Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Joys of Coaching!


I will be the first to tell you that I know absolutely very little about the game of soccer.  But because I love my son, I have coached his soccer team for the past three years.  It is a time consuming process that involves calling parents, scheduling practices, filling water coolers, scheduling game day hot dogs, ordering trophies, coaching games, and even on some occasions being the referee for said games.  It is mostly a thankless job but sometimes you get a group of kids that make you want to sign right back up and do it again.  The Cruisers were that type of team.

I was so proud of the boys as we finished our season last night with a tie.  Our overall record was 2-1-3.  Given that I have not coached a winning game in my previous two years, I consider that a great accomplishment.  They kids were a very good group of kids.  We were not overly talented, but we had heart and just the right combination of kids who were either good on offense or good on defense.  After I passed out trophies to all of the kids, one of them came up to me and told me I was the best coach he has ever had.  That made me feel really good and reminded me why I do this. I can be hard on the boys and work them even harder, but I just want them to learn what it means to be a good teammate and stick with something like sports.  It might just keep them off the street one day!

Now that soccer is over we will start getting ready for baseball in the spring.  My son already has his ball and glove out and I look forward to doing some little things this winter that will hopefully give him an added advantage when it comes time to put the spikes back on.  We spent the extra time we had this morning before school throwing a balled up sock back and forth to each other.  We may drive his mother crazy!

Speaking of coaching!  The Atlanta Braves have a new one.  Freddie G. will be named the new Braves Manager on Thursday.  I look forward to a new excitement around Turner field next year.

Here's to all of you coaches out there!  Keep up the good work and I want to thank you for all that you do for our children!!

6 comments:

CHERI said...

Your daddy always coached you so guess turnabout is fair play...now it's your turn!!!

Dennis said...

What a great read Trey...congrats on the season...you're having an impact on those kids that will have a ripple effect all through their life...that's huge bud.

This post also tells the story that you are not only a great and caring Dad, but a great person...the type we need more of.

Unknown said...

Thanks Dennis! I try!

Anonymous said...

Hello Trey, just came over to your blog from Dennis's shout out to your blog. Glad I found you. I signed on as a follower and will be back often.

BTW, I have been a lifetime Atlanta Braves fan from way out here in Idaho. Bobby's gone now, but, I expect we will see good things from Freddie and the new look Braves next year. They gave it a good run this year.

Lastly, I would like to share links with you on your blogroll if that works for you. Let me know!

Kirk Mantay said...

It's funny. Almost all the dads I know end up coaching (which, I hope, speaks to the type of guys I'm friends with); almost all of them for sports they know little to nothing about, and almost all of them without any need for external gratification. Many of them have said to me in conversation, "It's hard to believe that NO ONE else's parents have more (or better) coaching experience than me.....but no one was willing to do it."

I have no idea what sports our little guy will play, and I honestly hope I don't have to coach EVERY season, but I'll embrace the challenge when I have to. We live in the "Lacrosse Belt" so this could get ugly.

Unknown said...

Mel, thanks for stopping by. Feel free to share links!

Swamp- Same thing tends to happen here!