What's it all about?

I guess it doesn't take much really to bring (us) coaches down to the realities of life. I mean, we seem to stay aloof with our aspirations and energy, while sometimes, seemingly, turning a blind eye to the realities our youth are facing. It's hard enough for today's student athlete to balance the rigors of their sport (or, in many cases sportS) with their academic demands along with church involvement, jobs, their social lives, facebook and last, but not least their family, but occasionally we run across a young-un (as Coach Loper would say) that has even more on their plate than any of us could imagine. Tonight I simply ask our Heavenly Father to please wrap Christian Holley and his family in His perfect arms and comfort them. You see while we coaches are searching for the cutting edge information on training athletes to make us "better coaches," Christian (a former KHS swimmer, friend of Matt's and who's mom and dad are friends) is fighting brain cancer. It hit him somewhat suddenly and is aggressive. It has always been situations like this that have brought my ego back into check. Whether it be the discovery of cancer or that dreaded phone call at 2:00 AM with a mom on the other end of the line calling to let me know she had just left the hospital where her son (a member of my team) had just died from injuries sustained from a motor cycle accident. Somehow the fights these people are going through make our aggressive coaching nature seem trite and very self-centered. These are situations that remind us that what we do really does have a "bigger picture;" that there really is a grander scheme of things. At this time I fight off the shame of being so self-centered, but grateful that I find myself at the throne of The Father, who is in control. So I pray for Christian, and his family, and I even pray for the Mother of Terry Short who lost her son 30 years ago to the cycle accident, and I pray that I NEVER find myself thinking that MY goals or aspirations supersede life.

Enjoy the Journey

It's been a while since I've chatted with my friend "Blog," and where did they come up with the term "blog?" Never the less, with the birth of our second grandchild (1st grandson, Luke) and Christie being on maternity leave I have been somewhat thrust back into the busy-ness of the responsibilities that go along with coaching.
A few days ago, as I was trying to get things ready for the trip to the state meet, I found myself in almost a state of panic at the thought of not getting some things done, coupled with the fear that I had forgotten to take care of some typical necessary paperwork. It was an all too clear reminder of how busy head coaches are. I found myself somewhat ashamed that I had allowed myself to forget that toward the end of the time I spent as athletic director. I was as bad as any other administrator at being pretty dull to the fact that head coaches try to cram 30 hours of work into a 24 hour day. I kept asking myself "how in the world does Christie do it along with teaching multiple English classes." And even as busy as I was, it was exhilarating! I was enjoying myself more than I had in years.
I have since thought much of that moment, and have continue to find myself pondering an encouraging suggestion that I use to offer teams; "enjoy the journey." I had mixed emotions as I thought through those three words. Enjoy the Journey... sounds so profound. I remember being very sincere when talking through this with teams. "Men this is not all about the end result. Sure you will remember some of the wins and losses, but you will always remember the relationships, learning to work hard, the meaning of sacrifice and all the other things that make up this journey." And yet as I thought through this here at (at least) the early dusk of a career I felt sad and somewhat remorseful for not heeding my own advice. Often times as I reflect of my time as a head coach and athletic director I remember so many times I was wishing for the next break. As I was visiting with my good friend Larry Gnatzig (another retire-rehire coach) about this, his immediate response was "why should we look forward to breaks now, hell our life is a break!" I'm sure it's easier for me to enjoy the journey now more than "back then" because I have time to do so.
One thing I know for sure is that whether I'm in the midst of "busy-ness" or standing around enjoying a track meet, or doing (sometimes seemingly senseless) paperwork, I can truly think of no profession better suited for me. I am grateful that God led me to this place and thank Him for the Journey!

2% or 98%

I've seen several various studies regarding what percentage of high school athletes actually receive athletic financial aid to participate in college. The research I've seen puts that magic number at below 2%. Less than 2% of all the high school athletes in the United States receive any financial aid (scholarship) to participate in their sport in college. That brings to my mind a few thoughts.
First, if less than 2% of the athletes we work with at the high school level are actually good enough to "take it to the next level" should our focus be on the 2% or the other 98%. I've seen a countless number of coaches, who had one of these rare, gifted athletes come across their practice field and receive 98% of the coaches focus, leaving the other 2% of his or her attention to the large majority of the team. If that seems backwards, well, it is! As stated before I've seen this too many times to count, and I've NEVER seen a coach with this approach that had a consistently successful program. Some of the reasons for their programmatic mediocrity are obvious. Simply put a single individual can't "do it all!" I suppose one might argue the point with the rare example such as James Segrest. He was a teammate of my high school track coach, Charley Walton. Amazingly, as a senior at Bangs, TX High School Coach Segrest (he later became a very successful track coach and member of numberous "halls of fame)won the Texas State Track and Field Championship. You might ask, "what event?" Actually, he placed first in the 100, 220 (they ran yards then rather than meters) and the 440! He also placed 4th in the long jump, scoring 34 points for the mighty Dragons. He was Bangs' only qualifier and the 1954 State Championship "team" trophy still sits in the Bangs High School trophy case! Yes, James Segrest won the team title by himself... and then he graduated. Coach Walton told us time and again how the Dragon track programs was really nothing to write home about prior to Coach Segrest's arrival, nor was it much after his graduation. It was the case of one gifted athlete randomly passing through the Dragon hallways for four years. In contrast one might look at a program such as the Katy High School football program. They occasionally have an "athlete" receive some minor financial aid to play in college. They have even had some outstanding athletes, but what has sustained their consistent success for over 2 decades is their coaches focus on the 98%. They develop every athlete to reach his maximum mental and physical potential. Thus success has become a way of life for the Tigers.
Another thought on the statistic of the "less than 2%" is that it has always seemed that about 98% of the parents believe that their child is part of that 2%. I was recently contacted by yet another mom whose child (will be a freshman) is an "extremely gifted" track and field athlete, and I should work with her one-on-one because not only would it help the child develop but would also help my reputation when are accolades come to fruition. I don't want to get back into the parent issue. Spent too much time on them in the last blog.
The "2%er" under the coach that only shows attention to them also often realizes that they are "special," and as soon as they do, they often begin to decline. Former Rice University Track Coach, Augie Erfurth always said that "as soon as you think you've arrived you couldn't be further from the mark." In other words, as soon as you think you've made it to the top, there's only one way to go.
My final thought of the day regarding the "2%" club is that they would likely be successful under almost any other coach's guidance. I was fortunate to have a good number of these athletes and I can say that some of them could have been coached by Daffy Duck and they would have been successful. That is not to say that we as coaches don't possess the ability to screw things up, but occasionally the athlete shows up that simply has all the ingredients. They are talented enough, confident enough, humble enough, smart enough and have reasonable parents. Some find it depressing that those ingredients seem pretty simple, and yet they only make up less than 2% of all high school athletes. I don't find it depressing at all. To me, it seems that the 98% can be led to possess all except 2 of those "key ingredients." Natural talent is, well, natural, but we can coach them to be the best they can be, and the athlete has nothing to do with whether their parents are reasonable or not.