The Highs and Lows of Coaching

There is nothing like coaching. For anyone who has ever coached, you don't need me to tell you that.  For anyone who hasn't, I can't begin to explain the highs and lows of it.  It was a much easier job before I had a career and family.  It is a pretty time-consuming addiction....and I call it an addiction because it really is.  Once you start, its hard to stop.  How can you when you get to meet such incredible people, and they really are incredible!  This group of seniors has definitely left their mark, on me especially.

I started coaching long before I had kids, before I was even married.  These girls were a part of my earlier career.  It seems so long ago and yet also just like yesterday.  Most of them were in 5th grade, playing up a grade level or two, which for anyone who knows these girls, it comes as no surprise.  I can't recall the games that we played way back then, with the exception of one.  This team beat us quite easily.  They were taller, faster, and older than us.  They beat us by 20 to 30 points or more.  The coach came up to me and said he was excited to play us again because he wanted to see how his girls would compete against a scrappy team.  He said it never mattered how much we were losing by, we never gave up and he didn't know how well his team would handle that.  And that stuck with me as I watched them play season after season, year after year, watching them grow before my eyes, but not realizing it until it was all over.

There are always kids you just connect with, some are just easier to get along with then others, and this was definitely one of those groups.  You couldn't help but love them! Season after season, they just kept growing on you! I'm so proud of each of them and while I always have a hard time with change and good-byes, I'm excited to see them move on to the next phase of their lives and to see all that they accomplish.  I'm confident that whatever they decide to do, it will be done wholeheartedly and with passion.  And I get to say that I was lucky enough to be along for part of the ride....