basketball.  I played basketball from 3rd grade through 12th grade.

My Junior year of high school I moved up to Varsity Basketball.  Exciting times for sure but with those exciting times came an amazing team that I'd be joining.  5 starters who rarely came off the court.  As a junior I sat the bench most of the season.  My parent's never called the coach to complain, never called to ask why their kid who'd been playing basketball for 9 years wasn't seeing any playing time on the court. You know why? Because they weren't the coach. They respected the coach and they expected me to do the same.  I wasn't always happy about my playing time but I knew my time was coming.  I'd be a senior next year and my turn to take the court was waiting. So I supported the team.

As a freshman I signed up to run track.  I remember loving my uniform.  I looked official.  I was on the team.  I attended practices and I did my best but when the list of those taking part in the next track meet came out my name wasn't always on the list.  I never got upset about it.  I was a freshman.  I knew my day was coming.  I loved cheering at the meets, I loved watching my friends run like the wind, I looked forward to the day I would find my name on the list for the next track meet.  My parents never called the coach to complain or inquire why I wasn't running the 400 meter?  Why I wasn't riding the bus to the meet?

Why? Because they weren't the coach.  They trusted the coach and if the coach didn't think I was ready my parents trusted the coach and their appraisal of my athletic abilities.  I trusted my coach.  I knew how it worked.  Each race had so many heats, each team was allowed so many runners per heat, we had a huge team therefore not all could participate in the track meets but we were still united.  It was still fun.  My coach wasn't going to put me in the meet and take a better athlete out.  My coach wasn't going to lose a track meet because he didn't want to hurt my feelings.  He was doing his job.

As a cheerleader my freshman year I was inexperienced but I wanted to be a cheerleader more than anything so I went to practice, studied the list of cheers and chants, tried my hardest and cheered at freshman games.  The uniform hung in my closet, pom-poms hung on the door knob in my room, just the sight of those made me smile from ear to ear.  I knew one day my day would come so I enjoyed where I was in the process.

As a senior in high school I did play more basketball.  Cheerleading continued to be fun.  I continued to run track.  I ended my high school career with success.  I qualified to go to the state track meet for class B in the 400 meter sprint and the mile relay.  I received a medal in both.  I won the State Title in the 400 meter dash that year for Class B with a time of 58.0.  I was awarded Female Athlete of the Year.  It was my time, I'd worked hard and my time had come.

Now I'm a coach.  I'm coaching a club sport.  I tend to hear from my freshman parents often but I think it's important they remember to trust me.  Keep a positive attitude. Help their athlete enjoy where they are in the process.  Find patience, look at the bigger picture, their time, their child's time will come. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but one day with hard work and perseverance it will come.

I'll never forget my first year running track at the collegiate level.  My coach said, "The most important award, the most impressive award I give out is the 4 year award.  If you'll look around you, take note how many came in with you, in 4 years you'll look around again and see who stuck it out through the good times and bad times, the hard times.  You'll see who persevered, who didn't quit when the going got tough or things didn't go their way.  Those are the true athletes.  Those are the athletes who deserve the highest of awards.  The ones who didn't quit, who didn't give up when the going got tough."  I never forgot that.  My 4 year award is the most valuable award I hold.

Trust me.  Keep a good attitude, treat your coaches well, take their corrections and instructions and put them to use and with those things in mind your time will come. When you get that medal awarded to you, when you win that championship game, when you know you worked hard and got the outcome you were hoping for, you'll know your time has come.
S.




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