A Coach's Diary

Coaching and leadership can be a lonely, draining journey. People often ask much more of you than they are willing to give, and you rarely feel appreciated for going above and beyond for all the people in your life. It can feel like you are giving and giving and giving while everyone around you just takes and takes and takes. BUT REMEMBER WHY YOU DO IT. Remember the coaches you had when you were growing up and the impact that they had on your life. Remember that these kids and their families NEED you. Your parents need someone they can trust to help raise these kids and teach them both to love the game and life lessons through sports. Remember that these kids you coach will have memories of their time with you - good and/or bad. Remember that the coaches you are leading and mentoring both look up to you and are watching you. You are training the next generation of coaches and leaders. Whenever I feel drained, I remember that because I am called to coach and lead, I am also called to se...

“The vision of a champion is someone who is bent over, drenched in sweat, at the point of exhaustion when no one else is watching.” - Anson Dorrance Would you be willing to push yourself to exhaustion when no one else is watching to achieve your goals? Mia Hamm is one of the best female soccer players in the history of the sport. Her legendary soccer coach, Anson Dorrance, has told an inspiring story about Mia’s thirst for greatness several times. He said one cold, late winter morning while driving to work, he saw Mia doing a grueling conditioning workout all by herself where she ran cone drills, without a ball or teammates and coaches to push or celebrate her, to exhaustion. Coach Dorrance secretly pulled over to watch her, and he said in between each sprint, he saw her bent over with sweat flying off her and hot air shooting from her lungs. He said he was so impressed with what he saw that when he got to work, Coach Anson scribbled a note for Mia that said: “The vision of a cha...

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson My college coach had 5 core values that he drilled into us, and the first was a combination of energy and enthusiasm. I played two years at a junior college in Oklahoma, and we would travel to small towns and small gyms all over Oklahoma. Some games had good crowds and great energy, but many did not. Our coach would tell us it was our job to always bring energy and enthusiasm to every practice and gym because nothing great has ever been achieved without it. I realized years later that he was just quoting the writer Ralph Waldo Emerson who once said, “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”  Emerson believed enthusiasm, an intense and eager enjoyment that we have for the work we do, is a powerful motivator that fuels creativity, passion, and grit. When we bring positive energy and enjoy what we do, we are willing to work harder, longer, and go through more adversity to find success. Don’t...