Today I am thankful for youth sports coaches who:
- Treat every child as though they have a chance to succeed
- Let their players address the banquet crowd with stories of what the season meant to them
- Reach out to each player’s parents at least once a season to give them a brief update on their child’s progress
- Realize that a child would rather play and lose instead of win and sit the bench
- Have fun
- Teach
- Do not play favorites
- Smile
- Dodge league politics
- Lobby for positive change
- Laugh
- Do as they say
- Run laps with the team because maybe the coaches are also partly to blame for the mistakes that were made
- Can look a child in the eyes and admit that he was wrong
- Know the strengths and weaknesses of every player
- Expect the best from every player while realizing that their circumstances might not always allow them to focus completely on the task at hand
- Do not assume that every child loves the game as much as they do
- Understand that sports are secondary to school work
- Are not in love with the sound of their own voices
- Do not treat a parent’s inquiry as a threat to his authority as the leader of the team
- Yell words of encouragement
- Are always looking to learn and improve
I am thankful for parents of youth athletes who:
- Volunteer
- Do not speak poorly of their child’s coaches while the child is present
- Cheer for both teams
- Do not coach from the bleachers
- Smile at games
- Volunteer more
- Do not angrily approach the coaches after a game
- Do not force a child to participate in a sport that they do not enjoy
- Let the coaches do their jobs
- Do not put unnecessary pressure on their child
- Volunteer a lot
- Do not criticize their child
- Talk about something other than the game on the ride home
- Do not overbook their child with too many sporting activities
- Enjoy the pure spectacle of children learning to contribute to a team
I am thankful for youth athletes who:
- Thank their coaches after every game and practice
- Thank their parents for bringing them to and from their sporting events
- Help teammates who are struggling
- Lead by example
- Never criticize a teammate
- Practice as hard as they play
- Do not talk back to the coach
- Give back to their leagues
- Never forget that every person on the team deserves their respect
- Do not question an umpire or referee
- Help an opponent up after a hard hit
- Bust their butts to get whatever it is that they are going after
- Achieve high grades
- Play for that special feeling that comes from dedicating every ounce of energy towards a goal
- Have kind words for their opponents after every single game, win or lose
I am thankful that our children are free to decide whether they’d like to kick a soccer ball into a net or shoot an Airsoft gun at a target but not be forced to do either.
I am thankful for green fields, blacktops, and frozen water with painted lines and supervised by caring adults.
And I am thankful to each of you who take the time out of your day to read the words that I have written.
Please take the time to recognize those who have made a difference in your youth sporting community over the past year. Sometimes a pat on the back is worth a thousand THANKS.