High School Football Coach Makes a Difference in Life
In high school I was your average under sized, under skilled football wannabe. Most of my coaches saw this right away and found a useful position for me as a receiver on a team that ran the ball 95% of the time.
My sophomore year of high school, however, I had the chance of playing JV football under Coach Erickson. Coach Erickson was often the brunt of jokes because of his ability to make up plays off the top of his head during practice. Most of the time these plays included elaborate names and much more running around the field than effective schemes.
These attributes also endured Coach Erickson to many of his players. He had the uncanny ability to help wannabe players like myself to feel like important and skilled contributors to the team. He had special plays that he would run specifically for me, he would throw you into the game to replace an injured player at another position and he had a way of letting you know you were an integral part of the team.
Seeing as how I am now a golf pro, as I look back, golf probably should have been my sport of choice in the fall. However, football was a sport that I would never get to play again, and I ended up being able to play for a coach who made it worth the time and effort that put into practice.
Coach Erickson put the good of his players and building young men to be successful in life over the importance of winning games. This might be an important lesson for other coaches to learn. This JV football squad played well as a team and enjoyed a successful season. The next season, playing on the varsity squad for a coach who did not know how to build up his players and worried too much about the success of the squad, our team suffered loss after loss.
Maybe there is a lesson to be learned about the building of character in sports?
Published by Wheelsy
I am currently ready to graduate from Utah State University with a degree in Biology and am in the process of applying to medical school. I am a sports fanatic and work at a golf course during the summer mon... View profile
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